John Crow

So I never actually went to film school, I just started working on set as a PA after college and worked my way up to electrician. I'm doing pretty well free-lancing, but I'm starting to think what I really want to do is work as a DP. It seems like most of the really successful DPs I've worked with did some sort of film school to get where they are, so I'm now wondering if I should maybe give grad school a try and see if I can launch some kind of cinematrography career, I know it's long and expensive and a lot of people tell me it isn't worth it, but at the same time I don't know any good DPs who didn't go to school for it. Anybody have any thoughts or suggestions on this or recommendations for good programs to look into? Thanks

Was wondering if anybody knew anything about the Kodak cinematography workshops and had any opinion on them? Or possibly knew of something similar offered by somebody else? Thanks

Hey guys, I would like to get some advice here on how to break into DPing. I went to school for liberal arts and when I got out I decided I wanted to do film, but unfortunately missed out on the film school experience. I've always been interested in cameras and wanted to do cinematography. I was first able to get work as a grip, and very quickly managed to work my way up to gaffer but I've been kind of stuck there and unable to advance. I know a hell of a lot about lighting now but still have very little camera experience and was wondering if anyone could give me advice on how to start getting more experience as a shooter. Going back to school full time isn't really a financially viable option, so the main thing I was looking into was cinematography workshops and I was hoping somebody could point me in the right direction. The two I was looking at was the 8 week filmmaking workshop at the the New York Film Academy in L.A., and the 2 week cinematography workshop by Light Extreme in Italy. Does anyone know anything about these programs and whether it would be money well spent? Is one better than the other? Are there any other programs that might be better? Or any other options that I haven't thought of? Thanks for reading, I value the input.

Hey guys, I would like to get some advice here on how to break into DPing. I went to school for liberal arts and when I got out I decided I wanted to do film, but unfortunately missed out on the film school experience. I've always been interested in cameras and wanted to do cinematography. I was first able to get work as a grip, and very quickly managed to work my way up to gaffer but I've been kind of stuck there and unable to advance. I know a hell of a lot about lighting now but still have very little camera experience and was wondering if anyone could give me advice on how to start getting more experience as a shooter. Going back to school full time isn't really a financially viable option, so the main thing I was looking into was cinematography workshops and I was hoping somebody could point me in the right direction. The two I was looking at was the 8 week filmmaking workshop at the the New York Film Academy in L.A., and the 2 week cinematography workshop by Light Extreme in Italy. Does anyone know anything about these programs and whether it would be money well spent? Is one better than the other? Are there any other programs that might be better? Or any other options that I haven't thought of? Thanks for reading, I value the input.

Cool guys, thanks for all the input - definitely have a lot to go on now.

So you can charge these like with a car battery? So theoretically if I just always kept one charging I could just keep cycling through them every few hours and wouldn't have to get a brand new one each time? Thanks for the response

It would be days, but not running the whole time. They're shooting in there for like 6 hours a day 3 days in a row. I expect it to go over schedule as well, so maybe like 8 hours a day for 3 days. Again, the issue with the genny is we don't have enough cable, and we're out in the middle of nowhere so production is under the impression that it would just be easier and faster to do it with the car battery rather than having more cable shipped - time is an issue on this one more than money and we can pick up the batteries any time. I've tried to convince them to either go with a smaller genny or just have more cable shipped for the big one but they're fairly stubborn and pretty sold on having me do it with car batteries. So it looks like I'm stuck with this option and need to figure out how to make it work.

Thanks for the tip, I'll try hitting him up. Cost isn't really the issue, it's really a logistical reason for not getting a generator.

Thanks for your responses. I would assume the inverter would take care of the voltage needs, so would I be wiring several together to make sure I get enough power? How many should I use? We're shooting here for a few days and can basically only fit the DP and two actors in there, so once it's set up we'll likely just leave it for a few days. Once it's powering the lights does anyone know how long it will last so I can tell production how many to order? I figure I'll just have the DP disconnect and reconnect the wires from the terminals every time he goes in and out, but they may be left running for several hours at a time so I'm just wondering how often we'll need to come in with replacement batteries. I think we'll wind up running about 6 13 watt CFLs, so 80 watts total, and if I can squeeze enough juice out of them we may run an additional 2 flourescent tubes - probably just go with regular over Kino since the wattage is lower, something like 34 watts x 2 so another 70 watts. So looking at about 150-200 watts total, wondering how many batteries I need and how long they'll run for. Thanks guys

It's sort of a cave and we can't get a vehicle near enough to it to do that - the power source basically needs to be transportable by hand and our generator is too big and there's not enough cable to run it. I'd like to just get a little 2k putt putt to bring in their but the sound guy threw a fit, plus it's an enclosed space so I think fumes were an issue. So production's really sold on the car battery idea and it's up to me to figure out how to make it work. So... yeah. Fun stuff.

Ok, so here's my situation: for reasons that are complicated and not worth going into I need to light a scene with no generator and no house power. It's a low-level light scene and we're talking about just using 5 or 6 CFL bulbs and trying to power them with a car battery. I've never attempted to use a car battery as a power source and have several questions: - how many car batteries would it take to power 6 13 watt CFLs & how long would it last? - Could I get away with just using 1 battery, or would I need to wire 10 together since they're 12 volt to make it a 120 volt circuit? - As far as wiring it goes, I've never done this. Is it just a matter of stripping some zip cord of the insulation and wrapping the wire around the terminals? Do any other steps need to be taken to get power flowing? - since the battery is DC and the bulbs are AC I imagine I would need to use an inverter of some sort, correct? - finally, how much of a pain in the ass is this? Is it worth my time to seriously just try my best to convince production to suck it up and get a generator? Thanks for reading

Hey all, I'm shooting my first scene with heavy flourescent lighting, too many to replace so I'm just going to go with it. The power source in the building is a steady 60 hz, so I don't believe flicker will be a problem as long as I'm xtal synced @ 24 fps... right? My main concern I think is color spikes with the flourescents. What is the best way to determine if I need to use a corrective + or - green gel? Don't have the budget for a filming test, so.... color meter? Will the CRT rating on the lights tell me anything? Thanks for reading

Good question. Does anybody know if flicker or color spikes are a problem with those, as they are with regular, non-Kino flourescents? I've never used one to light a scene, every time I've run into them they had to be removed anyway b/c we were using dimmers. And as long as we're on the subject, I've never really totally understood why Flourescents and HMIs go all crazy when you put them on dimmers. I'm sure it must have something to do with the voltage drop. Can anybody answer that more thoroughly?

Thanks for the input, I think you've answered my question. I asked because I'm going to be gaffing a small budget project soon, and they just don't a have a sufficient lighting package for what needs to be done, not enough big guns. I was going to consider juicing up the volts as an option, but in lieu of what your posts I may just skip that and hope for the best...

So, I've always wondered this: I read in one of my lighting books that by increasing voltage one can increase power output, thereby increasing wattage and hence luminosity. I've never had an opportunity to try this and I was wondering if it's true. How can this be achieved? Do you just dial up the voltage on the genny? It seems that could be a danger. Would the the higher voltage simply result in a lower amperage to maintain a balance with the wattage, or would the wattage actually increase? And can it be done with HMIs or Kinos - lights with ballasts that regulate voltage? I've noticed lights sometimes dim when voltage gets low, but I've never seen the opposite effect..