J.M. O'Malley

Have you ever, or do you usually, feel kind of sad when a shoot is over? I mean, I'm looking forward to my next project, but there's also this sort of anticlimactic letdown feeling.

Yes. I meant for use while pulling focus, not just carrying around in general. I will get one of those wheels, that is exactly what I'm looking for.

You know the part of the ASC manual that has the lens tables for depth of field, etcetera? I would like to find a pocket size book that has just that information. Carrying around the entire manual seems silly. Does anybody know if there is such a thing? What does everyone else use?

So here's what I've been hearing about the Ian Curtis/Joy Division film that is in pre-production. Jude Law may be cast as Ian Curtis. Surely this can't be true. I think somebody like Cillian Murphy would be appropriate, or maybe Ewan McGregor (he might be too old), or at least they could get some unknown actor who would be better than Jude Law! I understand Deborah Curtis, his ex-wife, has a great deal of creative control over the film, and she plans to have a bunch of second-rate bands cover his songs. I hope all this is just gossip and not really true. On a positive note, I've heard it will be shot entirely in black and white.

Your reel is beautiful. The work is very atmospheric and I think the music helps to set the mood. I can't give you any advice, since I'm a student, about how you could get commercial work, but artistically speaking, the surrealistic pieces at the beginning and middle are really evocative. I like the narrative ones as well, they pique my curiosity. If you have a mailing list I would like to be added to it.

This may be a stupid question. Is it necessary to place tape around the camera body to ensure that it is lightproof? I have seen pictures where tape was placed around a magazine, but what if I am using short lengths of film in the camera body itself? Is it still necessary to tape? I don't want to get sticky goo from the tape all over the camera.

Does anybody have experience with conforming their own negative? Is it realistic for someone to learn how to do this? I have seen places around town which rent out editing suites.

Is there a reason why you can't just buy it from Kodak? Maybe they don't do shipping? I would not recommend buying from Film Emporium, I think they are jerks. I tried to buy some factory 100's from them, and they tried to sell me recans cut down to 100' lengths and charge me normal price for them. Also they refuse to match emulsion batch if you are buying a lot of rolls that you want to match up. I bought film from Kodak in New York (on 31st St) and they had excellent customer service.

Reading an article in American Cinematographer, I noticed a caption underneath a photo which mentioned a "medusa light". From what I could tell, it was a string of about twenty-five bare bulbs tied together. What is this type of light used for? I have not been able to find anything about it in the lighting books I'm reading.

All my shooting experience so far has been stills work. I was taking some film of a young woman, and I heard/felt the tape snap at the end of a roll. (I used to use masking tape sometimes, now I only use a good quality splicing tape.) I didn't want to toss out the roll of film, and we were on location so there was nothing to do except have her shut me in the trunk of her rusty old car so that I could get the film out. I asked her to open it when she heard me banging, and I kept thinking, she's probably so mad she's not going to let me out. Not a huge disaster but pretty embarassing. We were both at a house party later where she insisted on telling everyone how funny it was.

Really cheap ones here. http://asianideas.com/globelanterns.html

Can anyone recommend a development time for double-x in Ilfotec DD-X? I would usually use 10 minutes for Tri-X (400) in the same developer. Ilford's instructions call for 8 minutes for Plus-X rated at 200, but I don't think that would be correct, since that film is rated at 125. Or for that matter, can anyone recommend a development time for double-x for any developer? I find myself processing N+1 or even N+2 all the time with Ilford's developers. For example, Ilfotec calls for 8 minutes for Tri-X, which gives a very flat, dull negative. So, I always use 10 or 12 minutes instead. Thanks for any help.

Well, you see, it's a borrowed camera, so I can't do anything permanent to it. I read, doing a Google search, that some people mask off the area using scotch tape. Do you recommend this, as a temporary solution? How exactly would I go about doing this? I haven't been able to find any instructions. It's an Arri s.

Does anyone know where I can get the ground glass in a camera exchanged for a 1.85 ground glass? How much should I expect to pay for this?

Here is a place to buy cheap pvc pipe if you need to make your own scrim frame. http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/category....Name=113&Page=1