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Jim Hyslop

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Everything posted by Jim Hyslop

  1. You've got it, that's exactly what happened. The swap occurred somewhere "upstream" of where the neutral and ground were bonded together. Here's a diagram: The black dashed lines represent a properly wired system. The red lines show the reversed wires. On the right is the supply from the main circuit panel. The thick line represents the instrument's chassis. The reversal could easily happen in an older home, where the ground wire was not part of the original wiring. The lamp doesn't care which of its two wires is hot and which is neutral, so it works OK. But following the hot line from the main circuit panel, you can see how the chassis would get energized.
  2. Very nice summary, thank you. Would you mind elaborating on what makes lighting "TV-ish"?
  3. Are you finding it necessary to recalibrate for every shoot, or just doing it as a precautionary measure? I got the impression from the article that running through the procedure at each of the ND settings would cure the problem. I haven't tried it myself yet, as I'm a little reluctant to do anything that might void the warranty. LOL! Or maybe it's a cinematographer's trait to be attracted to that kind of background!
  4. Oh, of course. I should have thought it through a little more before my reply. Thanks for the clarification.
  5. I was referring to the use of a clear glass filter to protect the lens itself. Actually, using the inbuilt filters can produce problems with backfocus on at least some units; here's an article explaining the problem and solution (not a solution for the faint of heart, though!)
  6. I have an EX1, which has a 1/2" sensor (as opposed to the HVX's 1/3" sensor). Would it be subject to the same problem?
  7. Could it have been a matte painting, created in post with the artist very carefully matching the colours? -- Jim
  8. I've heard of operas that do the same thing - a huge, forced perspective set of a castle, using shorter and shorter actors to play the guards, who also carried proportionally smaller spears, shields, etc.
  9. And if I'd read through all the thread before replying, I'd have discovered David Mullen's explanation, which also explains some of the image warping I'd noticed in the shot. -- Jim p.s. Anyone know why the forum wouldn't let me edit my previous post? It said I didn't have permission to change it.
  10. One thing I noticed in that scene was the jitter between the left and right portions of the screen. That always suggested to me that it was done in two takes, which were matted together, kind of like you'd do a wipe. The bright "scanner" would be superimposed over the wipe line, and would hide most of the jitter. That's just my guess, though. -- Jim
  11. Well, I admit I did customize the joke based on your signature :-)
  12. OK, I gotta ask - why bother with Blu-Ray? Don't get me wrong, I love TOS and grew up with it. But when I watched it on DVD, every little problem that would have been hidden in the video noise, or that was outside the action safe area (like boom mic shadows), stood out like a sore thumb. I told my wife to slap me silly if I ever brought home a Blu-Ray copy of the original series. My wife says she might consider a Blu-Ray copy if it's been remastered, and if William Shatner's been digitally replaced (is that grounds for divorce?).
  13. If he hadn't been holding some device and pointing it at the camera, I might have suggested he was there to spot the operator in case he was about to run into something.
  14. Reminds me of the old joke about a guy who said "All women from Philadelphia are hookers or hockey players." Another man said, in a dangerous voice, "My wife is from Philadelphia." First man: "Really? What position does she play?" ba-DUM-bum! -- Jim
  15. Right, of course - you don't focus from the monitor. -- Jim
  16. Hi, I saw this posted on a technical theatre mail list the other day: Segway dismount Someone asked who the guy running beside the camera operator was; obviously (to us) he's the 1st AC. However, the follow-up question was - why didn't he just use the remote and stay out of sight? Why did he need to be right beside the camera? BTW if you want to see the actual footage, you don't have to sit through the first 2:35 of the song - just click on the timeline at 2:40.
  17. CGI - Computer Generated Images. Sounds like any one of a couple of dozen books to me. Well, I do hope you aren't in a hurry to get this done. It sounds to me like you need to learn A LOT before you even begin thinking about writing the script. Take some courses on screenwriting and the basics of filmmaking. Spend the next two years or so learning. THEN you will be ready to start planning and writing your film.
  18. Well, you can count me in the "too many flares" camp. It was OK most of the time, but there were a few places where they really did not seem appropriate. Like David, I'm a big fan of the original series, and in fact I remember watching the special announcement that Star Trek would be back for a third season (for those who don't know, towards the end of the second season NBC announced it would be canceling Star Trek, and the fans launched a massive letter-writing campaign to save the show). I was actually a little disappointed in Karl Urban's portrayal of Bones. I saw an almost identical recreation of Deforest Kelley's character, instead of seeing how Karl Urban interpreted the character. Which is fine if you're trying to recreate the original characters - but this was supposed to be a "reboot". Simon Pegg's Scotty, on the other hand, was quite different from James Doohan's Scotty, but still recognizable as the same character. Overall, I did like the movie, but there were a few things that REALLY threw me. SPOILER ALERT They fell prey to one of my pet peeves - when you're looking at a display, the contents of that display WILL NOT BE PROJECTED ON YOUR FACE! Not even if you're using Romulan technology! Why do they DO that? There are very few things that pull me completely out of a story, and that's one of them. Who the hell makes a cadet fresh out of the Academy - one who stowed away on the ship and is under investigation for cheating, no less - a FIRST OFFICER?!?!? Were there no other experienced officers available? Did the crew consist of one captain, one first officer and 428 ensigns fresh out of the academy? So let me get this straight - Chekhov's only 17? Was he 13 when he joined the Academy? Or did he skip the Academy and sign on as an Ensign? If he was that bright, why didn't Pike make him first officer? Was anyone else yawning at the ice monsters? They overplayed the "Kirk hanging over the edge of a cliff" gag. Once when he was an adolescent to set it up, and once as a payoff later would have been sufficient, IMO. Turbines in a starship? OK, sure, why not? We've established that Nero has upset the timeline. But it almost felt like they were trying to move it towards steam punk at that point. And as someone else pointed out - ensign to captain in one leap? Not in any military system I know of. I totally agree he needs a few years to hone his experience and become the seasoned professional we saw in the original series. Now as I said, on the whole I enjoyed the movie; those were just the points that made me go "Huh?!?!" I did like Sulu's "parking brake" moment, the irony of McCoy's "I like him" (referring to Spock) moment, and other moments that have been mentioned.
  19. Nice, simple and to the point. Mind if I use it as well if need be?
  20. Someone I know shot a doc in India. I think he said that officially you needed a permit, but unofficially all you needed was a 20 rupee note in your pocket to pay any police officer who bothered you. Except the one time he ran into an honest officer :-) -- Jim
  21. I didn't realize you were in Canada (fill in your personal info!!). I deal with CG&B Insurance, based in Markham, Ontario (web site here). They understand the film industry and its needs. I've dealt with Judi Heron - her email is judi.heron AT cgbgroup.com -- Jim
  22. No, that's not quite true - the nice thing about video standards is that there are so many to choose from! :-D -- Jim
  23. Hmmm... I'm kinda weak on this whole good/bad thing. Can you define "bad"? -- Jim
  24. Sounds like you've got a good plan here. I'm glad you're making sure it's all going to be legal and (more importantly) safe. -- Jim
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