AJ Young

Since we all have free time on our hands, now is perfect to polish up our websites. Would anyone like to share some good examples of cinematographer websites? What do should we look for? What is good, bad, etc?

Again, please keep opinions out of this thread. There should only be information and links shared here regarding help for cinematographers during the COVID-19 economic crisis. The stimulus bill expands Unemployment Insurance to cover self-employed individuals. Depending on the individual State's Unemployment system, how you prove which job(s) you've lost varies. Some may have been given a verbal lay off (ie the producers told everyone in person that the show is being canceled), some may have it in writing (email from producers saying show is canceled), and others may just have no calls coming in (in this case, citing industry news sources and showing history of work compared to today can indicate the unemployment). Regardless, the bill directly says that self-employed individuals are covered under the federal expansion of Unemployment Insurance. https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/748/text#H97CF349D361342F895E939CF0579F8A0 https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/748/text#H94475F15C4074D4388A3AA2FA6EAC731 For 2019, the tax deadline has been pushed to July 15th. One can file their 2019 taxes to use for the stimulus bill, but they are not required to pay the 2019 taxes until the July 15th deadline. If one hasn't filed their 2018 taxes yet, then they should do so now. However, the above 2019 tax deadline changes do not apply to 2018 taxes and the individual will most likely have to pay what is owed in taxes plus whatever penalties apply. The text of the law (H.R. 748) does not directly say that 2018 taxes must be paid before receiving any benefits of this legislation. It's generally assumed by all that one must pay all taxes eventually; if an individual wants to receive tax-payer money, they should be paying their taxes. Some states, counties, and cities across the country are banning evictions, some banks are allowing deferrals on mortgages/loans, and the Dept. of Education has suspended payments to federal student loans until 9/30/2020. These short term measures are being put into place to soften the financial burden Americans have until the relief comes. None of this means that those payments disappear; like the tax deadline, they're just pushed back until later. A mortgage or student loan will simply end later than expected, for example.

From NPR: https://www.npr.org/2020/03/27/822062909/house-aims-to-send-2-trillion-rescue-package-to-president-to-stem-coronavirus-cr From NPR: https://www.npr.org/2020/03/26/821457551/whats-inside-the-senate-s-2-trillion-coronavirus-aid-package I'm sharing these two bits of news because a few key portions of the stimulus bill apply to freelancers in the film industry: For those who own small businesses in the film industry (ie: rentals, post, etc): I'll share what I find about how to get help from the government as the information arrives in this thread. In the mean time, can we keep this thread clear of discussion? Anyone can contribute helpful links in regards to the bill, but let's keep this as thread as a resource for fellow DP's who have been effected by COVID19.

Yes, but NPR doesn't sensationalize. NPR is the news organization that is routinely mocked for how dry, calm, and boring it is. You and Max need to see the writing on the wall that this is a serious situation. Obviously people can't be quarantined away from work for two years, which is why (in the US), Congress is quickly trying to pass a stimulus package. There will be far worse problems if we end the lockdown too soon. That's our, the scientific community, and economist's argument. But you're right, we can't change opinions here. Let's round back in a year and see where we are.

Yeah, NPR is definitely known for its "if it bleeds, it leads" news culture. I learned, from this chart, that COVID-19 has a 4.3% mortality rate. At 1 million people, that's 43,000. At 10 million: 430,000. At 1 billion: 43,000,000.

From NPR: "Data from China shows that each coronavirus case seems to infect around 2 to 2.5 additional people. That's higher than flu. The average patient spreads the flu virus to about 1.3 others." Sickness spreads exponentially. Exponentials, by the way, is the math we talk about all the time here. Here are a few more highlights from the NPR article: But sure, don't be scared. It's just the flu, right? Why are you picking this as your hill to die on? (no pun intended)

With respect @Max Field and @Richard Boddington, this is a heartless and uninformed position on public health. On average across 34 countries, the current mortality rate is ~ 3% (source). If the pandemic finishes with no vaccine, then 9.8 million Americans and 1.12 million Canadians will die from the virus alone. This is also assuming both health care systems can handle a fast pandemic, instead of a slow pandemic that the world is trying to push towards. [Spoiler: neither heath care system can handle a fast pandemic] Because the healthcare system will collapse for COVID-19 cases, other public health issues will too be effected such as other diseases, cancer treatment, physical accidents, etc. A fast pandemic will create a snowball effect of the health care system failing to help those who need it (rich or poor) and more people will die. In this hypothetical situation, substantially more people will die and the economy will have a nuclear meltdown. What's currently happening in the economy will look like a walk in the park compared to this scenario. If I were to use the highway example from earlier, this theoretical highway would be falling apart, littered with car crashes, even more dangerous than before, and most likely un-drivable. --- As someone with asthma, who the CDC says I have a high risk of serious injury or death from COVID-19, I could care less that you're getting strained financially. I'm in the same boat; I live and work freelance in Los Angeles, I was slated to shoot a feature next week that got pushed back indefinitely. I have no idea when I'll work as a DP again. But I'd rather have friends, family, and myself alive and well.

I think the damage to the economy has already been done. Here are my reasons from earlier: In my opinion (and those of scientists, economists, and epidemiologists), there will be far more economic damage if the lockdown ends too early. We're doomed either way, so let's pick the option that saves lives.

I agree with you, David! Money be damned, safety is paramount.

Adam Schiff and Doug Collins, both opposite ends of the political spectrum in Congress, are calling for relief specifically targeted to the entertainment industry simply because of how the business works. Unfortunately, I wouldn't expect this relief to cover the bills nor would I expect to come at all. The unemployment that states offer aren't equipped for gig economy unemployment (like the entertainment industry); they're designed for single employer unemployment. (Long story about this below for those who are interested in context) Even if you do get unemployment, it still won't be enough to cover your bills; the US Social Safety net was never designed for an industry wide shut down like this. Will the work start to return? Yes. When? No one can say for sure. We won't know the economic repercussions of COVID-19 until after the fact; it's currently just starting. Freakonomics has an excellent episode of their podcast that came out recently discussing this very topic: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/covid-19-effects/ The best snippet is this one, from Nicholas Bloom, professor of economics at Stanford. He's discussing with the author, Steven Dubner, the immediate and long term effects of COVID-19: What we do know, from 2008, is that when investment goes down, so does film production. Market research company, IBIS World, made this summary of the film industry from 2014 - 2019: https://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/market-research-reports/movie-video-production-industry/ The key highlights are these two economic indicators: Even though interest rates have been slashed by the Federal Reserve, it was already too little too late. Again, Nicholas Bloom: What about state and federal government assistance? Before we speculate, let's keep in mind what Bloom also said: On a brighter side, some states have begun to refill their rainy day fund and have been putting money away for a budget surplus: PEW Research. Of course, times are going to become incredibly difficult for nearly every state's economy and those governments will need to focus on rebuilding all of their affected industries. Will the tax incentives enjoyed by the film industry for nearly the past two decades hold up? Or will policymakers eliminate/change those subsidies to balance their books (Arizona did during the Great Recession). Only time will tell. As of today, no one has a clue of what the final economic impact will be overall, though all signs are pointing to bad. All we can do is prepare ourselves to pick up whatever work we can while pulling up our sleeves and rebuilding our industry. At minimum, the industry will be forever changed. --- I've personally got asthma and, according to the CDC, am one of those individuals who are at high risk of death from COVID-19. I was slated to shoot a feature next week, but that film has since been postponed by the producer. I'm thankful that the production took my crew and I's health and safety into account, finances be damned. Do I want to get back to work? Of course. Do I want to watch my friends and family suffer from the disease? No. Absolutely not. --- Context on unemployment in California This isn't the first time I've applied for unemployment in California before. In early 2017, I was suddenly removed from a month long gig at the beginning of the project. It was February, which is a notoriously difficult month for me to get work, so I filed for unemployment. It was a clerical and logistical nightmare. The California Employment Development Department (EDD) was expecting me to submit a simple W2, pay-stub or two, and some proof of identification. However, I worked non-union, so some gigs were paid through a traditional payroll company (W4) while others just cut me a check directly (W9). What I didn't know was that only my W4 jobs were paying into the state's unemployment program. My W9 jobs were classifying me as a business and that the taxes I paid yearly on those jobs didn't apply. After all the dust was settled with paperwork, I think I was getting roughly $200 a week from unemployment. However, the money came in slowly and I didn't receive anything until almost the end of the month. By then, March was approaching and more work was getting lined up. I ultimately only received about two weeks of unemployment before stopping, partly because I didn't want to deal with the hassle of proving I was applying for work in an industry that is mostly run on referrals and, ironically, because my referrals were eventually working again. The program really left a bad taste in my mouth, particularly because I qualified for such a low amount. However much one puts in is however much one pulls out. Because non-union mostly pays via W9, I wasn't contributing anything into the state's unemployment program even though I was working. Additionally, the painfully slow process of applying for unemployment while trying to explain the film industry's unorthodox hiring practices to the government. Mind you, I had to do this on a weekly basis. I did learn, however, that productions are misclassifying cast/crew as independent contractors when they pay them via 1099. Before 2020, it was a bit of a legal question mark until California passed the AB5 law, which clearly outlines who is an independent contractor and who isn't. How that will be enforced is yet to be seen and it puts me in a particular hard spot to address the issue with productions who want to pay via W9. (Paying people via W4 is more costly to productions) I've since gone through submitting my unemployment paperwork again for the COVID-19 crisis. Even though I knew what to expect, it was still a painful process (and I'm not done yet). The system asked me to list all prior employers, but it maxed me out at 10 total. For the past 18 months, I've worked for 35 different companies. It's clear that the system wasn't designed for the gig economy and I hope this gets addressed ASAP.

That's actually what I was going to recommend! The dana dolly is wonderful for doing a rig like this, but it can get bouncy when pushing in/out and the tripod can limit the tilt. Nonetheless, nice rig!

It actually looks like Doyle's DIY version of a Cine Saddle: https://www.cinekinetic.com/pro-series Which one came first, I don't know. Does it matter? The Easy Rig seems to be the most popular tool today for redistributing the weight of the camera to the hips, but I'd wager the Ergo Rig is the best design for traditional handheld.

I recommend trying DeOldify. It's a free open sourced AI based coloring program: https://github.com/jantic/DeOldify Some one released their colored and dubbed version of Metropolis a few months back which I believe used this program. FW Munrau's estate has since taken it down from the internet, but I thought it looked incredible.

Thank you!

Is the camera pointing directly down at the table or are the plates in the foreground and the human in the middle/background?

I stand corrected! ?

Nope! This is great news for low income students. The biggest barrier of entry to success in the film industry (and life in general), particularly for my generation, is student debt. USC doing this helps a lot of people.

In my opinion, an RPG is typically a fantasy film by definition. Unless the audience can role play as the characters on screen while making selections on how the plot should go, an RPG film adaptation is just a fantasy film. They've made plenty of Final Fantasy films that haven't been that great, although excellent popcorn fare.

I shot a feature on the FS7 and it did great! The director and executive producer was happy and the film is making a profit. ? It's a parody film called Jesus, Bro!, shot in fall 2016. I wouldn't discredit the FS7 as an honest choice for a professional narrative production if the budget can't afford anything higher than that. The FX9 has slight improvements on the FS7 and would be a perfect choice.

I whole heartedly agree that Bojan Bazelli ASC is criminally underrated as as DP. I was blown away by his work on Spectral and Underwater. The guy is killer!

Road Warrior Blu-Ray has an excellent commentary from the DP. Also Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

If they shot a project that you loved. Why else does everyone want to work with Deakins, Hoytema, Libatique, etc etc etc? ?

Must be a matter of taste then!

I hope it helped! I had conversations like this with working DP's when I was in film school and it really set me up for less heartache when I graduated. This kind of conversation goes on for hours. Every career path is different, don't compare yours to others as a measure of success. Just keep networking, shooting when you can, and putting yourself out there. ?

A short film I shot, Imaginary Bullets, has finally been released publicly! The film had a great festival run. Check it out here: https://vimeo.com/272665339 I shot it in late 2017 on the Varicam LT with Nikkor lenses and a GE package that fit in my Honda Civic. Honest critique is welcome!