Jess Haas

Chapmen rents something that does what your looking for. Check out: http://www.chapman-leonard.com/products/vi...ATOR%20MINI.htm and http://www.chapman-leonard.com/products/vi...%20ISOLATOR.htm Steadicam might be another option, or you could get a bigger boat so that it can cut through the chop a bit better. ~Jess

Nice stuff. For apple boxes you can also just ratchet strap them to a hand truck. Not as elegant but works in a pinch. What are you doing for cable/bag carts? They are by far some of the most useful carts to have. ~Jess

Maybe it is time for someone here in the states to pick up the slack.... The dollar being so weak could even help sales. ~Jess

I am personally not very anal about the drunken method unless I see someone causing problems by doing it. If you are aware of your surroundings it is not that big of a deal, but since there is really no reason to do it that way why not do it an easier way? Another advantage to opening the stand without flipping it is that it is easier to do while walking. The time saved may not be huge, but I see no reason to do it the slower way. ~Jess

Thanks for the input. I will see what I can do about getting download times down. When I tested it from my house it did take a little while to start but once it started it seemed to play while downloading fine. Might need to play with the hinting or something. I also can compress it a bit more but don't want to have too much artifacting since it is a cinematography reel. I was a bit afraid that the b/w stuff would look too student. I did shoot it while I was in film school after all. Do you think I should cut it down or remove it completely? Thanks for telling me that you liked the shot with the blinds. I removed the rest of the shots from that film but I love the way you can see her eyes through the sunglasses and couldn't bring myself to remove that shot. I was wondering if leaving it was a mistake. That lighting was done through the actual blinds, no cookie required :-) ~Jess

So if shooting outside are you better off not using a filter and instead setting the camera to 5600? It seems like if the camera were setup correctly this would be the case, but from your previous statement it sounds like there is a problem with doing this..... Is the DSP applying gain to the blue channel regardless of the white balance setting? When shooting outside with no filter is it gaining up the blue and then having to bring it down digitally, or does it simply turn down the amount of gain on the blue channel when switching from 3200k to 5600k? ~Jess

The high leg should normally be under the load with a sand bag on it there. This requires less weight for the same amount of stability as putting the leg/bag on the opposite side of the load does. You put the sandbag on the high leg so that it does not touch the ground. If it is touching the ground it is not doing its job. ~Jess

The problem with the drunken method is that there is a good chance of hitting something or someone while flipping it over. This method is required in certain circumstance but you look much cooler and save some time if you don't have to flip it. For the non spring loaded kind all it usually takes to open the legs once you have loosened the knob is to give it a quick spin in the right direction. For the spring loaded kind I find it easiest to pick up the stand with my right hand and then use my left hand to open the legs. If I need an extra hand for a stubborn stand I will use my knee. This is all much easier to do than it is to explain. Try not to confuse turtle stands with non spring loaded stands or the bottom will fall off when you loosen the knob. ~Jess

Not one response? I thought we were a bit more helpful than that.

Since most video cameras don't allow you to change the base correction you are better off shooting with an 85b filter on the camera when in daylight, correct? Otherwise the blue channel gets gained up, then overexposed and then brought down digitally? Which cameras allow you to change the base correction? Which Panasonics? Are there any cameras besides the Red and the Viper that have kept their chips native 5000k balance? ~Jess

I don't disagree, and I am luckily not in a position to need to be working on features for free anymore. I have worked on a number of films where I was paid but it was not what my normal rate would be since they had such a small budget. To make up for this they gave me deferred pay. I have never seen a penny from it but it is nice that they at least acknowledged the fact that my work is worth more than their budget allowed. On the off chance that any of those films ever make any money they have committed to giving me some of it which is a nice gesture. The most recent film I did where I was given deferred pay I asked for more deferred pay than they were offering since I felt that what I was getting payed and the deferred should at least add up to more than my normal rate. They said that they couldn't do it because it would have been more than they were giving a particular someone else, but they offered to give me a higher rate for some of the equipment I was renting them than I had asked them for. I couldn't really argue with getting more real money in exchange for giving in on how much fake money I was getting ;-) ~Jess

When I said that I know I will never actually get paid from deferred pay I did not mean that they were lieing to my face. The sad fact of the matter is that most of these films will never make any money so there is very little chance of deferred pay ever coming through. If someone is trying to make a film with little to no budget, can't afford to pay well, but agrees to give me some of the profits if they ever make any money off of it they are atleast showing that they know that I am worth more than they are able to pay me. On the other hand if someone offers to pay you nothing and intends to keep all of the profits for themselves they are saying that they don't value your work and that they simply want to exploit you. ~Jess

Well one knows how to light and the other knows how to load a camera. Which do you think is more important for a DP? There are great DPs that have taken both routes but I personally feel that you should take every opportunity to do as much of both lighting and camera as you can. It seems to me that most people who want to be DPs take the camera path and tend to neglect learning about lighting. As a result I have seen many green DPs who didn't know much about lighting. They eventually learn to light(or stop DPing), but I personally think you should know a bit about lighting before you do any professional DP work. The opposite is of course also true as a DP who is an excellent Gaffer but doesn't know the first thing about framing or operating a camera probably isn't going to produce the greatest results. ~Jess

Well if you need a change you could come to Austin. I am sure that I can find plenty of features for you to work for free on. You do own a Varicam right? :-) What really bugs me is when people don't even want to offer decent deferred pay. I know that I will never actually get paid from deferred pay, but atleast it acknowledges that there is some value to the work that people are providing and gives them an incentive to try to do a good job. ~Jess

Just looking for some constructive criticism. Let me know what you like and what should go. http://firehead.org/~jessh/reel/ If you watch the higher resolution version(480P) you will notice some interlacing issues. Deinerlacing in compressor or quicktime didn't fix it. All the material originated at 24fps so if I can figure out how to undo the pulldown in final cut and make a 24p quicktime file I figure that should solve my problems. Anyone have any suggestions? There are also some annoying artifacts in the black and white material from the compression that I need to figure out how to get rid of. ~Jess

Just one light? Then I would have to say an 18k and a bunch of mirrors ;-) If you want daylight balanced I would go for a joker bug 800 with their speed ring and chimera. It is very compact light that puts out a good amount of light for the wattage. With the flip of a switch it will operate at both UK and US voltages. You will of course need adapters for the plugs. If you can bring a second light then I would go for either a joker bug 400 or another 800. The cases are the same size but the 400 will all you to run both on the same circuit. Add a bounce card and you can do essentially a 3 light setup with only two lights (bounce the back light for fill). If you want to go tungsten one of the arri kits would be a good way to go. You should be able to get adapters for the plugs but you will need to use different bulbs in the UK and the US. Don't get them mixed up or they could explode. You should be able to easily rent a suitable light kit in either NY or the UK for not too much money so you don't necessarily have to bring lights from one to the other. ~Jess

The 358 is a great little meter. Mine has treated me well for a number of years now despite loads of abuse. I would also suggest taking a look at Spectra's offerings but that would probably run you closer to $400. ~Jess

The link I posted before should answer most of your questions. They do open the camera and add a small jack to it. This is rather simple surgery so I wouldn't be too worried. This only adds something comparable to a small headphone jack to the camera. When the module is removed the camera will still have the same ergonomics it originally had. While Beaulieu's are the most common camera converted the Nizo 6080 is a much quieter camera so it actually makes a much better sync sound camera. ~Jess

If you are seriously making a feature length project spending $500 to simply shoot it crystal synced will save you enough time in post to more than justify the expense. I have had very good success with non sync cameras by slating at the beginning and end of every shot and then stretching the audio to match. This takes extra time in post and also extra film so for a feature length project would not be worthwhile if crystal sync is a viable option. ~Jess

The Nizo 6080 is a great little camera for shooting sound because as far as super8 goes it is damn quiet. That said you will still want some sort of barney and maybe a few furny pads to quiet it even more. You may want to seriously consider getting it moded for crystal sync. These guys can hook you up for $500 if they are still doing it: http://users.aol.com/fmgp/sync8.htm If I were you I would have a sound guy who had a minimum of a boom with a shotgun mic and a portable DAT or harddisk recorder. Even if the crew really only ends up being you and two other people you should make one of them the sound guy. Add a slate and you have a sync sound movie. ~Jess

Before you know it people will be demanding higher resolution web delivery so even if something will only be shown on the web shooting HD is good future proofing. There is actually a surprising amount of video starting to pop up on the web in HD resolution. ~Jess

If you are comfortable with the wink wink nudge nudge then I guess that is YOUR answer. I agree that under normal circumstances you probably won't be doing much but damaging the equipment. My problem is with the various failure modes which could lead to unsafe conditions. It really comes down to what is an acceptable level of risk. Kinoflo has decided that there is too much risk involved with using their heads submerged so they do not endorse it. They do endorse using them in wet environments which I think is really good information. This question has been asked before without any real answer so I am glad we finally got to the bottom of it. While we don't all agree, I think it has been a productive thread and I have learned a lot. I still plan on doing some tests regarding GFCIs and kinoflo ballasts. And if anyone really wants to know the crush depth of a kino tube I will gladly take one that someone provides as deep as is necessary to find out. ~Jess

Found a picture: or if you want a bigger one: http://www.jcustom.com/docs/10E%20Trico%20Test%20Clamps.pdf ~Jess

They are the clamps used by almost everyone to clamp on to bus bars. They have metal jaws that you screw down from the insulated handles, They work fine if used properly but a yank on the cable can pull them loose creating a nice fireworks show. If you ever see a set you will probably notice atleast a few melted bits. They lost their UL listing and are no longer manufactured. Since they lost their UL listing they are no longer legal to use in the US. That is what I understand the situation to be atleast. Even if a house has only one box there is almost always a main breaker or a bull switch that can be shut off. Then if you want to do things right you pop in an additional 100-200amp breaker, run a set of bare ends out of that, and run your neutral and ground to the appropriate bus bars. This can all be done hot but the neutral and ground can be a pain and shutting off power makes it a lot safer. The other(illegal) and less safe way is to clamp onto the hot bus bars, or to the still hot lugs at the top of the box using tricos or something even less safe. I have only ever come across one location where it was physically not possible to shut off power to a box. The box was a 3 phase box with the bus bars wired directly to the transformer which was situated on a pole right above it. The box had some other fun characteristics that made a tie-in even more difficult, but I won't go in to that. That was a day where a generator was most definitely in order. ~Jess

They said that they don't endorse using them underwater. Is that really surprising? ~Jess