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Marque DeWinter

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Posts posted by Marque DeWinter

    Two cameras on top of each other?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    We did this years ESPY awards promos this way and it was really about logistics.  Since his accident its very tough for Tracy to stand for very long and do lots of take etc.  We had a few dolly shots and needed a tight shot and a wider shot for the different cuts that were done for the different promos.  PLUS we were using a teleprompter (which had to be twice as wide).  So the setup allowed us to get both the wide and tight while having identical pushes (one dolly) and keeping a similar eyeliner and allowing talent to use the prompter.

     

    Another consideration is I've had a few jobs with a similar setup where there is a wide more or less lock off type of shot that is on a wide with a large DOF so that the VFX people have plates that exceed the normal frame and then the main camera (which was the bottom one) change lenses to get whatever shot was needed for the project.

    Expensive Camera Carts - Worth the Money?

    in Camera Assistant / DIT & Gear

    Posted

    In New York there is a company that carries the backstage products, not everything, but a decent selection and will order any of them for you. Its called CWIH. They're headquartered in Farmingdale on LI but have a store just off of 9th around 36th - but don't hold me to that location. Sometimes they have better options, I got foam filled tires for my senior cart for $6/ea. which is way better than anywhere else.

    • Upvote 2

    AJA Ki Pro Mini Compact Field Recorder

    in Camera Assistant / DIT & Gear

    Posted

    I had the KiPro Mini and now when jobs tell me its part of the package I turn the job down. It doesn't work. Flat out. Unreliable. I own both a Pix and the Black Magic both work well. The Pix is more advanced and works great. The Black Magic works well but is very simple. Also a hidden cost to the black magic is the hard drives, because it takes larger faster SSDs since it will only do uncompressed or DNxHD 220 it eats through data very quickly and drive costs can add up quickly. Definitely though I would buy a Pix if I were to purchase one right now.

    Best hard drive for Data Wrangling

    in Camera Assistant / DIT & Gear

    Posted

    While the manufacture list may be different often there are software differences and it DOES matter what chip you put with what hard drive. The import things to consider more than brand are reliability, redundancy, and speed. Power is a problem that we can usually solve (small generator, batteries, bus powered, etc) but more professional shows have some type of RAID 0+1 array plus a RAID 1 Drive for shuttling the data back and fourth to post. Always have two independent copies. Software that use to make the copy is very important because you want to have some type of checksum to verify the copy occurred properly. I've been insinuations where it hadn't because the person just did a finder copy, or a drive was bad, etc and they didn't do a proper checksum.

     

    ~Marque

    What do you have on your DIT cart

    in Camera Assistant / DIT & Gear

    Posted

    I custom made my cart so that its narrower and my monitor packs into one of the doors on it.

     

     

    BMD Video SmartHub 16

    Cinetal Monitor

    4 BMD HD Link boxes (for LUT control to monitors)

    Apple MBP 15" for processing dallies & for my ultrascope

    Thunderbolt to 2 card PCI adapter (includes my RedRocket card for Red jobs and my ultrascope card)

    Thunderbolt to Express adapter

    Apple MBA for running my LUT software

    various AJA adapter boxes & D/A boxes

    BMD UltraStudio

     

    I'm sure theres more I'm just not thinking of right now.

     

    ~Marque

    Over-booking DPs?

    in Business Practices & Producing

    Posted

    I find the double booking is getting more common. But I would have to argue against what David said as it isn't so much a commercial thing as its a low budget thing. I've had it happen a few times to me over the last few years and every time it came down to the producer not really caring who the DP really was just trying to get the best rate. I know this because two of the times they ended up hiring people I knew and they had no problem talking to me about it. One time I even had a producer call an apologize since they didn't feel what the other producers did was right. I basically get around it this way...If its a soft hold I still continue looking for other work. If its hard hold hold I'll take offers but won't seek anything, and if its confirmed and they cancel within 48 hours they pay me for a half day rate, 24 hours they pay me a full date rate, on the day or when I get there they pay full day rate plus costs. I also won't do hard holds for everyone. Some jobs if the rate is low I even go so far as to tell them that if I get an offer at my full rate (or union hours) then I'll replace myself. Most producers when I'm working lower budgeted jobs understand. When your newer and starting out though insisting on things like this is hard. Especially the last few years I've found that producers (and I've known a few experienced ones who agree with me) have changed. It used to be they cared about the crew and paying them well. They would trying and get cheaper gear, reduce locations, etc but still pay the crew decent rates. Now it seems that the first place the new breed of producers try and cut money from budgets is with crew.

     

    ~Marque

    Getting a mentor

    in Jobs, Resumes, and Reels

    Posted

    Its extremely difficult to get a mentor. For some reason today many of the professionals I know who would be great at it are too afraid of losing their jobs to the people they mentor when the mentorship is done because many producers don't care about professional or experiences crews as much as they used to. It almost always need to be someone who is about to retire or someone who is so far above where you would be that it won't matter. The problem is that unless you know those people they most likely won't be open to mentoring you. So... network network network.

     

    ~Marque

    Winter Coat/Jacket for Set Recommendations?

    in Camera Assistant / DIT & Gear

    Posted

    I went with the standard for Grips, Electrics, and construction workers... Carhartt. North Face is nice, but doesn't last as long. I like the Neo overshoes because you can just throw them on over your sneakers or whatever. Just remember layers are the most important thing. For instance the other day on Blue Bloods it was like 30 degrees in the shade and 50 in the sun...as you walk around you were putting on and taking off layers.

     

    ~Marque

     

    Want To Shoot On Scarlet?

    http://igg.me/p/48827?a=32535&i=shlk

    Where to ask for help?

    in Business Practices & Producing

    Posted

    Instead of contacting the state attorney general you should contact the local police where edgewood is located and report it as a fraud. You can probably also look up via the internet or contact the local clerk's office to find out what bank holds the liens or has the company in receivership to notify them that you purchased the equipment. If you purchased it before the court allowed the bank to seize the assets the bank has to turn the property over to you. If not you're going to have to go after the individual and edgewood which if they are in receivership you're probably screwed.

     

    ~Marque

    Red & anamorphic lense

    in Red

    Posted

    I have to use anamorphic lense on red camera....can somebody tell me if there is any thing more to do beside setting aspect ratio in camera....

    thanks

     

     

    Red One or Epic?

    compact/par

    in Lighting for Film & Video

    Posted

    It depends on which par your comparing to which fresnel. A 1.2k par is going to output more light than a 1.2k fresnel because the lens is going to cut some of the light. The difference is in the spill. The fresnel is going to focus the light more.

     

    ~Marque

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