Ira Ratner

Is Fred there to protect her from Jason?

This is going to be a FRIENDLY disagreement, correct? But there IS no such thing as a wrong opinion, so I'll address each of your points: 1) "Yeah it's boring, blowing up a village of women and children AFTER they call in there's no threat, fire fights in total darkness using night vision goggles, kneeing on a road as a Russian made anti aircraft gun rakes the ground and vehicles all around you, Yeah, totally boring." You wait an hour each episode for 2 minutes of totally unrealistic action. (And some episodes, no action at all.) It's a movie, everyone knows it, and they don't even pull it off as nearly believable. It all seems so canned, especially when the actors open their mouths. To sum it up, no one really gives a crap. 2) "Look, I live next to one of the biggest military bases in the world, Fort Bliss Texas, and though the show portrays Marines and Fort Bliss is an Army base, TRUST ME, this show isn't that far off. I KNOW guys like that red-neck gunnery Sargent. I know someone similar to every one of these guys. I used to write plays for their office of equal opportunity and the guidelines they used to edit my scripts where just as arbitrary and absurd as the kind of things they show in the mini-series." That doesn't make it interesting or good filmmaking. Soldiers, like "regular" people, are basically BORING. 3) "As far as pissing, crapping and jerking off, when you're in the middle of the desert, in the middle of a war, those things become VERY important and it really doesn't surprise me they spend as much time on it as they do. It's one of the things that makes it real for me." People crap and pee and masturbate in all situations--even films made for FAMILIES like Sound of Music--but when it's not important to the plot, it just isn't important, and it isn't included. How is a soldier masturbating in his tank any more important to the plot than in a thousand other situations in films where the character would naturally masturbate and have every right to do sp? It's just thrown in there for filler here. It means nothing, and adds nothing to the story. And like I said--a few times is okay--but ALL the time!? My argument here rests on Saving Private Ryan and a lot of other classic war films--no jerking off there and great films. Generation Kill and a dozen jerking offs--boring. 4) "You may not like this series but it is NOT inaccurate." Okay--where are the guys getting their arms and legs blown off? Getting killed? The reactions of their families? The real FEAR that soldiers carry with them? The crying and screaming and begging for mommy? HBO pussied out on the true horrors of war, and the REALITIES of it, because they didn't want the political fallout. HBO is a business, and reality has nothing to do with it. They wanted to make the war look "bad," but not THAT bad. They wanted to make the soldiers look "human," but not ALL that human. And they wanted to make them look like victims of a situation, which they were--but they didn't really tell the story. 5) "I also liked Deadwood, but comparing the 2 is like comparing apples to ceiling fans. About the ONLY thing the 2 series have in common is foul language and their treatment of women." You have to be allowed to compare the entertainment and accuracy factors of various "docudramas," right? Or you couldn't have filmmaking discussions in the first place. Deadwood, and even more so, Rome, fantastic series. With Generation Kill, it's just viewed with the politics in mind--art has little to do with it--and I think they failed miserably.

I need a prime lens at this length for my K-3, and these are two that I'm now e-Baying. The Asahi auction ends in an hour, and I think I can snipe it with a max bid at like 50 bucks, meaning I'll pay anywhere from 25 (current high bid) to the 50. Or I can wait until tomorrow to really max out the bid for the faster Vivitar. And yeah--the Vivitar is 2.5--not 2.8. I grew up respecting Vivitar, but who the heck knows. It just seems like a 2.5 is a lot more desirable than a 3.5, taking into account these two brands. A 28mm Asahi at 2.8 isn't part of my current bidding action, so if you say forget the Vivitar and wait to bid on that instead, please tell. Thanks!

You guys actually don't find this series boring and redundant? How many episodes are they going show a guy taking a piss, taking a crap, or masturbating? EVERY episode? Or at least TWICE or THREE times every episode? It's just stupid and a borefest, and as an example of it, as HBO often does, they bring back yet another actor from one of their other mini-series. Who is this guy MARRIED to anyway that makes him so worthy? And he does nothing in the part but smile and look stupid and confused. The absolute worst HBO has come up with, especially compared to Deadwood. Of course, every single episode also has the contrived "confrontation," where an American soldier gets into another one's face. And of course, let's not forget the fact that 50% of these guys have no fear of death at all, and just have a grand old time hooting and hollering and making jokes to the next battle. HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!

Put me in the negative column. Boring and unrealistic. Our troops were in Bagdad in less than 2 months, and it's taking these guys a month to do it in movie time.

Adam, I'm in the same boat--and everyone tells me I'm just an old fart (51). The Dark Knight? Big deal. Ironman? Boom, smash, crash--what innovation! The Hulk? Give me a break. I think the thing is, the action blockbusters are the films that are going to bring in the dollars, because they bring in the entire families at once. And not only do they have to appeal to the lowest common dominator, I don't think 99% of filmmakers can do otherwise in the first place anyway. And with the cost of going to the movies these days, who the heck is going to shell out that kind of money to see something innovative and questionable? The attitude is, "We'll wait until it gets to HBO or DVD." And for love stories (eech), avant garde, comedies, and off-the-wall themes, again--same attitude. Why spend that kind of money to see it on the huge screen when I can wait to see it on my gorgeous high-def at home for a fraction of the cost? But a lot of the computer-animated children's stuff coming out has been UNBELIEVABLE, and unless you have youngin's and see films like Shrek on the big screen, you'll never know. Beautiful to look at, great stories, and written with an adult perspective to entertain the parents as well. Maybe the film industry is getting to a point like the music industry, where production and distribution of the product is not going to be determined by the large movie companies, but instead, by smaller production companies delivering their product direct to the consumer via download or pay-per-view. The bad side is that unlike music, where the production costs remain fairly static (they all just work in an audio studio), the cost of shooting films is astronomical for most genres, and the limited income from direct to consumer sales just can't support it. However, my guess (or hope) is that there's going to be one film taking this approach, it's going to be an incredible work of art and successful, and other companies will follow suit. I know many of you here can't envision it, but I sure can--a world without movie theaters and $10 boxes of popcorn. To me, it's just the future, and you can't stop it. Yeah, yeah--I know there's an argument to be made that when cable TV first came out that everyone was worried that it would destroy the movies and it didn't. But that was then and this is now.

Would that length still fit on a standard 100' spool? Since I'm 100' spool limited, I was curious about the size of the spool.

Hey, you gotta be careful. Depending on who put that ceiling in, you have to watch what you're doing REGARDLESS of weight. They're usually just hanging by wire, and if it was a do-it-yourself job, I wouldn't be so confident how the tracks were connected. Also, the extra weight of anything on there may pull the tracks down, bowing the whole ceiling. I STRONGLY suggest you get up on a ladder and remove some ceiling panels to see what's going on up there. Then test with finger/hand pressure before attaching any lights. I'm no film expert, but I've been around plenty of badly installed dropped ceilings in my day.

I was inspecting my Takumar off camera, and had her switched to manual, in order to check the aperature blades. The first confusion was, should the switch be turned to COVER where it says "Manual" on the barrel, or should the mode you want be exposed? So whatever... everything looks good as I turn the aperature ring...but now that I switched it to Auto, that auto/man switch is locked and doesn't move. What the hell did I do here? Edit: Never mind. Once you put the rear cap on, as if it's attached to the camera, it moves. Don't get it, because I depressed the diaphragm pin and that that didn't make a difference. There must be some other locking thingy there that messes with your mind.

That's the thing--look at the photos of the package. It says 125', and 38.1 meters.

Isn't it a washed out look you want for something like this?

I told you it was a stupid novice question: I thought the standard length like this was always 100' and had never heard of 125'. You've failed to grasp the depths of my non-knowledge.

Can I ask a novice, stupid question in two words? 125 feet?

Hi, Collin. I'm a TOTAL beginner, so you're light years ahead of me with your experience. However, I'm a hell of a lot older than you, so I have a background in 35mm still work. (And you know you're old when 35mm was invented during your lifetime.) I'm doing this just to have some fun, so I bought a Russian K-3. And you're right--the noise makes it useless for on location sound. However, there's a Danish company that's releasing a sync motor drive for the K-3 next month that's a CINCH to install and has a very low profile. (It's not a huge box, but instead, thin and flat and runs off a small battery.) It's around 500 bucks, which isn't chump change, but considering that really mint K-3s are selling for anywhere from just $150 to a $279 buy-it-now on eBay, total cost here is pretty low. In addition, the stock zoom on the K-3 is pretty superior and gives you a good range. (It's a 17mm to 69mm, equivalent to around 35mm to 140mm on a 35mm still.) However, the K-3 was made with both bayonet and M42 (screw) mounts, and the M42s are more sought after because then you can use all of the great Pentax lenses out there for sale which used to sit on a 35mm still bodies. I'm now going on a lens-buying spree on eBay. You can also eventually decide to mod it for Super 16, and depending on your production workflow, you're now approaching 35mm quality. For me, it was a matter of getting a 16mm camera in my hands for next no nothing. I got mine for $150 and $79 shipping, and not only is it like brand-new, it came with every accessory that's like mint too. (I guess it's a Ukranian trait to take care of their things.) There are a ton of K-3s floating around the Ukraine, and a ton of reliable eBay sellers there. So, just telling you my experience and rationale on this. For me, it was all about low cost now and good potential for later. For you, it might be a better camera now for more bucks.

Thank you Saul for restoring my faith in mankind: I was hoping for a 3-letter affirmative answer, but I was REALLY hoping for a "Yep" over a "Yes." "Yep" has so much more character.

For semi-auto lenses for 35mm still cameras that have a manual or automatic selection, for use on the K-3, I turn the barrel to manual, correct?

Just today, I saw a book on eBay about this. And I would think that most of the literature that you would want to find on 3-D/stereoscopic is going to be a little old anyway, correct? Mainly because those methods are based on older and REASONABLY priced equipment. I'm barbecuing right now, but if I don't get too drunk and forget to do it, I'll try and find that book and post the link.

In a million years, I wouldn't post a link here to something which was merely funny. But this is a little different, it's related to video production, and the production values are quite high. The instructions for the entry fields are in Portuguese (Brazil), but there are just two fields to fill out: Put your first name in the first text field, your last name in the second, and you can ignore the next two, which have to do with your email address. Then click the button Visuilizar button on the bottom left. www.tatuagemdaboa.com.br Boys and girls--this one is real KEEPER! I SWEAR!!!!

Bought my wheel bolts and nylock nuts today! So I'm 10% there!

Don't most basements have low ceilings compared to the rest of ANY house? Unless you're living large? I guess this depends on what part of the country you live in, but my guess is that we're talking about 7' ceilings or so, correct? MAYBE 7' 6"? The key word here is basement, so do you mean an unfinished basement, where you see the floor joists for above? Or a finished ceiling?

Well, Chris--thank you for saving me a world of hurt. Wanna buy a Cokin P-series 80A filter real cheap!? I now consider myself enlightened, thanks to you. Based on my current lamps, nothing will work with these daylight flourescents. Yeah, I also have some cheap aluminum bowl lamps which may or may not accommodate an adaptor for the FL bulbs, but they're pretty low-end. Most important, the low temp and comfortable working environment that these bulbs provide, plus incredible life, seems to make these awesome and perfect for what I need. Tomorrow, at work (because I don't WANT to work), I'm going to go into Photoshop and work up my studio set-up for your input. Basically, I don't know how many watts I'll need for what I want to do, so if I get it on paper, you can help me take it from there. As I may have mentioned, I'm just shooting a seated subject on a stool, from waist to head, with the 100ASA reversal. In the meantime, here are the products I found on eBay. This one is 3-lamp, and gives you about 400 watts. I know I'll need two, plus whatever more. $75 bucks each, no stand--but I have stands already. http://cgi.ebay.com/3-Lamp-Fluorescent-Coo...id=p3286.c0.m14 Same deal and price here WITH stands, except with a soft reflector: http://cgi.ebay.com/3-Lamp-Cool-Daylight-F...id=p3286.c0.m14 There are some Korean sellers there with stuff too, but that's just a little too funky for me right now.

Using "girls" there could not have been a joke. It denotes a really twisted mind-set and personality: Try and be nice on the one hand, but then revert to being an insulting shmuck because it's simply part of your make-up and you can't help it. Where's the joke there? And when you think about it, where's the INSULT? But that's how it was intended--calling you a girl is an insult in his mind.

My German skills are lacking because of historical leanings (we can't talk politics on this site so I'll just end that here), but even without speaking German, what's the one thing here that doesn't make sense for a Yankee: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wittner: CHROME F64T Hergestellt auf Basis von Fujichrome T64 Professional Film 16mm Kameraspule 30m / 100 ft., einseitig perforiert ISO 64/19° Kunstlicht (3200K, ohne Filter) ISO 32/16° Tageslicht (5500K, Filter Wratten 85B) Entwicklung (E6) im Filmpreis nicht eingeschlossen. Best.-Nr. 2139 - (41.93 EUR netto) 49.90 EUR brutto ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Did you spot it? Guess what 49.90 Euros for 100' are in American bucks: Way too MUCH.

PVC, filled with sand to absorb heat so it doesn't kink, and heat gun, jig, and rubber mallet. It's how to manually make PVC lawn furniture. Once shaped, the sand is dumped, and the pieces connect with dowels.

This is a great example of cinematography being at least 50% audio. I am no one to talk at all, just a viewer: I LOVED the film work, but the music drove me crazy. This would make a great film school project--taking the same video, and giving it different audio treatments. Again, I am JUST commenting as someone watching it, not an expert, and although I know the intent of the audio was to drive suspense, to me t was just annoying. It's a tough nut to crack, because where do you easily find appropriate music in the first place? Again, VERY well done! A LOT of interesting camera techniques that DID keep me interested,