Dan Salzmann

You didn't miss anything. In my opinion if you didn't see that film you wouldn't have missed anything. A sad attempt at a copy of film genre. His influences blow that film away. One look at Russ Meyer's "Faster Pussycat Kill Kill" and you'll get what I mean. Another example of Hollywood at it's worst. Sorry for the rant but I really find that film annoying on all fronts.

"Plausible denial" that's what it is. I really want to underline the other advice and say DO NOT DO A TIE-IN unless you are a licensed electrician. You really can kill yourself and/or others as well as damage equipment if you do not REALLY KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING.

Perhaps it will be harder Expressionist direct lighting fresnel fixtures. Neo-noir glamour a la George Hurrell because people will be bored silly with Kinoflo's.

Well said Michael. I can relate completely. The why is the key. Very much the same as in music.

What kind of technical knowledge are you lacking?

Please accept my heartfelt condolences. John Pytlak was a guiding light to this forum and a real inspiration. A very knowledgeable, generous and patient man. All the best for his family at this sad time.

Sometimes it is possible to be perceived as a pain in the ass when giving reality checks. Be ready with solutions and alternatives. Sometimes inexperienced producers can be penny wise and pound foolish and you have to know where you can be flexible and where you can't. A pleasant manner is very important. Everyone wants as good a result as possible and sometimes a really small detail can make all the difference. It is really important not to promise what you can't deliver. Of course a major part of the cinematographers role is knowing what you and your team can deliver. Be influenced by the film at hand and not by trends. Anyway today's trend is tomorrow's old news. Always know WHY you are doing something. Why that light? Why that filmstock? Why that lens? Why that camera move? Why that composition?

Michael is quite right, it is the director's film. You can request a copy of the rushes and do an edit that suits you- just make it clear when you show it that it's not the director's film but your re-edit of the directors film. The desktop "revolution" has definitely encouraged editors to fancy themselves as colorists and sound designers/engineers. Another potential "jack of all trades, master of none" situation.

Tony Curtis' Brooklyn accent really makes it extraordinarily great!

Bad camera work is bad camera work whether handheld or on a Technocrane, tripod or whatever. There are many examples of very, very effective handheld work so please get with it. A lot of the fight scenes in Raging Bull. the battle stuff in Saving Private Ryan and the rape scene in Clockwork Orange to name three were very, very good IMHO. What I hate is when static handheld shots are shaky and it just looks like people were too lazy to use a tripod. The so-called retro zoomy thing often does look really amateur and crappy as well as being no doubt some kind of neo-retro trash aesthetic that escapes me. Andy is absolutely right, handheld does not mean shakey. Be careful before dismissing any technique entirely.

A pizza box is a bit light weight (no pun intended) for transport in a vehicle loaded with equipment. Photodisk pouches are not rigid enough and also difficult to buy without the Photodisk :-) By artists portfolio you mean those things that are two pieces of heavy cardboard held together on 4 sides with cotton ribbons?

Does anyone know the size of those fibreboard cases with the straps that 35mm projection reels are shipped in? I also thought that perhaps inexpensive rigid cymbal cases might do it as well. I guess I am answering my own post.

Good advice from Michael and don't forget you need to power all those lights which can mean long, long cables (colour shifting red) and/or generators. The woods at night and low budget do not go hand in hand.

On a slightly more optimistic note: Perhaps you should get some experience in a smaller arena before moving to a bigger one. You cannot expect that just with a film degree and enthusiasm that the red carpet will roll out for you in Canada, LA or anywhere. What kind of "key creative" do you want to be. Is that a DoP, a director, a key grip, etc.? If you've set your sights on cinematography, several career paths have been discussed on this forum and can be applied to any city that has a film industry. I suggest that you use this forum's search engine and get some ideas. They all boil down to knowledge, experience, enthusiasm and TIME.

Any tips on transporting these lanterns so they don't get damaged. Don't worry I'm talking about when they are flat!

"Cinematographer Style" is a great DVD. I would really love to see an uncut (ie. the full interviews) version.

I agree fully. Russ Meyer's work blows it out of the water. I saw the European release of grindhouse and found it to be complete rubbish. Not even worthy to be considered an homage to anything. A completely disappointing excuse for a film. Truly annoying in every sense of the word.

Budgets are tighter than they were before. Those 1 and a half hour lunches are a thing of the past. A producer is a producer anywhere. Frankly in the movie business I live to work. I love making films!

Yes but if you think about it there is no metric unit in between a centimeter and a meter like a foot is in between an inch and a yard. It is just more convenient though less precise if you see what I mean.

I don't think the tools ie the lights and/or filters are the clichés. I often think that there are many "codes" that are easy to fall into. I do not have any problems with sepia, white promist (I don't use them much) or candles either. I do not dismiss any technique like I don't dismiss any spice. It is a question of how they are used. Before I tried Indonesian food, peanut sauce in a chicken dish didn't occur to me-then I had the opportunity to try it and my range of taste experiences and my ideas about the use of peanuts grew. Dreams can take all forms. In fact in dreams, everything seems to be logical even though it may be absurd.

Seems like with diffusion in post the grain of the film is affected.

Sometimes I really like the blue cast that happens with some types of black skin. Look at some good fashion magazines.

Yeah, Batman is American.

Definitely. If the 30 hr. a week thing is for you, then the motion picture business definitely isn't.

What exactly do you mean by sprocketless projection? Do you mean a projector that doesn't use the films perfs?