Ed Conley

Where are you located? Iffin' yer in Los Angeles I can get you some more stuff if needed.

Not sure how DP's get paid but a Still shooter will get a Shooting Fee based on the USEAGE of the images as he is part of Creative and owns the Images- unless they agree to a Buyout- he could make 20,30,50 grand on a campaign. I don't talk to him too much about the purchase and he still uses us for bigger ticket items like HMI's,Xenon's, Tow Plant rental and such but the every day Grip sheite and some strobes he once rented from us on a regular basis is gone. But yes he now has those Costs to deal with as well as storage-

There's a guy here that will come with a Red for $600/day He bought it when times were good and still had the payment when times went south in budget land. I own a Rental Studio/Equipment house for Still photography and have seen this trend in the last 2 years- the Agencies want MORE for less :blink: so my clients have come to me wanting the same equipment for a lot less money. My Competition was giving away equipment and Studio time- we had to bend a little on the Rental costs but it certainly sucked. I think you'll see this trend with your Director because if this Low Budget commercial goes "OK" you'll most likely not get called in the future since they have now figgered out that they can do it w/o you- it's business. May not be good business but the $ talks. He may not be able to get the Shoot unless he can deliver a product at a lower cost. One of my car shooter clients told me straight up that he had to go out and buy a lot of the equipment that he was renting from us so that he could bid the jobs minus the Rental costs that he normally budgeted in to the bid. He doesn't even bill for the equipment that he bought so he can compete on the bids.

http://connect.palmspringsphotofestival.com/connect-2011/workshops/lesko-britt/ I honestly do not know anything about the Workshop- I asked a friend about any DSLR Video workshops and she mentioned the Palm Springs Photo Festival may have something. Not sure if this is offered anymore. http://www.hdslrbootcamp.com/

What do you guys use for a 60amp bates for GFI I know you can get 100amp GFI's- have used those and then split it out to 2 60amp bates but can't seem to find a 60amp Bates GFI http://www.littelfuse.com/ktec/shock-block-GFCI.html

Just a heads up- the Honda 2000's are not gonna do ya much good unless you are using them to power up different electronic item besides the 1.2HMI's Honda 2000's are only rated at 13.3 amps continuous load- you could parallel 2 with the simple banana plug and get the full 20amps from one receptacle but I imagine you'll have a Truck so might as well get another 6500watt and run the 2 1.2's off of it. The 6500 that you rent will need to have the 60amps Bates Receptacle modification- not all Honda 6500's available for rent have this. Where are you located?

Canon has 4 TSE lenses and they are easily available for rent here in Los Angeles 17,24,45 & 90mm Just rent them and test with them before the Shoot.

GFI's are a different beast- they don't really measure a ground fault- they just measure the fact that the Power ain't going where it is supposed to be going and since that could be YOU- they trip and shut off the power. Ground wire don't even have to be connected in a GFI circuit. Anyhoo- iffin' yer gonna be around water it is a good ideer But they sensitive little beeches and do nuisance trip so again just make sure all your cords are in good shape and you'll be good.

You do not need to Ground the gensets nor the Stands- the only protection you get from Grounding-actually sticking Mother Earth with a ground rod is from Lightening strikes or if by some chance a High Voltage line drops down on your generators- but you'll probably die from a Heart attack if that ever happens anyways :ph34r: You really need to pound the rod 8' inna ground to make a ground path anyways- you gonna do that for every piece o' equipment? The Gensets are "grounded" thus the 3 prong receptacle. The Equipment is grounded Via the Ground wire in the cord. If for some reason you are missing a Ground prong on a Cord- REPLACE the cord!!! Check yer Cords and cables and you'll be good to go. What is really happening is more of a BONDING dealeo. GROUNDING The purpose of grounding is safety. In all discussions concerning electrical wiring you will regularly meet the term ground, grounded and grounding. They all refer to deliberately connecting parts of a wiring system to a grounding electrode or grounding electrode system. Grounding falls into two categories: Systems Grounding and Equipment Grounding Systems Grounding – is accomplished by attaching one current carrying conductor of an electrical system to ground or earth at the source of power, this is called the neutral or common leg. Equipment Grounding – is accomplished by attaching all of the non-current carrying metal parts of a system together and connecting to the same systems ground at the source of power (neutral and ground). The ground can be the earth or in the case of portable generators, the frame of the generator which will serve as a large conducting body that serves in place of the earth. Equipment grounding it the intentional connecting of all metal parts of a system together through a ground wire. Its purpose is to have all exposed conducting surfaces at the some potential, so that some touching any two metal surfaces will not experience any difference in potential; in other words, so that the individual will not feel a shock and get knocked on his tail or worse. The other intentional grounded conductor of the system is the neutral or common conductor. This is a circuit conductor, not an equipment ground, and it is grounded to keep it at the some potential as earth, or ground as with a generator. It should be grounded at the source and nowhere else. An unintentional ground is known as a ground fault. This occurs when a live conductor accidentally comes into contact with a metal surface. This type of ground fault is usually arcing and is extremely destructive. When a ground fault occurs in a grounded system the safety device (fuse or circuit breaker) will activate which opens the circuit and current will not continue to flow. http://www.dadcopowerandlights.com/index.php/portable-power-distribution-system The 6500 can sit on the ground since it will be elevated by the wheels and frame- if you want to place Pancakes under the wheels and frame go ahead but I wouldn't worry too much about it. Place the 2000's on full 1/4 or Full apple boxes or a Milk Crate with a Pancake on top.

You really need to Plot out the shot list with Video/Film. This is the biggest mistake Still Photographers make when trying to move in to a Video shoot and you'll grow old Editing all the Footage trying to cover everything.

1/4 Stop silk

I'll weld it for you for free I probably have everything 'cept the socket ed@screamingbroccoli.net

http://www.bulbtronics.com/default.aspx and Light Bulbs & More 12234 Santa Monica Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90025 (310) 826-0603

Hey Michael, where do you by your connectors? Ed

The NZ Actors were EMPLOYEES "The union had demanded that local actors and other production workers be hired as full-fledged employees on union contracts." but since Peter Jackson threatened to pull the Movie/Production out of NZ the Guv'ment changed Labor laws to appease the Studio and keep the Production in NZ. Thus we have this quote "And on Friday, it amended labour laws in which film industry workers are deemed independent contractors rather than employees."

http://www.visionresearch.com/News--Events/Phantomography/

You should create a rental Contract also- even if you rent it at $0.00 and have the Replacement Value on the Contract/agreement. As mentioned you should request a Certificate of Insurance listing you as "Additional Insured/Loss payee" ...and have that Cert in your hand before use of the camera

I forgot to mention that you should not use the grid on the Beauty Dish due to excessive heat build up. Profoto came out with an HMI a couple years a go but was discontinued so it is no longer listed on their Web Site .. BUT.. they are still available to rent from Samy's, PIX and Calumet. It is the Pro Daylight 1200watt

Hey Allen, As mentioned and what you seem to already know.. yup only One 2k in the 20amp receptacle... BUT.. it gets a little tricky since there are very few Dedicated 20amp receptacles on location. What this means is that when you walk in to a room and see several receptacles they are usually on the same Circuit Breaker. Depending on the size of the classroom you may have 2 Circuit Breakers that feed separate receptacles to work from but if yer in a Home most rooms are on One Circuit breaker. Plug in a 2k and that pretty much makes the rest of the Receptacles useless for any other lights. 12/3 extension is good to have since you can try another room for power.

The Crossover from K5600 will work with the Profoto Light Modifiers so you can use them on the 13" magnum Refelector as well as the Beauty Dish.

Why don't you hire a Local gaffer?

Every 2.5 I have used has a 60amps bates Connector on the ballast feeder- I know they don't draw that much power but the connector is a 60amp bates. At least the ones I have used. :)

You'll be ok with that generator. It is a small genset so how is the power distributed? Does it it have camlock to be able to feed a Distro box? The only item of concern is feeding the 2.5 with a 60amp Bates connection.