John Thomas

Good choices. See if you can get a couple used par cans too. You can do a lot of damage with a par 64.

My number one rule: All crew must have a sense of humor.

Nillo, Get a location with a high ceiling. It would be helpful to be able to rig above. Lights on the floor with 60 people will get in your way. Light the room first, make it look great, then worry about the people.

The picture quality in "video village" is awesome...

I would make them, I've made a lot from 12/3 SJO, it's great busy work for a rainy day. Be sure to check that your connectors will accept the 10/3 cable, and the strain relief will lock down properly before you start ordering in bulk. Regards, JT

Lars, 9 pages a day is not fun. Make sure that really great guy, the producer, gives you what you need for your pre-light. If you hang lights for a variety of situations and get them on a dimmer system you will make the first week much easier. After you've shot the sets once, the lighting will be easier. The key is being prepared to survive the first week. Good Luck, JT

Michael, Beat on parts of the background with 500W and 1K theatrical par cans. They're cheap to rent, plug into the wall, and the VNSP bulbs do a lot of damage. They are also black so that you can hide them in the shot. Small over exposed areas look great in the mostly dark, out of focus, background. Light the background first, then worry about the actors. Good luck, JT

Thanks for the help...I guess I'll get as tight as I can until I think it's strobing. JT

Sometimes it is important to let the actress know that we are working very hard to make her look beautiful.

I've got a day exterior scene in my script with two actors talking and running for 2 pages. I'm not afraid of the wide shots, but as we get tighter I'm worried about strobing as the actors are bouncing in the frame. I can't really do tests, does anyone have any experience or can you recommend a film with a succesful jogging sequence? How tight can I get? Thanks, JT

David, The director I'm working with went to a screening of Shadowboxer to check out Gooding. He didn't love the film but said that the film had a very lush look and must be the result of a big budget and a long schedule. I'm sure that you had neither, way to go! Please don't come to work in New York ;) . Regards, JT

Whit is living in Paris and is developing some feature ideas. I don't really have any details however. JT

Brian, I went the film school route. It was good for me because it moved me from Akron, Ohio to New York City. After spending way too much for tuition, I graduated and it was my film school contacts that helped me, not my brand new MFA. I will say that film school helped my confidence level. I learned a lot working on other student's thesis films... let them pay the tab. If school is out of the question, go to a production center and crew crew crew. Good Luck, JT

Paul, check PMs

Thanks for the help! JT

You can do a lot of damage with 6 par cans. If you can control those beasts indoors you've earned a lighting PHD. If I was alone on a desert island I would take the par cans over any petite lighting kit. Paul, Do you know my friend Kent Moorehead? He directed some cool stuff in Oxford, good filmmaker. JT

I'm looking for some films that have successful flashback sequences in them. I'm trying to find flashbacks that are of dark memories but not horror. If something comes to mind please share. Thanks, JT

"It's just that everyone is hired to do their job within the time and money allotted. My priorities are different than the line producer's or AD's, but part of their job is to do what they can within limits to support me and I in turn have to do what I can to support them by staying on schedule and budget. So it's give and take." DM I can't stand the Line Producers who have a deal where they get a percentage of any money that is left if they come in under budget. They profit from saying no. Putting something great up on the screen is not in their best interest. Doing a job with one of those guys requires a lot of non photographic work. David, Thanks for doing this journal, it's really great! JT

Ask your potential cinematographers what "brave, economical choices" they might make for the overall success of the film. Then ask yourself the same question. Many of those choices will be made on the fly while you are shooting. Try to find someone who's willing to keep in step with you. An actor's contribution may change the whole feeling of a scene for you, should that effect the photography? The sun at the end of the day may not supply the long shadows we had hoped for in prep, will that effect the way the scene plays? It's give and take hopefully for a common goal. Make a good decision 24 times a second and you'll both be O.K. Regards, JT

Phil, You have a unique way of seeing, and your choices will be exclusively yours. While the producers may have other choices in London there is only one Phil Rhodes. Help yourself with a self-assured attitude. Good luck, John T.

Well said Bob, this is a huge part of a cinematographer's job. That eternal balance between our needs and the needs of the film.

Kevin, Make sure that that you compare the two company's data carefully. Is it brighter because it's just a tighter spot? Is the bulb life the same? good luck, JT

Morgan, As you said, I would try to shoot the wide shots early or late in the day. My goal would be to keep the sun behind the actors so that the wide shots are back lit. If your actors are lit from the hard sun directly in the wide shots it makes cutting to a close-up with no sun pretty rough. If you shoot your wide shots with no sun you stand a chance to control the sun with the usual grip equipment as your shots get tighter. Of course if the location restricts you from shooting the wide shots with back light, or you need to shoot in continuity order for any reason, I would take some stills as I moved along and try to match a sunny wide shot with a overcast close up with a reflector and some negative fill. With S16 I would use no diffusion or lo-cons on the camera except for an effect. Your use of a strong color (colour) B) may be just what you need to help smooth out the inevitable miss matches in lighting. You may also want to consider shooting a faster film stock so that you can shoot later into the day without changing filters or stocks. For your own sanity, and for your project's subject matter, you may want to concentrate on the dynamic use of the camera and not get too hung up on lighting continuity. Good luck, JT

I've found that poorly exposed film can weigh on you heavily.

Demian, I have sure-fire in NYC. call me if you need it. 973-476-6980 regards, JT