Jon Kukla

Do not ever used canned air with lenses. The "air" is actually pressured chemicals which will gradually strip the lens coatings off. That's what I've been told straight from the Arri techs.

Identical focal lengths have different fields of view depending on the size of the format.

It depends what you're doing - if an operator is doing handheld or improvised shots, then the need to see how much space you have before a boom, lamp, cable, or stand is VERY important.

There are several devices which can check this. Precision strobes and POMs are what you're looking for. With the strobes, you enter in your frame rate, shine it at the shutter (leave the lens mount open), and run the camera. A synced shutter should not drift in position over time. The POMs generate blinking lights - sometimes a sequential row or circle - and you enter the frame rate, put a lens on the camera, and look at the POM thru the eyepiece while the camera's running. A single light should stay at a constant brightness, while the sequential lights should individually remain consistently on or off.

Just was about to go to bed and realized that my entire backyard was bathed in bright moonlight, so I went and sat in it for about 10 minutes. So fun... I would've missed it if not for the fact that all of the house lights in the back were turned off. In fact, I found that when as little as a computer monitor were turned on in the room (with my back to it), the ambient light "stopped down" my eyes enough to make the moonlight barely perceptible. But when I first saw out from the dark room, it was so light out there that I actually thought for about half a second that it might have been snowing! :P I suppose it helped to have a nearly-full moon at its zenith on a cloudless night and no nearby light spill - even from neighbors' windows. This is definitely something I'm gonna miss when I go to LA. :(

This is one of those things I keep on planning to do and never get around to. I even have the bulk loader already... If you're on shoots frequently, it generally isn't too hard to ask the loader to save sub-100' shortends of 35mm; often they're junked anyway once they hit below 100-150 feet.

It's no better or worse than any other "rough guide" method, as long as one is aware of the peculiarities of will and will not be different between the two mediums.

During normal daylight conditions, even with overcast skies, you should be able to easily hit a workable stop with 50 ASA film. Take a lightmeter out during such weather if you're not convinced. However, if you plan on shooting a fair bit towards the duskier hours when the sun is low or in twilight, then 250D probably is the more flexible choice. If you can swing it, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have both on hand. If you have the ability, you could do a comparison test. As for indoors, what're your conditions? Daytime, nighttime? Are you going to have additional lights? How much light will be let in? Studio or location? Etc. With absolutely no knowledge of any of these, the generic answer is 500T, which will be fine, but may not be the *best* answer depending on your approach.

Here's an "advance" copy of Oliver Stapleton's column next month on the matter: http://us.imdb.com/indie/ask-archive?date=20071003

I've heard stories about how DPs - WAY back when my grandparents were babies - used to have an assistant stare at the scene for several minutes and then look at their pupils to judge exposure. I always thought it was an old wives tale until I saw this link.

Jon P, I believe that you are David aren't necessarily in total disagreement. What you're saying is that Douglas shouldn't have to expand his budget to make a decent film, assuming he can creatively rework the film. And what David's saying is that if he's only got so much money, he should consider scaling back the size of the short, assuming he can creatively rework the film. No one's saying that Douglas can't make a good film for X amount; they're simply saying that it's unlikely that he'll make a good one with such a length and certain other parameters and shooting ratio expectations for X amount. So the solution - as you both have said - is to rethink the project to fit the budget. Six of one and half dozen of the other, yeah? :)

Thanks, Rodrigo! I'll have to have a play with it next time I'm in the rental house... :)

The photometrics also need to be used as a very rough guide; bulbs gradually become less efficient and dimmer (and often color shift) the more they are used.

Does the TSB have any markings or stops so that you know how much offset you're introducing? I was aware that tests need to be done to see how much of the effect you want, but how do you set it so as to maintain a consistent percentage of missync?

Interesting tests. I've been thinking about moonlight a lot this past week, as far as trying to film it. I actually liked what Eric Gautier did in Pola X for the scene where the protagonist first meets his half-sister Isabelle; as they walk into the woods in the night, the shot cuts to what looks like very underexposed b/w footage. It's exposed enough to see the entire forest, but dim enough that you don't feel like there's any lighting. The copy I watched was only mid-quality, so I may be seeing things, but I could've sworn I saw just the very slightest, almost subliminal, amount of color in frame. I'm guessing that they shot it in overcast day, well underexposed (and if I'm right about the color, desaturated it down to single digits). It might also be an interesting idea, doing a color night scene by using b/w with very slight tinting in post. Since the moonlight is so pale and dim, you can get away with virtually no color information if you keep your exposure low and avoid brash colored costumes.

I wouldn't necessarily call hanging out at rental houses to know ACs a faux pas. It worked pretty damn well for me in the UK with virtually no problems. However, the lack of formal union rules for hiring probably was also a factor. I've been told that this can be less welcome in other places, such as union towns - you just have to judge it from place to place.

Another thing that needs to be taken into account with people intending to buy a fair amount of equipment for rental on their gigs is that the big rental houses are not dopes - if you start to get to a level of gigs or amount of equipment rental where they feel that you may be costing them significant money, they will not look kindly on it and be less inclined to help you out, whether it be discounts or recommending your name to productions. Just something to keep an eye on for long-term career value. (I think either Elkin or Hart even mentions this in their book.)

If it's in my town, I occasionally may take the time to enquire as to the camera crew if I have the time and it doesn't look too manic. (Never know if your friends are at hand.) But generally no, aside from a passing glance I leave them alone; I know they're busy, and when I've been on the job, I tend to get annoyed by onlookers myself.

Which film school is this, by the way?

I would assume that you'll use whatever your Steadicam op feels most comfortable with (especially since it's his back on the line...). Unless you want to do cutting edge stuff like the Revolution roll cage, all you should need to check is the amount of weight the rig can support. At the end of the day, though, you don't need the *best* model, you need the model that the op is familiar enough to accomplish the best shots with. Whether that's his rig or a rented one, I'd ask the op first.

I wouldn't say not to cold call, but I wouldn't put it at the top of your list yet. You say you've worked in the sound dept for the past five years? Why not contact some of the companies (particular production managers and the like) whom you've worked with more frequently? I'm certain they'd prefer to take on people whom they're more familiar with and know they can trust. What about ACs from crews you've worked on? That wouldn't really be a cold call either...

You have to remember that in the west coast, the only way to get into the union roster is to work the number of days. On the east coast, you can take a test in NYC in October (it's probably too late to register at this point) and get in if you pass (and pay your initiation fees). However, it's not transferable to other regions unless you work at least 30 days paid in the east coast region. My point is that age is theoretically less correlative on the east coast, although it's general consensus that joining the union without prospective union jobs is probably not a good move financially.

Hey, I think that's a good system, and I applaud you for it. Unfortunately, things don't always go as they're supposed to in post-world, and I've seen it happen a fair number of times. (This isn't an attempt to insult what generally are quality technicians, but mistakes inevitably happen now and then.) My dictum is always "minimize the potential for f***-up". Talking to the post guys is always a good idea. ;)

Have you tried all of the "usual suspects"? (Technicolor, Deluxe, Soho Images, Todd A.O., I-Lab, Bucks)

There is no good or bad; it's just what works best for your intended look. That being said, if you're looking for sharp, contrasty lenses, these aren't for you.