Gregory Irwin

Camera prep is the most important part of the camera team’s job in order to ensure a successful shoot. But quite often, prep can be the most overlooked and mismanaged part of our jobs. Over the years, I’ve witnessed many ACs coming into a camera rental house without a plan. As we all know, preps can range from a day to several weeks, depending on the job’s requirements. Nevertheless, having a good prep plan is essential. Unfortunately, I quite often see other ACs beginning their preps without a comprehensive camera package in place on the first day. Producers like to know how much they will be spending on camera gear and they certainly don’t like surprises when it’s time to ship out of the rental house and they see a very different number than they were expecting due to the ACs constantly adding on gear they hadn’t previously disclosed. Camera packages, no matter how big or small, should be well thought out before reporting to prep. I like to spend ample time dedicated to building my camera packages on paper. I timestamp and assign a version number to each time I make changes to the package as information becomes available. I keep all relevant notes associated with the packages pinned to the various versions. My packages and preps are sizable due to the big budget movies I do. My preps can range from 4 to 12 weeks long depending upon the movie’s requirements and the show’s budget. I may have 10 different versions of the camera package by the time prep commences. But by the time I start my prep on day one, that 10th version will not significantly change. The rental house is informed and the Cinematographer and producers are happy. All the heavy lifting is done and all we need to do is put it all together. My prep calendar has due dates so we all know where we should be as the prep goes along and we stay on schedule. When I tell the Cinematographer and producers when my “cameras ready” date is, I don’t change that. I also have all of the additional camera equipment separately scheduled along with all day play gear to be employed in advance. Of course, these will change or even be eliminated as the show goes on but my point remains the same. Budgets matter. Accuracy matters. Your camera department’s reputation depends entirely upon that. What are your thoughts? G

I was the First AC on the very first US production with the Penelope back in 2009 with Hoyte on THE FIGHTER. The A camera operator, Geoff Haley and I were extremely unimpressed with the camera. For its size, it was very heavy. The viewing system was dark as was the video tap. There was very little real estate on the camera body for us to attach the needed accessories to turn it into a “Hollywood feature film” camera. The other drawback was the co-axial magazines. We were a steadicam movie. Unless the steadicam operator had the control box that allows for re-balancing while rolling, like Geoff had, you would quickly be out of balance side to side during a take. Speaking about the camera’s balance, we had to hang an on board monitor off of the back of the camera in order to achieve better balance when hand held. Finally, we were surprised that the camera was not that quiet when compared to other silent film camera choices. I’m sure that there is a market for this camera (somewhere) but it’s not a good choice for narrative filmmaking. G

Mark is spot on. 100% the shutter is out of sync with the movement. That is what created the image streaking vertically. If it was a pressure plate issue, your footage would be drifting in and out of focus. G

A little Velcro! G

You’re welcome and you are correct! G

All good Tyler! Thank you! I’ll be in LA soon to start my next movie. It’ll be hard to be away from my family yet again! Hope you’re doing well too! G

I would say the old school non monitor method Tyler. The quality of the film HD taps are not good enough to pull critically off of a monitor. They really never materialized as we had hoped. G

Monitor focus pulling is a different skill set from traditional focus pulling that requires patience and practice to master. For me, after over 3 decades of film focus pulling, I successfully have made that transition. It offers me many more opportunities to help tell the story via focus. Focus pulling is no longer a technical process but now a creative one. I love that. I sit quietly in my chair, away from set, with my Small HD 1303 monitor in front of me, my Preston handset mounted to the monitor stand and a Comtek in my ear so I can hear the dialogue. This allows me to “watch” the movie and make story telling decisions in real time on how and where to play the focus so it maximizes the effectiveness of the shot. It’s almost like a video game! The point is, I can see focus opportunities that I wouldn’t see if I was standing next to the camera pulling in the traditional way. Finally, since I can see my work as it happens, I don’t worry about if I got the shot in focus or not. I can guarantee my work with confidence right then and there. G

How much? Is the pin a Preston connector? Thanks! G

In my opinion, there are no rules. Look at my lens package from JOKER. we had a total Frankenstein set and we earned an Oscar nomination for Cinematography! G

Hi! I would simply measure from your subject (the singer?) and place strips of tape on the floor. Make them small if the camera is going to see them on the wide. As the camera’s sensor plane passes over your marks you set the focus accordingly. I recommend taping a thin line of brightly colored tape on the camera so you can see the sensor plane on the camera. Also, don’t place too many marks. You’ll get confused. Maybe go from 10 feet, 5 feet and 2 feet if you’re that close in the end. You can choose what distances make sense to you. Anything beyond 10 feet, you’ll have the DOF to help you out on a 25mm lens. Feel the rhythm of the camera move and turn that knob!! 😁 KEEP IT SIMPLE!!! G

I would say USC is worth it if you can get in. G

I believe that education is important whether it’s film school or otherwise. I went a little crazy in college earning a degree in cinema and ultimately, 3 business degrees. The business degrees really paid off for my long motion picture career. G

Thanks Dom! I appreciate you. This is for a young filmmaker who just purchased one and was asking me about it. I’ll pass on your info! G