Robert Jackson

It's hard to shoot from a stick right out of the gate. Knowing where to put a tripod so people looking at the shot won't immediately be aware that the camera is immobile is tough at first. In film school I can recall a lot of people trying to make one shot do a lot more than it could do, I suppose to avoid multiple setups. So you'd see a medium shot that went on forever. The Kevin Smith shot, as I've heard people call it. Shooting hand-held is much more stressful in its own way because you're hyper-aware of your body and its movements, but it also allows you to put the camera where you instinctively want to be in relation to the scene. I spent years doing broadcast television and so much of what we did was immobile. A slow zoom in the studio was about as creative as it got and even less so doing standups in the field. About the only times we got to hand-hold was during basketball coverage or if we were shooting a concert or some kind of live event. When you're stuck with a tripod all the time it feels so claustrophobic that I really looked forward to the times when I could throw the camera up on my shoulder and follow my instincts. When I was younger I could shoot really steady hand-held footage. I remember our station manager once saying he couldn't tell my hand-held footage from the footage I shot with a tripod and at the time I took that as an insult, but he meant it as a compliment. I'm not as rock-steady anymore, but I think I have a better eye now. At the end of the day it's just another part of the vocabulary. You'd think someone was insane if they told you that verbs were amateurish and they never wanted to hear you use them again. You don't abandon tripods just like you don't abandon nouns. You don't abandon dolly shots just like you wouldn't abandon pronouns, etc. Of course, if someone spoke entirely in verbs you'd ask your friends not to bring that person around anymore.

Thank you. I got the film from Vic Alexander and he said it had been refrigerated and that he's tested it for chemical fogging, but I haven't tested it myself. I really appreciate your advice. I had been wondering whether or not I should go ahead and use an 85 filter. Again, thank you very much for your advice. -Robert Jackson

I'm leaving Tuesday for a 9-day shoot in eastern Kentucky. The weather is apparently going to be rainy the whole time I'm there and I've got a few thousand feet of 5293 to shoot. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions about how to shoot it? Is an 85 filter not a good idea under overcast skies? Any suggestions are welcome and appreciated. -Rob