Jon Kukla

Don't pay for junk film. Your best bets are to contact any place that regularly works with film (rental houses, labs, production companies, stock manufacturers, stock sellers, shortend dealers, etc) and explain your circumstances and what you want it for. Chances are that you'll find somewhere that won't be terribly bothered to give you a bit, especially if it's as short a 16mm. If you have any way of contacting ACs or even DPs, they are probably also good bets - ACs often keep junk film for doing scratch tests, and also can easily save leftover waste film if they have an upcoming job (I threw out probably 40-70 feet today myself - can't help you if you're not close to London, though). ACs and DPs also are very likely to have shortends from some of their old productions, and if it's been sitting around for a while and is rather short, you might be able to convince them to donate something like a 70' shortend from 2005, for example. Failing all that, you could buy a 100' spool, but it's a waste of otherwise good film and you'd have to pay for it. Plus, you can use all of the above leads to also make some good contacts! Anyway, that's my two cents.

Yeah, the 2C is a noisy camera, no doubts. Check out how huge the blimp was just to make it sync-sound compatible! A beast. If you are fine with MOS shooting, though, it has been, is, and will likely remain one of the best, smallest, and most versatile 35mm cameras. With a PL mount, it seems like a great package (if the price is in your range). Another advantage of getting a 2C is that it's a very well-known camera which even now still sees some standard usage in major production (though now often as a crash cam or low-rent extra camera). And it is the granddaddy of modern Arri camera design - much of the basic mechanics and design forms the basis of their successor cameras. And of course these factors above all mean that finding accessories is much easier. Personally, if it were up to me, I'd say that the 2C or the Eyemo are your best bets (depending on your exact needs and budget), mainly because of their ubiquity, familiarity, and accessibility.

See http://www.arri.com/prod/cam/configuration...06_06_MB-16.pdf for the part numbers. The flaps attach to the matte box through the screw discs on each of the sides of the matte box - loosen them to allow the flap notches to be placed around the screws, and then screw down the discs until the flaps are secure. The top flap can also be attached to the bottom of the matte box.

I don't understand what you mean by "tie down". Both the Bayonet and the PL mount were developed by Arri; bayonet was designed to more securely hold a lens than the Arri standard mount, and the PL mount was designed to hold newer, heavier lenses more securely than the bayonet mount. In the pro world, the PL mount tends to dominate cameras/lenses outside of Panavision (who have their own mount). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arri_bayonet and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arri_PL for more info.

CTO = Color Temperature Orange CTS = Color Temperature Straw These are specifically made gels which are designed to shift the color temperature of light towards a warmer (lower) color temperature. Actually, looking at my first posting above, I realize I got my numbers mixed up. Both CTO and CTS convert daylight to 3200K - the difference is that straw also has an added yellow bias.

For practicals, higher wattage bulbs are often used. Just be careful about the socket's rated wattage and be aware that not only will the bulbs run HOT, but they tend to have a much shorter lifespan. Porcelain sockets are your friend, if you can find/make any.

IIRC, the producer can specifically ask for certain people on union shoots, and if they aren't union already, then they can (must?) immediately join if they accept the union job. However, as you can imagine, this tends to usually happen in the case of the DoP, since the average producer isn't really too bothered with who AC's, as long as they are competent. I've been told that occasionally AC's do join the union this way, but it's very very rare. It makes more sense when you're hiring an HOD who is involved in the creative work.

First thing I'd advise is looking at the color of the room, especially if you can change it. This is crucial, especially when working with lighter walls, since it allows you to bias the color of the bounced light coming off the walls and will help with slightly coloring your lower midtones around that area. As for the light itself, there are several things worth doing - getting a more powerful light than you'd normally use and dimming it down should warm the color temperature up. That alone is probably not quite what you're looking for, but there are many gels from straws and ambers to "cosmetic" and beyond. Keep in mind that CTO shifts to 3400K, while CTS shifts to 3200K. I'd also look at some of the arc-lamp correction filters, as some of them have interesting combined color shifts which might do what you want when used with normal tungstens instead. I'm thinking LCT's, 232, and 236-238. If the window isn't too big, you might also want to experiment with using gold reflectors lit by lamps with particular gels (and not always the obvious ones). If you want an overall color bias, then filtration options would probably include a light color FX - could be anything ranging from sepia or tobacco to cranberry. Also look at 812 filters and enhancing filters. That's a lot of different options, and probably the best approach is to maybe lightly use two or three in combination. If it were up to me, I'd probably look at production design above all else, with filtration if I want an overall image shift or gels if I want it isolated to the light source. Best of luck!

I'm based in London, Phil. That's the whole point.

Phil, you keep on saying that there isn't an industry to work in, and I keep on getting paid to work in it. So go figure.

You might also want to very politely ask your local Kodak or Fuji dealers if you might be allowed a free test roll. It's at their discretion, but very much worth trying.

If you want to be working in the film industry, I'd suggest maybe considering working in the industry. I know that sounds glib, but if you get on as a trainee spark or camera trainee, you'll begin to make contacts with a lot of the equipment houses, which will help you get easier and cheaper access. Plus you'll also meet other people who may want to bring you on-board to shoot their projects. I don't mean that you'll get to DP for big-shot director by sparking on his films first (though stranger things do happen), but maybe you'll also befriend an up and coming 3rd AD who has set aside some money for a short and is looking for someone willing to shoot it for peanuts. At the end of the day, I advocate something like a shotgun approach - maximize your opportunities by getting your name out there and figure you'll hit something. Working your way up the ladder, the worst that can happen is that you actually go up the ladder the slow way. (Still can be a lot of fun!)

I suppose in theory you could use a cool DFN filter (Tiffen makes them). But if you aren't doing too many setups, why not just shoot the real thing, as everyone else seems to suggest?

Series 1 was definitely S16, but uncertain about Series 2; Kudos had definitely transitioned to HD by the time they shot Hustle Series 4 later that year, though. See http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:LamzU...t=clnk&cd=1 for the laughable reasoning behind the BBC pressuring production companies not to shoot Super 16.

See http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/...ablocator.jhtml Which gauge are you using? If it's just Super 8, then your options are somewhat limited. Blue Audio Visual, Todd AO, and Widescreen Centre are your best options for S8. Call ahead and ask questions about pricing, capabilities, turn-around time, etc. If you're looking for 16/35 labs, then I'd look into Bucks, Deluxe, Film Lab North, i-Lab, Soho Images, Technicolor, or Todd AO. If you want color reversal 16 or 35, then you're going to Film and Photo Limited. Different people prefer different labs - it all depends on your prior experience, what services they offer, how much you're willing to pay, etc. As always, call them; getting to know people in the labs and making contacts there is always important. Choosing a lab isn't always easy - I'm prepping a decent-budget short right now, but because of several different processing variations I'm testing, as well as our post route, I've had to create a spreadsheet where I can compare the prices between all of the labs for each particular service, and then calculate how much each lab charges for each scenario. And these are just the labs on my short list. I didn't even bother to contact several of them, mainly because of either prior bad experiences, or simply a lack of ability to handle some of the processes.

You can also get 1200' mags from Panavision (33 mins). The problem, however, is that you have to use the Elaine... :unsure: Another thing to keep in mind is that while Kodak and Fuji do provide 16mm rolls longer than 400', they may require a minimum order and/or take a little longer to be delivered. So do your homework there too. No point in getting all this equipment and then forgetting that you can't just order the film the day before. You mentioned that you are looking to do some installation-based work. If that's the case, then maybe you'd consider shooting at a lower frame rate? For example, shooting a 400' mag at 12 fps will be 22 minutes right there (assuming you transfer it at the shooting speed), and double that on an 800' mag. So if you're not necessarily doing traditional narrative filmmaking, you have a lot of possibilities. Best luck!

There should be no difference between 4-perf and 3-perf unless you're talking anamorphic vs. Super 2.39. In any case, there is no common agreement as to the equivalent pixel resolution of film; even if there were, it's simply one of many factors involved in the quality of the image.

Clairmont already have a system that can do this - it was used on Crazy Horse about ten years ago essentially as a cost-effective motion control system so that they could shoot the same scene simultaneously on b/w infrared stock and color negative, and then use CGI to make the humans b/w while keeping the landscapes color. The major problem, apparently, was that it wasn't enough for the lenses to be of the same focal length from the same company - they needed to actually be from the same glass die due to the minor imperfections which may make a given 50 mm lens actually 49.8 mm or 50.1 mm in fact. It takes a lot of testing to actually make your lenses match field of view precisely, so keep an eye out for that. But otherwise, good luck! Look forward to seeing your results.

For basic form-factor ergonomics and weight, I would agree that the Aaton XTR series is an excellent option. However, I really dislike the somewhat quirky choices made in virtually all other regards with that camera line, as compared to the SRs, which I've always found very easy and intuitive cameras. So I was very happy to see the 416 appear, as it seems to be the best of both worlds. Ultimately, all three of these cameras can get the job done, so it's simply a question of budget, availability, and what you want to use them for. The A-Minima is also a great camera, but its size and film capacity do somewhat limit its ideal applications, although in theory you can use it for most of what the above cameras can do.

I dunno, if you just want some general highlight streaking and want a fairly stable look, you can probably do that best with filtration. Maybe even trying some home-made custom ones? You can test this with some cheaper clear plastics and either streaking it with your fingers' oils or lightly scratching the surface in particular patterns.

Format size doesn't have any effect on the DoF, but it does have bearing on which focal length you'll use, which is a factor. 16mm and 35mm cameras shooting the same subject side-by-side with identical lenses will have identical DoF. The 16mm image, however, will look tighter than the 35mm one.

Okay, here's a question: I'm an American who's been working as an AC in the UK for almost two years now. As we don't have a real union, I've had little problem working on any productions - I've done everything from student shoots to things at Pinewood, and at least a bit of all the things in between. However, unfortunately due to new visa regs, I may have to return to the US. I'm looking at both NYC and LA these next two weeks, but I don't know whether or not I should be seriously eyeing up the union (as a loader, I guess). I have a lot of prior experience; I just need to quickly cultivate my network and learn the diffs between the UK and US systems. I figure maybe just working as a camera trainee/intern/PA on a sizeable job or two should sort that out. Anyway, I know that if I go to NYC I can take the test in October. What I'm wondering is if I should join the union relatively quickly as an assistant. In my experience over here, AC'ing is not like DP'ing generally is - you can go from small potatoes to big studio jobs in very very little time. (If I'm over-generalizing, my apologies and let me know.) So...yeah, what do you all think?

Yeah - the very loud (highly polarized) particles can start to repolarize others beneath them, leading to an odd ghost echoing. That's usually why loud noises, such as gun fire, tend to be recorded with a lot of blank tape between them.

Yup, 3p-S35 is 1.78. (Silent gate 4/3 divided by 3/4 perfs = 16/9)

I'd say that you should make good friends at the rental house so that you might be able to work there if need be, but if you have the time to more or less devote yourself totally to working as an AC, even at low or no pay at the start, then you are in an enviable position. If you want to bone up on the loading and equipment side of things, definitely try to set aside as much time at some of the rental houses as possible. Not only that, but make a point to ask if you can help any ACs who are doing checkouts. Don't be afraid to spend time at several rental houses, either - it's a great way to learn a bunch of cameras and accessories, as well as make friends with the floor staff! Some places are cool enough to just let you browse around the aisles and pull out equipment to play around with. It all depends. Basically, I'd try to learn all the ins and outs of the London film scene here, from the labs to the studios, and talk to as many people as possible. You might have to trainee for a brief while, but if you are determined and get under the wing of one or two good loaders, you'll be up and flying within 6-12 months at most. Just make certain to treat every weekday like a work day and do something productive and relevant to your work, whether its calling people, reading technical data, or researching on upcoming productions. Best of luck wherever you land! Hopefully the above advice should serve you well no matter which city you choose.