Brian Dzyak

I just started using the Sonnet Tech Thunderbolt adapter and it is much much faster and I've had no problems with it so far. I'd like to know why they have advised against it. It is REALLY fast which cuts my downloading and backup time by well over half.

I agree. It drags and meanders particularly through the first third, but so did Dark Knight.

Well, that's the breaks, ya know, for not paying enough taxes to support a functional government and choosing to privatize everything. You have to provide for your own protection, build your own roads, educate your future employees, launch your own weather satellites, .... .... or I suppose you could just convince all your employees to pay for that stuff out of their own paychecks while your company isn't burdened by such "job killing" expenses. The only thing missing is the employees giving you back money in the form of a subsidy. I'm sure you can convince them to do that too, cuz after all, you're the benevolent Job Creator who deserves worship and none of the costs that are imposed by other people in other countries who clearly hate success.

Please send photos! And the balance sheet if you can. I'm sure everyone would appreciate knowing how successful a "job creator" can be in a lawless, governmentless, regulationless, taxless environment. :)

You're welcome! NO labor costs. NO taxes. NO regulations. It's a Producer's dream!

Dust off your flux-capacitor. That was from 2005. I'm still not sure why ALL Corporations haven't just moved ALL manufacturing and production to the Libertarian Paradise of Somalia where there is no functional government to "steal" their money via taxes or to tell them what to do via regulations. What could possibly go wrong?

It's not "too expensive" to shoot in Los Angeles or the USA. It's that other nations have offered larger bribes to Producers and Corporations. It reminds me the bumper sticker, "Maybe it isn't union workers who are making too much money... maybe it's you earning too little." The end-game in the Incentive/Bribe wars will be when a government (local, state, or federal) offers to fully finance a private for-profit production just so that the workers there can get the temporary work. That is the Conservative dream...to publicize the costs as much as possible and to privatize all of the profits. This isn't about me at all, but my personal opinion is that I wouldn't mind the Incentive/Bribe scam half as much if the Governments (the People in that area, really) became profit partners in that they are helping to finance the projects. Isn't that what Producers are suggesting, that they couldn't possibly afford to make their movies without the "incentives"? So they NEED public money to make their for-profit project which means that "The People" are de facto Producers who should benefit directly from the profits of that for-profit product. When will that start happening?

I've had my eyes on those, but they are too frickin' expensive. But they'd really come in handy, even more so if someone could invent a seriously lightweight collapsible C-stand to use them with.

Excerpt from the California Senate Governance and Finance Committee's evaluation of the February 2012 report, Economic and Production Impacts of the 2009 California Film and Television Tax Credit. Complete report can be viewed here: Report

It's a toss up: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PD_rI0oGfS8/TEmEkAD8M4I/AAAAAAAAAOc/NyXv0RmZThc/s1600/158378587_df3d35329a.jpg http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/dvd/aplus/transformers/transformers5-hi.jpg

My goal for any day exterior interview is to find a relatively shaded/dark background because I rarely have enough firepower to compete with a fully sunlit background. That's more than half the battle right there. Then, depending on where the sun is exactly, I like to take ALL the sun off the talent with a solid. Then I hit them with an 800w HMI Joker or two of them shot through a frame with a silk. You could put a silk overhead (or in line with the Sun, wherever it is), but if the Sun is anywhere near overhead, the silk won't be enough to take the harsh overhead shadows off your talent, which is why I prefer to just block it all out and fill the face back in with my own light to match the background as best as possible. You might be able to get away with a bounce A) if your background is dark enough and B) there is enough Sun to bounce with. Usually, it isn't enough and more importantly, bounce isn't as easy to control particularly if you are alone and if the interview is fairly long. Using your own powered light gives you a consistent look for the length of the interview and you have total control over it. If the interview is particularly long, I'll often have to adjust the HMI during the interview (stepping away from the camera for those moments) to put scrims in or to physically move the light backwards as the background levels change. The problem with "natural" is that "natural" is rarely good, particularly on a day exterior unless you are lucky enough to be shooting really close to magic hour, but then of course, you're limited on time.

If a project/product is good enough, it shouldn't have to rely on ripping off tax-payers to get financed. Here's the Tax "Incentive"/Bribe scam in a nutshell: PRODUCER (crying like a baby) Wahhh!!! I need $1 million to make my for-profit product. Will tax-payers help me? GOVERNMENT Sure! Two years later.... PRODUCER (smiling) Yeah! I just made $10 million dollars! GOVERNMENT (confused and stupid) Great! But, shouldn't we be Co-Producers sharing in the profits since we helped finance your for-profit product, making it possible for you to even have the chance to do this? PRODUCER (aghast!) What?! I'm a "Job Creator!" You should be WORSHIPING me instead of trying to steal my hard-earned profits. Why do you hate success?

???? 29.976 is the answer, but those acronyms are not standard either. WTF is ST supposed to mean without figuring out the rest of the puzzle? I don't get it.

I know a scam when I see one. Stick to ripping off your government for your own profit. My link

I'm sure that Producers feel really good that they get off scot-free from contributing to the tax base that finances silly things like public infrastructure and education, making workers foot the entire bill.

http://realfilmcareer.com/film-industry-safe-despite-tax-changes-studio-official-says/ My favorite line in the article is: “All it’s doing is reducing the total net savings for production companies,” Hariton said. “I don’t think it’s a negative thing at all,” said Hariton of the removal of the sales tax exemption. Um.... studios choose states to shoot in to AVOID paying taxes. I think this Hariton is trying to put lipstick on a pig. How long does Georgia have since no state can possibly continue handing out tax breaks forever? Tax "incentives" are NOT sustainable for anyone.

Fantastic! Anette is a wonderful person and deserves this recognition. Congratulations!

Universities and Film "schools" are businesses and exist to make a profit. If some education happens to take place in that process, then more power to them. But their primary purpose is to make money. To accomplish that, they have to sell the dream that everyone who goes to their school WILL learn everything they need to know and that will enable everyone an equal chance of fulfilling their goal(s) in the professional industry. Of course, reality is different than that. It's one thing to sit in "film appreciation" classes and write about movies. And while it is valuable to some extent to work on/make your own student films, neither truly prepares a student for the real world either. I suspect that the quote you objected to initially was speaking to the "reality" of the filmmaking world where it truly isn't always about originality. In many cases, being derivative of previous work can seal a deal faster than an original concept. Just count the numbers of sequels lately. In any case, in my opinion, dropping a large amount of money (and time) into "film school" just isn't worth it for most people. While there may be some valuable lessons one COULD potentially learn in the classroom environment, most of them can be learned far cheaper while working on low budget sets (ie, music videos, indie films) where you are earning money while getting a crash-course education. Of course, it's all contingent upon the specific job you wish to have. Just about any below-the-line crew member will not benefit greatly from spending a lot of money and time on a film school. An aspiring Director or DP...maybe, depending on the specific curriculum the schools offers. But the "degree" (or certificate) itself is meaningless in the professional industry. Nobody cares where or if you went to film school (or any school for that matter). What matters most is A) who you know B ) who knows you, C) what you can do and D) your personality (can someone stand being around you 14 hours a day?) I feel that the best way to "get into the film industry" is to know how it actually works on a day-to-day basis. Having stumbled through it myself, I later wrote a book detailing everything that I wish I would have known BEFORE I went to film school and later moved to LA. I recommend it to anyone who has a genuine interest in working professionally in the industry. Read it first and then decide if you want to go to a film school. The more you know before you invest time and money, the wiser choices you'll be able to make every step of the way. Good luck! http://www.randomhouse.com/book/44440/what-i-really-want-to-do-on-set-in-hollywood-by-brian-dzyak/9780823099535/

Yes, you'll choose one or the other and specialize. You should call the Local offices for details regarding your specific situation: http://realfilmcareer.com/forum/index.php?topic=17.0 Motion Picture Grips/Crafts Service Local 80 - http://www.iatselocal80.org The official website for motion picture Grips, Crafts Service, Scenics, and Marine employees. Motion Picture Studio Electrical Lighting Technicians Local 728 - http://www.iatse728.org The official website for studio Electrical Lighting Technicians.

My brother works in the archives department at Penn State University which deals A LOT with archival material (mostly sports). Hands down, he recommends FILM as the best way to preserve images. It lasts longer and IF there was a problem with a "viewing device," you can still hold film up to light and see pictures. You can't do that with videotape or a hard drive. I still have 8mm film that my grandparents shot in the 1960s that we enjoy threading up. But I have some VHS and even 1" that takes great pains to see today.

Really big screen to see the movie the way it was intended. Superior sound system to hear the movie the way it was intended. Communal experience that enhances the enjoyment of nearly any motion-picture.

Knowing that if I don't have the shot setup in time, the Producer will get angry and perhaps not hire me anymore. So, first I think about all the possibilities... then filter out all of the ones that are too unrealistic given the time and resources available. Then I consider the possibilities left over and which one will look best while considering other potential issues (ie, sound, can I actually get lights and the camera where I need them?, etc.). It's a wonderful utopian idea to suggest that Camerapeople just "create" and "paint with light" as "artists" but all too often, the logistics drive choices and decisions.

The LAST thing I'd purchase would be a camera and the accessories for it. Every project will call for different specs. On the other hand, you know you'll always use lights. Of course it's impossible to know exactly what lights you'll need as every SHOT is different (different locations, INT, EXT, Day, Night, Sunny, Not Sunny, lots of windows, no windows) but you can build a lighting/grip kit of basics that you'll use on every project you shoot. Cameras are changing hourly. Lighting is pretty consistent from year to year.

It's not very complicated camerawork really. LOTS of wide masters with a scant few closer two shots here and there. The "intricacy" is in the choreography so DP, Bill Butler, just need to put a wide lens on the camera (on a Chapman crane, if I remember correctly) to capture it all. I also seem to remember an interview with the Director or Bill when they said they were running out of time (and money?) to shoot that sequence so they shot it all wide to get it done. Sometimes simplicity is best.

Industrial Light & Magic: The Art of Special Effects [Hardcover] Thomas G. Smith http://www.amazon.com/Industrial-Light-Magic-Special-Effects/dp/0345322630/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1333319233&sr=8-2 Industrial Light & Magic: Into the Digital Realm [Hardcover] Mark Cotta Vaz http://www.amazon.com/Industrial-Light-Magic-Digital-Realm/dp/0345381521/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1333319233&sr=8-3 Industrial Light & Magic: The Art of Innovation [Hardcover] Pamela Glintenkamp http://www.amazon.com/Industrial-Light-Magic-The-Innovation/dp/0810998025/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333319233&sr=8-1