Gregory Irwin

C’mon all! This only works if you participate. Let’s have some fun during this challenging time.

I thought it would be fun to see what our members are doing these days! Post a selfie of where you are and what you’re doing! I’m spending this time at home with the family. This is today in my backyard! G

Everyone is entitled to their opinion... even Tyler! I’m totally kidding you buddy! I really appreciate and enjoy your posts! You are incredibly knowledgeable. G

You're not helping yourself Brother. This is a group of very experienced camera people. Most here have forgotten more than others have learned! G

If I recall ( it’s probably been over 30 years!), only one or two rental houses offered the Ultracam in Los Angeles. Leonetti’s and maybe Ultravision? Can’t remember. Whatever the case was, the rental house would supply their batteries and those were the ones you had to use - for better or for worse. In my experience, the camera never worked well whether it was battery related or something else. We had a group of very experienced ACs and we were all struggling! G

Hmmmm. I would say that When talking about color reproduction, you are talking about the film stock and lens choice. The film camera simply transports and exposes the film at a governed speed. G

Oh Bruce, it was infamous for jamming! That was the one thing the camera was reputed for! ??‍♂️?

Now I’m confused. We are talking about a film camera. Not a video camera. What am I missing? G

I have a very different opinion. I had to actually use the Utracam and it was truly one of the worst cameras ever made. We called it the Ultrajam due to it’s inherent issues of film jamming. Depending on the film manufacturer, the camera could run very noisy. The viewfinder was incredibly dark and muddy as well. Terrible camera. In Hollywood, I know of several camera crews who would turn down the job if using the Ultracam was a requirement. I became one of them after enduring it only once for a few weeks. The only real competition Panavision ever had in film cameras was the Arricam for narrative filmmaking. My 2 cents... G

On another note, I just got toilet paper. G

Well it just happened to my show. I’m here in Prague, CZ on a Disney/Marvel picture and after just four days of shooting we are being recalled back to the States. The Corona Virus is here as well. G

The biggest difference is time. TV doesn’t have the schedules that features have. G

No. There would be negative scratches and the image would jitter as opposed to streaking exposure. There could also be perf damage with a poorly laced camera movement. This is entirely different. G

It is an out of sync shutter. Phil is spot on. A good test to check your shutter timing is to take a strip of film (3 feet or so) and with a fine tip marker, draw a straight line across the film from perf to perf. Do this for several frames. Lace up the camera with the marked film in the gate and looking through the lens port, inch the movement frame by frame. Here you can now see if the lines you drew are either not moving while the shutter is open while inching, telling you the shutter is in time OR the lines are moving while the shutter is open thus out of time and giving you the unintended visual effects! It’s completely fixable by a trained technician. Good luck! G

So does Spielberg and he didn’t even go there. G

USC is a private institution, not a public school. They rely on tuition and private donations as well as other fundraising to stay in business. They don’t benefit from taxpayer dollars and other public funding as public schools do. But I’m happy that students who wouldn’t normally have the chance to go there have the chance as long as they are academically qualified to maintain university standards. G

Sorry Richard. Not sure what you mean. ??‍♂️ Free tuition is not a bad thing and there are plenty of choices in the world for that. But when you devalue something of value, it loses what created it's unique, special qualities in the first place in terms of (in this case) having the payroll to attract the best educators and funding to provide the best programs for the students that separate this institution from the others. Having said this, I believe USC will survive just fine because of the heritage and legacy it has. Fight On! ✌️ G

I went to SC a long, long time ago in a city far, far away. ? It’s not too difficult to get into the university but it is difficult to get into certain colleges within. The film school accepts less than one in ten applicants. That’s one reason of many why it’s such an elite program. So you might get into the university for free but there are no guarantees from there on. It would still be a great undeclared education none the less. G

I understand what you are saying. A one man show is challenging. This is a very different situation from what I’m accustomed to. Even with the complexities of big budget filmmaking, I have a team of support. In fact, since my heart surgery last year, my team will absolutely not let me do anything but pull focus and run the business of the camera department. They do everything else! I am very blessed. There is no way I could have done or do what you do Frank. Cheers! G

How in the world did you conclude this??? Bigger budget pictures have higher stakes and many more complex challenges. Any yes, there are always budget constraints! G

Focus pulling is story telling. You need to get beyond the mechanics and academics of it in order to see past the nerve racking job. Once you achieve not having to concentrate on the technical aspects of the craft, it all comes down to story telling and determining where and when to direct the audience’s attention. G

Agreed! G

Ha! True!

The sound team’s nightmare: A camera on a 20mm seeing the entire room B camera on a 180mm choker close up of the actor whispering. G??‍♂️

The opposite end of the spectrum is that I dream about having only 2 cameras. We normally carry no less than 5 on my shows and we’ve had up to 45 cameras on several occasions. That gets challenging! I realize that most on this forum haven’t experienced that sort of production but it takes experience and good managerial skill to be successful with that many cameras and crew. Good fun! G