Jeremy Parsons

I still rent Netflix DVDs primarily for the commentary tracks. Most common tracks are the Director with either a Producer or some Actors. Occasionally I will find one with the DP among the commentary. So far, ones I have found that were very informative were: Capote - Adam Kimmel (Lars and the Real Girl, Never let me Go) Scott Pilgrim - Bill Pope (Matrix trilogy, Fur, MIB 3) Tropic Thunder - John Toll (Braveheart, Iron Man 3) - He doesn't say much in this. Not a DP, but I've been watching early Bogdanovich's work with Lazlo Kovacs (Targets, Paper Moon) Peter goes into great detail about how they worked together in planning the shots. I am curious what DVDs you have found that have DP commentary tracks available? I'd love to rent them. -JP

Edelkrone makes a nice FF that has a pretty small footprint on your rod system. The marking wheel is turned toward the operator for easy operator viewing as well. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=1016665&is=REG&Q=&A=details Oh, it might be as lightweight as you wanted. Its pretty solid construction.

The gear game is a dangerous career and financial pit. It depends on how you want to do business: Do you want to be a Cinematographer or do you want to be a rental house? What kind of jobs do you want to do? Owning a camera will probably get you work in the short run. That work will be among circles that expect you to have a camera and bring it along for free or at a discount in order to get the job. As such, they only see you as a means to cheap gear. Once your camera falls out of fashion, they will hire someone else who owns the flavor of the month. Sell yourself as a cinematographer - someone who can create the image with the tools and budget available - you'll have a lot more longevity.

I wish every lunch break was like this.

When I'm on a shoot as 1st AC and there's a HH shot, I generally hold the camera until the AD/DP/Op calls for it. I then take it from him/her after cutting the camera for them. In many cases camera-mounted shoulder pads interfere with with the sliding base plate, so I am stuck holding the camera. In the cases I am ACing for a DP/Operator, he or she is usually goes to the director or gaffer between the take. During that time, I find it helpful to them to stand in their place and hold the frame so they can talk about what's going on. On the occasion I have a 2nd AC around, I have them fly the tripod in if there's going to be some time til the next take.

I think his last statement comparing the business to cooking points to the answer; You combine the right kind of familiar ingredients, and you get a great dish (movie). But if you put in too many ingredients, or not enough and you get something people don't want to eat. I think the most of the lesser films we see these days started out well intended, but were altered by too many chefs, or not enough cooks.

Thank you both for your input, David, It's Interesting thing you mention cutting a reel like a symphony. The reel I'm cutting now has a much darker, faster feel. I named this version Allegro and renamed my old one Andante. This opens up the possibility of an Adagio later on. After hearing what Paul says about using a wide range of styles and techniques as possible, this seems like a good way to show these varying styles conveying a specific emotion instead of the story. This gives me a more solid direction to take. I'll keep you posted on what I come up with.

Schneider makes a series of streaking filters that are available in different colors. Schneider also has a "lending library" of their filters for testing purposes. So if you want to check them out for yourself, you can do so at no cost. You may have to pick them up in person. Just contact Schneider directly to find out. Also, I agree with Harry Capota; a flare, or ANY filter, does not have the same effect in post as it does in camera. Analog filters affect objects the scene differently according to their placement in relation to the light and their distance from the camera. These subtle changes are not easily replicated in post.

I'm in the process of cutting a new demo of my narrative work. I am curious on how others consider the presentation of work when cutting a demo reel. Last year's demo can be seen HERE. It was cut with the intention of drawing in small jobs, shorts and student work. It did ok. I considered a lot of the basics in this reel: Strongest stuff (the hook) in the first 30seconds. Keep it under 3min. Very few will watch the whole thing...etc. I'm always looking for ways to make it better. My body of work doesn't have a lot of fancy action sequences, flying jib shots, or slow-mo, but rather Drama, Romance, and Kids. So that's what I tailored it to. I also arranged the edit to be short sequences of well-lit, well-composed, related shots told an emotion or small story. The method made sense to me for a narrative reel. A year later; I still don't have a lot of sweeping jib shots or slow-mo, and I don't have any music videos either. I'm rather handicapped in the music video world; I listen to Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Dvořák. When I look around on the web for other examples of reels. A lot I see a lot that are exciting, but mostly montages of "pretty" shots that aren't really connected or related in a way that makes sense. My shots are ok-pretty, but don't have a lot of that...*umph*. My instinct tells me to present my work in a way that best represents me. That's what I'm doing. But my instincts aren't always in tune with what a director or producer are looking for in a DP. What approaches do you usually consider when cutting your reel? Am I being altruistic in the way I cut my reel? Does a viewer care about story in a reel? Would I get better results focusing more on "the pretty"? Thanks, Jeremy Parsons, MFA Mostly a 1st AC. Trying to do more DP.

I just finished going through the process of submitting my days and awaiting approval. It's worth mentioning that the only type of work that CSATF accepts are Broadcast TV shows & commercials and feature films with intentioned distribution. They do not accept web only. This might change or they may be a little more flexible on things like Netflix or Hulu shows. A lot of my work has been on web commercials; Those paid advertisements that appear before you watch something on YouTube. Because they only appear on the web, CSATF would not count them toward my days. Also, CSATF will have a form letter - to be signed by a producer - to verify the number of days, type of project, method of distribution, and a bunch of other things that have nothing to do with your job. Be sure that ALL the details of the project are included on this letter or they will send it back for re-submittal, and interrupt what is already a slow process. One more thing: CSATF is happier if you submit your days as you go rather than just mail them a big wad of paperwork. I kinda did the middle ground of accumulating my days then submitted piecemeal as my producers' letters trickled back to me.

If there's one thing I could add to the already great suggestions posted is this: Pay very close attention to what the rest of your crew are doing and you'll find their rhythm of how they work and where you fit your tasks. When you do this, you will find how to best work with ANY crew no matter how they prefer to work. Some the DP's want monitors up first and placed very specifically in relation to camera. Some Operators always want an apple box at the ready for when they're shooting handheld. Some DPs want a tungsten (not LED) light on the slate when shooting at 3200K. If you're watching closely, you'll learn these things from observation and will do them without having to be told. The less you have to be told, the more efficient you can work without having to be "speedy". Also, I would advise to LEAVE YOUR iPHONE IN YOUR BAG. You can't pay close attention with your head buried in facebook, even if the DP is doing it. It's then your job to alert him when someone needs him/her. :)

It works if you shave the last bit off: http://www.sauloliveira.com/index.php/en/ Nice compact design. I've been using the Fotokem digital report: http://fotokem.com/resources/tool/FotoKem_digital_cam_report.pdf I find the extra room for the filename to be helpful. I don't usually need verbose comment space.

I did a similar project this past semester. I used the foot chase at the beginning of The French Connection as my inspiration for the feel and pace of my chase. It helps to heavily storyboard an action sequence like this. I found I had to physically go to the neighborhood and draw my boards on site so I knew how I wanted my actors to interact with the environment. It took a long time, but was well worth it in the end. By the day of shoot, I had about 6 pages of 12-up pages to show my crew and actors exactly what I wanted. The vision was clear to everyone and it made the shoot go VERY fast. It probably took less time to shoot than took to me to scout and sketch! This is the final product. I was shooting on Super 8mm BW reversal film. http://www.vimeo.com/4253236