Jess Haas

Here are some pictures of the finished cable: You tape the IR emitter on one end of the cable over the sensor on the camera and plug the other end into the bartech receiver and the start/stop button on the remote works just like with any other camera that has an actual start/stop connector. I am wanting $175 for the cables. ~Jess

Ive been making bartech start/stop cables for Canon DSLRs (5D, 7D, t2i, etc...) and am about to order parts to make up some more. Anyone interested in one? ~Jess

I have a Steadicam rig capable of handling just about any camera as well as a wireless follow focus, wireless video and all the trimmings. I have worked on many feature films, commercials and TV shows for clients such as the SciFi Channel, ESPN and TLC. I have everything necessary to fly the RED, HD, 35mm, and 16mm cameras. Check out my website at http://JessHaas.com for my reel, resume, contact info and pictures. ~Jess Haas

Reel is up at http://JessHaas.com A separate reel consisting of mostly long steadicam shots is coming. I am currently based in LA but from Texas where I often work as local. I also am willing and able to travel almost anywhere in the world. My contact info is in my reel if you could use my services. ~Jess Haas

There was talk around town before the shoot started of them using the RED, and I know they did some tests but as stated here they ultimately decided to shoot on 35. I know they shot some underwater stuff and I believe they used 235s for it with Hydroflex underwater housings and splash bags. ~Jess

Of course in unique situations there are other methods of slating. My favorite was on The Abyss where they were shooting sync sound underwater since the actors were wearing hard hats which had coms built in. In order to slate they would hit the actor in the face with the slate so that the microphone would pick up the click and the camera would see it. While it can sometimes be tempting to do this on dry land I do not recommend it. ~Jess

Also saying marker right before clapping the slate is rather standard practice. If you have to do it again for some reason like if camera wasn't rolling but sound was then say second sticks. ~Jess

Hmm, I guess this might be the right time to offload my student copy of Avid Xpress Pro then. Who want its? ~Jess

I know exactly what you mean. In Austin I often have to deal with people from LA who think that simply being from LA makes them important and that everyone in Austin should bend over backwards for them just because they are from LA. The funny thing is that it isn't usually the experienced guys who have this attitude instead it is the PA from LA who is producing his brothers no budget indy feature with their daddys money.... As far as good cities to make films in I would highly recommend Austin although I don't think there is a city in existence where making a movie for no money is an easy task. I have seen a lot of movies made in Austin for very little money, although sadly very few of them were any good. Hmm, just noticed that you said that everyone in Seattle hates you. I don't mean to be negative but if you have made everyone there hate you than I am not sure I really want you coming here. ~Jess

Looks like we have brought this topic back from the dead so I might as well throw in my two pence. I am one of those people who has a bit of an aversion to Kinos. Despite liking soft light there has always been something about the quality of them that bugged me a bit. I think this is mostly due to the fact that the color of light they put off isn't exactly right for tungsten or daylight. The end result looks fine on film or video but it is off just enough that it bugs me when looking at the scene with my naked eye. I do use them extensively, but because of this they usually aren't my first choice in fixture unless the situation calls for them. ~Jess

cigarette connections aren't very reliable and as such will probably lead to more headaches than you care to deal with. It shouldn't be hard to find someone to wire up what you want. In the end you will probably be happier with the dewalt batteries. ~Jess

Dust particles settling on the hot isn't going to do this unless there is a thick enough cloud of conductive dust particles to allow the hot to arc with the ground or neutral. Not bloody likely. A more reasonable explanation would be that the said electrician accidentally shorted a hot to ground causing a large spark that would melt metal and do other fun things that could include igniting flammable dust or vapors. Most likely just the spark by itself was enough of a "Fireball" that by the time the story got to us it required some other explanation for the exaggerated amount of flame. I once accidentally shorted a hot to ground in a box. Do enough tie-ins hot in questionable boxes and it will happen to you too. I fortunately didn't loose my vision or any of those other things you hear circulate in the various film set horror stories. There was a big fu**ing spark, a bang, and it melted a good deal of metal. If there is a main breaker it will trip, unfortunately I have seen far too many boxes with no main breaker that were obviously no where near being up to code. The fact that anyone allowed them hook up to the utility in the first place often astonishes me. Moral of the story is that if a box is questionable walk away. In this particular case the box was horribly designed with very little room between the hots and grounded metal and the bus bars were basically wired directly to the transformer. It was definitely questionable but often on set we fail to use our best judgment in an attempt to get things done. This is why you shouldn't be messing around with electricity when there is any question whatsoever as to the safety of the situation. I learned a lot from that experience and treat tie-ins with a lot more respect than I did before. I knew what I was doing, but that alone isn't enough to keep poop from happening. Even when you think a box is safe if you know what you are doing you should be taking proper safety measures and using the right tools. Things like safety glasses, insulated screwdrivers and a voltage tick are handy. Things like tricos are illegal and are rarely used in a safe fashion and as such should be avoided. Doing a tie-in because the production doesn't want to rent a generator is a bad idea. Doing tie-ins hot is a bad idea. Doing tie-ins when you don't know what you are doing even if you think you know what you are doing is a bad idea. Tie-ins in general are usually a bad idea. There are times when they are the right tool for the job, but those times are few and far between. ~Jess

I think he was referring to the fact that the camera can output an "uncompressed" 4:2:2 HDSDI signal, not that it can record said signal. I could be wrong. ~Jess

I know that this is a super old thread but I can't help myself. Speedrail is NOT refered to by its inside diameter (ID). They use IPS sizes which happen to not be the ID or the OD for the sizes that we use. "Pipe and tubing are specified in terms of their diameter and their wall thickness (keep in mind the term schedule number). With steel pipe the standard nominal diameters, in American practice, range from 1/8 to 30 in. For large pipes, more than 12 in, in diameter, the nominal diameters are the actual outside diameters, not the inside diameter; for small pipe the nominal diameter does not correspond to any actual dimension. The nominal value is close to the actual inside diameter for 3- to 12-in. pipe, but for very small pipe this is not true. Regardless of wall thickness, the outside diameter of all pipes of a given nominal size is the same to ensure interchangeability of fittings, sort of to set a standard that all companies can follow. Standard dimensions of steel pipe are given in this table. Pipe of other materials is also made with the same outside diameters as steel pipe to permit interchanging parts of a piping system. These standard sizes for steel pipe, therefore, are know as IPS (iron pipe size) or NPS (normal pipe size). Thus the designation "2-in. nickel IPS pipe" means nickel pipe having the same outside diameter as standard 2-in. steel pipe. " ~Jess

Since you are on a soundstage will you be able to fly out walls or any other trickery? If so you won't need to stay nearly as wide as you otherwise would. If this were the case I would want atleast 4 lenses, 12,24,50 and 85. The 12 is really only if you want a really wide shot, and if you want to go even wider you could go with the 10. If you can't fly out walls the 85 will probably be of limited use and you may even want to swap the 50 for the 40 and you definitely want something wider than the 24. Of course the subject matter and visual style will dictate a lot of this. For one film you may want to stay with longer lenses and on another you may want that extreme wide fish eye shot. Get a directors viewfinder or even a 35mm still camera and get in there and see what you like the look of. ~Jess