Michael K Bergstrom

Manfrotto makes something called a FigRig Stabilizer, and for small cameras works like a charm. If you google it, there are people who have made homemade ones that work just as well for under $50. Good luck!

These kilts are actually really durable and comfortable, I'm with you on this one : ) style all the way. Who's the chap that's flying the steadicam on their homepage? Steadicam in a kilt...brilliant!

There's a lot of different ways you could do this. I've done cheese plates with heads mounted to speedrail, and I know in one instance I mounted a hihat to a pancake suspended from a C-Stand arm. The important thing to remember is to keep the subject and the camera safe. Get a good grip.

I'm surprised how many national TV shows still shoot analog 4:3. We have trouble up here fnding enough SD cameras that shoot 4:3 for the shows that have been shooting up related to Palin. I don't see that it will change even with the digital switch coming in broadcast, mainly because a lot of shows haven't even switched to HD yet.

Rigging from the ceiling would be good, you won't have to redo a stand if it's in your shot, so either ceiling, polecat or wallspreader. If you are going to use a stand, a menace arm would work out better than a C-Stand arm depending on the light you are using. You'll be able to put a lot more weight on it and also rig other things off it as well.

I would really think twice about NDing and then doing a double and single. The second story window that we did this exact thing on was a disater. If I remember right we started with 1.2 then put a layer of 0.9 on then we ran out of ND, after finally getting the warps cleared out, it still wasn't dark enough, so up goes the 12x double, DOP still wanted to knock it down a bit so we tried putting a single up with the double, morein (I know I spelled that wrong) effect, was all over, and there was no hiding it, so down came the single. I think that the picture was taken in the middle of a take, so give the kid a break, I'm judging that on the fact that the soundy is sitting with his hand on the mixer...an indication of work, otherwise, why would he be there when crafty was about 12 feet behind him? Not that I'm questioning the almighty Collier or anything...

The Spectra-Cine meters are a rugged cheaper light meter that works great. You can find them at Filmtools, or B&H Photo.

Agreed, on the last feature I worked on, we gelled a second story small window day for night, and is was a hastle getting the gell to look right, in later scenes we were first story so we tented everything "blackbox" and put our light in, it worked much much better.

Rope lights from the store also work really well, plus, they're cheap and you can dim them. I've also used an LED light that was diffused and motivated from the dashboard.

check craigslist, seriously, I found one for $99 almost never used.

I've done shoulder mount (which works quite well), Fig Rig, and steadicam, they all work pretty well, fig rig is probably too small for your camera system though. Keep the shots wide as already mentioned, it'll help smooth out the action. Also, on a safety note, wear a full vest harness (the normal harness does jack if you fall out, when you fall out of a helicopter you flip upside done, a normal harness you'll slip right out, vest is the best.)

I put my vote in for Celtx. Like movie magic it keeps track o characters (with whole breakdowns for them), scenes (with storyboards) and a million other features. If you export in PDF you can have Adobe Reader read out loud to you.

On the last project, when sound was catching a wild track for sound, the 'A' camera rolled on the behind the scenes. If anything, it'll be amusing for the editor to watch.

I don't know about the standard window screens, I do know that if you start doubling the screen material you will create a wierd patterning that you can even see with your naked eye, and is just heightened by the camera lense, the same problem is had with doubling up single and double nets. On the production I'm doing right now, the DP is callling for a 12'x12' double outside the windows quite a lot. It works wonderfully. In some instances we have put ND on the windows and then the net beyond that, depending on the time of day. Just make sure that the net is as tight as it can get.

There's always more than one way to skin a cat. I like having various ways to do a task. You don't know some of the DP's I know... :P Thanks, I feel loved. :rolleyes:

I've been working for several years gripping and gaffing, and despite not having a degree in electricity, I am still alive and shooting. I understand fully the dangers inherent in working with electricity, but there's a difference in understanding the danger and doing stupid things, and understanding the danger, and working to fill the needs of the production to the highest degree of competence. I was not asking for a complete wiring diagram, I was just making sure that what I was doing was feasible with a 60amp bates before I started rewiring a rental unit. Tim, thank you for your defense in this, if I have further questions about power and distro, I will PM you if that is ok with you. My question as to why there isn't a gaffing forum is probably best summed up with some of the responses to this thread ;)

Thanks. I'm now using for a backup, I convinced the powers that be that the generator would be a better and safer option...

I'm not uncomfortable working with electricity, I do wiring all the time, and have wired whole houses before for construction. Before taking apart the rental cables I just wanted to make sure that when I broke into the Bates, that what I was doing was even doable.

I know that I have to deal l with two 110's on the Bates, I just don't know how to wire them separate.

I'm running off a 30 amp outlet downstairs in a house, to a location 450 feet away. I was going to wire the plug to a 60 amp bates, and then run it to distro. I need to wire the end bates into two 110 volt legs. This is something I haven't done yet and looking at doing it for the first time. How do I go about this?

I had a shoot last week where we were replicating a theatre. We put a 300w fresnel simulating the projector light, and introduced a little haze into the theatre so the camera (Sony EX1) could pick the beam up. We lit the actress with a 650w with a chimera (gridclothe) with a 250 diffused backlight, we put another 250w on a dimmer and diffused and had a PA wave his hands in front of it to mimic the screen action on the actress's face. Hope this helps.

Let me clarify on price, I don't know for sure, I haven't called Rosco or seen this for sale, but I've heard it's $800 for a roll.

Living in Alaska, with it's 24 hour sun/dusk in the summer, shooters up here have to shoot a lot of day for night. if done right it can be very convincing. On a recent project we shot a driving sequence day for night and it looks all right. Perhaps the DOP can chime in and give some insight on what he did to achieve it.

Some quick facts on VIEW, it's only available on roll, it reduces light at a stop per layer, the viewing angle is about 65 degrees for it to work effectively, and it costs right around 100/foot for 56'x8". for that price, I think I'll stick with my ND. :D

Hello, organizing an out of state dolly rental for a Fisher 11 for a crew, I have 40' of dolly track I use for the Matthews dolly in the studio (identical to an American Doorway dolly) was double checking that I can use this track with the track wheels on the Fisher. Thanks.