Jason Maeda

in my short catalog of experiences shooting, i have had two "rain" sequences. the first was a film shot in "dumbo" at that tree below the brooklyn bridge. it was clear, mid-afternoon light. i shot in the shadow of a building, sprayed a single hose fed from a resteraunt into the air about 8 feet in front of the camera, and color corrected heavily at telecine. i think it looks really great. believable but expressive at the same time. my second experience was on a short film, super-16. half the film (30 minutes total) takes place in a bmw driving through the rain. we shot in rural maine on a freshly paved road in the middle of nowhere. in front of the action car (actually driven by the actor, with soundman in trunk), there drove a pick-up truck, on the back of which sat the grip, holding a hose that was fed by a 30 gallon plastic bin strapped right behind the driver. the pressure was provided by a bilge pump i bought at "marine world" or whatever and spliced onto a car-lighter power adapter. looked totally real from inside the action car. i'm really proud of that sequence. jason kollias :ph34r:

phil thank you so much for the information! your response does, however, provoke these ancillary questions: "if you think you're going to be doing a lot of renderable effects, particularly if you have After Effects in mind, you should consider the PC, mainly because you can renderfarm a lot more cheaply with Intel hardware." what does "renderfarm" mean? "the integration possible in an Adobe-based suite running Premiere, After Effects and Photoshop (and possibly Encore DVD) is not possible on the Mac" so, if i do go with a PC, does this mean that there is a possible down side to going with avid Xpress DV? does the "integration" of those programs you speak of trump the benefits of an Xpress platform? lastly, is there stuff that i, as a total newcomer, would not know to look for when buying a PC for DV editing, but that you think are necessary or highly useful? thanks again, jason kollias :ph34r:

i'm in the market for a computer to edit on. it seems like PC's are much cheaper than macs, but the mac appears to be more ubiqitous, at least in the photo/design world. i guess i'm asking for your thoughts on the advantages of either a PC running avid express or a mac running final cut. jason :ph34r:

i hope this is in some way helpful: i always kind of felt like the entire reason for using a wall-o was because it gives you a cool, "wrappy" light, but at the same time, it doesn't spill all over your set/location like a softbox/silk would. meaning, flagging is less critical with a wall-o-lite then with, say, a medium chimera. jk :ph34r:

i find that i can often tell when a film was originated on color film and then made b/w in post, and i never really like it as much. "the man who wasn't there" being a good example. i don't know if it's the lack of grain, or some kind of lower contrast or what it is. can anyone help me understand what it is i'm seeing? this is a little off-topic because it sounds to me like this process is exactly what is called for in this music video. jason kollias :ph34r:

for what it's worth guys, in my experience in stills, what you are saying is exactly true: it is a huge misconception that reps get you work, they really act more as negotiators, often playing "bad cop" to your "good cop". It has also been my experience that they are the worst people on earth, but i know this can't be true for all of them and i certainly want to emphasize that this has just been my own experience, and in the world of fashion photography. by the way, martin short in "the big picture" plays a hilarious directors' agent. jason kollias :ph34r:

ebay, my good man! if you want a serious (but not overkilled) super-8, the canon i own is great and can be found for $400. but my buddy kent shoots on a sears super-8 with fake wood paneling and minimal controls he got for like $50 and his work is sick. it's like the holga of the motion picture world. do an ebay search for "super8 camera" and one for "super-8 camera" and one for "super 8 camera". jason kollias :ph34r:

i've been shooting lots of super8 footage up here in maine. i'm shooting on my canon 1014xls (great camera), using kodak vision200T. I've started shooting lots of overcranked stuff, because i think it will help with camera shake (most of my work has been done up here, and i've lost many shots to shaking hands from the cold). it may also kill that immediacy you get from the medium, so hopefully i'll be able to process and transfer it sooner than later. also, i've started collecting old family photos from my friend's house that i plan on using in a documentary i have been shooting about her on super8. it's amazing these old photos. they are so beautiful, better than i could do if i tried. and they were shot by her mom, her dad, her brothers etc. explain that! jk :ph34r:

holy cow i got so worked up thinking about how i got screwed by the fashion photography industry with my ankle injury that i forgot to mention the weirdest thing about my camera: it is signed by ozzy osbourne. i don't really know if that matters to most people but it does probably make it worth a lot more. it's signed on the back on the metal plate in sharpie. i worked with ozzy in new york at a hotel (he and sharon(?) are really really nice) and i was taking pictures of his dogs piss on the rug and i asked him to sign it and he was like "yeah man, why not?" anyhoo, if you love metal, and i know everyone here does, please buy this camera. jason kollias :ph34r:

this camera is so sweet and it comes with a billion extras. it is a 2.8D which is my personal favorite style, because it doesn't have that stupid light meter that no one uses sticking off the side, and yet it still has the older carl zeiss glass which gives you that sweet, sweet look. it comes with a lens shade, red and green filters, a rollei "portrait" (close-up) filter, old-style (better) lens caps, and i'll throw in a crap-load of film. this camera takes pictures that quite simply looks better than all other cameras. ask any professional photographer who isn't a total shmuck what they think of rollei TLR's and they will start salivating instantly like a pavlovian dog in a bell shop. i'm in new york so i can show it to you if you live here (or anywhere on the way to portland, maine). if you take portraits and you don't buy this camera, you will be punished in the afterlife. the camera is in great shape i'm only selling it to pay off the debt i built not getting compensated during a recovery i endured after destroying my ankle assisting on a still-photo job. if you want to hear me rant about the fashion business using words that would make a pirate blush, please contact me off list. later, jason kollias :ph34r: