David Desio

What do you mean Tom? Every film I've ever worked on is destined to be HUGE and game changing! (Did you pick up on the sarcasm?)

Thanks for the replies guys. I may just go out for a day or so to feel it out. When I asked if they would offer gas/mileage, the answer was no. When I asked for a kit fee, they said no. I told the DP that I am an operator and would rather have that credit on a freebie than 1st AC and he told me that the camera owner would only donate the cam if the allowed him to operate. I agree that more free work would come from this and when the DP told me that they had another film lined up behind this one which could pay, I told him to call me when he could afford to pay me but as you said, when they can afford it, they will hire the guys they know versus the free guys. Funny, didn't really have this problem in my old market...

Agreed, This was a referral through another AC buddy. He turned it down for a paid gig and warned me that they got wind that he was also a steadicam operator and wanted that thrown in for free (deferred). They asked me if I could fly one and I told them that I'd be surprised if they found and operator willing to work for this deal, no matter how good it sounds on paper. So those folks you know, did they ever get paid?

Hey gang, So I got asked to work a feature as a 1st AC for a DP that I met last week. Well the feature is 18 days deferred with profit points to all involved. Immediately I cringed at the mention of deferred payment but at the same time I am still trying to get established in this market and would hate to turn down an investment project that could lead to more paid work from this DP. So have any of you ever met anyone who has actually collected on a deferred payment shoot? Also, is it bad form to request that you be free to take a paying gig during that time of their show as long as you replace yourself?

Sounds familiar. I was recently booked as the Gaffer for a film. The producer informed me at the interview that they'd already hired a DP which was too bad, but would I come on as the Gaffer. I said sure and made it clear that the two roles are not always that interchangeable but we should be ok. So pre-pro goes on, I fill out the paperwork and wait for the start day which is today. As of 10pm last night I hadn't gotten a call sheet, info on where the location actually was (i asked if I could get a scout day with the DP but was denied). So I send an email to the producer, just a friendly reminder. About 1am I get a reply saying that they have too many Gaffers on today and that they would need to figure out which days in the 10 day schedule that they could bring me out. ? So this is the 1st time this type of thing has happened to me but I guess its not so rare. By the way I replied that I needed to know ASAP if they needed me so I dont pass on other shoots if I don't have to. No reply yet.

Thanks for the reply. When I said that I almost got burned, it was a call from the director who was freaking because the head room dipped very close to the top of the action safe lines overlaid in After Effects. I asked if he'd tried it on an actual TV but at the time he had not. Never got any angry calls from the client and all of the spots have run on TV to I think Im safe, just wanted to know what you all do.

Hey guys, Quick question for you. When monitoring for broadcast HD output, what aspect ratio do you set your action safe markers for? I did a shoot and almost got burned by the headroom. We fixed it in post but Im just curious.

Hey everyone, well I made the long drive from Florida to California and as I get used to the change in climate and seeing mountains everywhere I look; I want to get started on creating a new base of contacts. So if anyone needs hands on set let me know. I'm an operator and have been a DP for the last 4 years on the $70k and under budget range. Thanks for reading.

me first!

Thanks for the laugh Adrian. Hell, maybe its in the vein of Warhol's Sleeper.

Brian's right. Use that unit instead to paint the BG if you can. Rake it across a fence, building, whatever. use it to add layers. Probably not strong enough to really light the street but frame creatively.

true, it could be 32 pages of insert shots...seriously though, I put in for it so if I get a call Ill post how it goes.

should I bother putting my name in? it does pay a little. The director spoke about the film, the compensation, what they were looking for, etc. Then ended the posting with this little gem, "The script is 32 pages, so this will probably be a two-day shoot."

Hey all, need some feedback on this reel if you don't mind. I'm moving to LA in a few weeks and would like to have a fighting chance. Thanks in advance.

if you look closely you'll see 2 points of light reflected in his eyes. One being the key, the other a subtle fill from the lower left. probably a bounced source for the fill and a strong key. maybe they bounced the key from the fill side to bring up the shadows but there are absolutely 2 sources working here on the face.

Thanks for reaffirming what I thought I knew. I had a producer ask me for her friend who owns the lighting store. I gently told her that we were just fine in our set up and that the bulbs were "special film grade bulbs". $125 per...I'm not sure why anyone would have thought we needed that but hey, thanks for the replies guys.

I'm pretty sure I know the answer but can I use normal florescent light bulbs in a kino fixture? Are there any cheaper bulb alternatives other than the proprietary ones? Apart from color temp, why not use normal daylight balanced florescent bulbs? A woman that runs a lighting store near here offered to sell us 2 foot bulbs "close to daylight" for $115 a pop. the price to me sounds close to kino bulbs. Thoughts?

I've done a number of multi-camera shoots and what directors or producers forget is that you end up lighting for multiple angles at once. So this of course slows things down as the set up is more complicated. You have to hide things more, make sure that your cameras dont see eachother (I know it sounds stupid but when the shoot is hand-held and moving, it can be a daunting task orchestrating your talent, cameras, and lighting. Then throw sound into the mix.) Sure the 2 or more camera set up can work and save time, like for stunts, action scenes (with very careful choreography) hell, sometimes even grabbing a close and wide during a static dialogue scene. But alot of times it makes things more complicated...IMO

If it were me, I'd look at the vision of the director and think about which tool would work best. If he springs for the camera rental, does he lose the crane and rain machine? if so, then you'd have a kinda bland (in his opinion) feeling piece that has really shallow DOF. I'd say that your job is to argue your point but in the end its up to you to make it look good and no camera on the planet can take crap and turn it into gold. If he wants HDV, then try and figure out a way to work with the deep DOF, get creative with the composition, dont think of it as a handicap, rather a look that while you may not like it aesthetically and on a personal level; is something that the director may want. If you really feel that his choice of camera is a detriment to the project, say so. Then explain why, but find a better argument than "it will look more cinematic" because that is a very subjective argument.

How wide do you plan to be? with only one 2k it will be difficult to make all of the windows do what you want, but if you have a tight frame or are avoiding the windows for the most part it may work. got any pics of the location? Also, when you say beam, how narrow are the windows and beam supposed to be? Can you get anything like a source4?

...and here's angle 2

Here's a still from a set up I did for a cancer survivor interview. This is what happens when I have a whole studio to play with, Abbey Road on the stereo and no real direction. The producers liked it but asked me to reel it back in a little...I agreed.

There hasn't been a GOOD adaptation of a Lovecraft story to the screen IMO, except for the film IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS, which was really only reminiscent of lovecraft anyway. His writing is so subjective that it seems to cheapen it by inserting images into the text. Add some CG creatures and a watered down story and you have a bad Sci-fi movie, so maybe the shut down was a good thing.

To say it was a waste is pretty short-sighted. By that logic if a film fails, then they wasted alot of money on actors, crew, film stock...and should have made sure that it would not fail before they "wasted" the money on all of those frills.

are you going after the color pallette or the contrasty look? I'd say production design is a huge part of that, maybe in post you could desaturate the image, crush the blacks a little...other than that you should be more specific about what you like in that shot. Just looked at the picture again. It looks like it was top-lit with a strong back light on the subject.