John Hall

Sorry Chien, I quoted the USD price (If I said I was getting them for $65 than it would appear I was being ripped off =). I think I may invest in a pair of Hot Hands, but also keep a beater pair of gloves around for carrying pipe and stands and such, Thanks all for your advice.

I think it would be pretty reckless to try something so drastic without shooting a test. You're negative will be very thin (4 Stops Underexposed!!!) Plus since you are already using a low-con stock your image will be very flat and desaturated. Are you sure this isn't a look you can approximate digitally rather than doing it photochemically? 'Birth' probably also benefited from some expensive colour correction and post production that might also be outside of your budget. Here is a thread from a few years ago on 'Birth' http://www.cinematography.com/forum2004/in...?showtopic=3203

Yeah, I've seen the Hot Hands around some of the shops here; However, they don't seem to be too popular among Toronto technicians. I'm not really into leather (for personal reasons) but I'm concerned that some of those fake leather gloves might not take the heat / wear. Not to mention that at about $50 I'd want to be fairly certain they don't fall apart in a couple months or so. Might have to give them a try though.

I've been through more gloves than I care to count, and I've yet to find a pair that are a decent balance between durability, dexterity, comfort and heat protection. My favourite were a pair of those lightweight construction gloves from Home Depot. Great dexterity, you could wrap and cable or untie knots easily with them. Not very good heat protection (trying to adjust anything bigger than a 2k had to be down 'carefully'). Plus the best boy on a show I worked on told me thet the gloves contain plastic on the back of the hand, which can melt onto the skin under bigger lights. Yikes! And they lasted about 3 months before completely falling apart. Anyway, I just wanted to get peoples' opinions on what gloves they prefer and why. I don't even mind paying a decent price, provided they do what I want for more than 3 months

Try Niagara Custom Labs in Toronto, Canada. http://www.niagaracustomlab.com/prices.htm They are geared more towards students and artistic filmmakers so they're usually willing to be 'creative' with processing. That being said, I'm pretty sure they don't process reversal film, but they MAY be able to do cross processing as negative (I don't know wat is involved with cross processing).

That would be fine if you were only shooting naked people, but people are much more likely to be wearing blue in their clothing than green. Green has a better luminance value than blue, so the background needn't be lit as much. The Human eye is more sensitive to green than any other colour, and in many flavours of video green is sampled at twice the depth of the other colours. As you pointed out, there are some advantages to using a blue screen, which is why it's still ocassionally used. Lord of the Rings was shot with blue screens because of the use of green in the films palette. It's just that in the majority of cases green is sufficient, if not more effecient to use than blue.

Like I said, from what I understand (and I may well be wrong), film does not "loose sensitivity" per se, but the fastest grains (which are sensitive to the lowest light) become slightly 'exposed' and create a non-uniform fog. Shooters then overexpose the film to move the image out of this 'fogged' region of the toe. While this could be considered 'loosing sensitivity', it's not strictly true. The film is still capable of resolving a properly exposed image when rated at its original intended ASA, the image will, however, possibly contain some of this fogging. Obviously, the expiration date on the box indicates a date when the manufacturer believes the film is no longer safe to shoot without encountering fogging. People shoot expired film all the time. This whole discussion has been about precautions people take when doing so.

That certainly an interesting reflection you've found. I'd consider trying to figure out what's causing that slightly cooler horizontal line running through the centre of the wavy vertical lines. If you could eliminate it it would make it much cleaner and more striking. Learning how to manipulate reflective surfaces is a valuable skill for any DoP. It's the basis for lighting cars and some product shooting. Try stretching a white material somewhere on the angle of incidence, and shinging a light into it. Move the light around and cut off parts of the light until you can create a reflection that you like. The second shot might benefit from having a bit more light on the foreground actor. Something to maybe bring maybe one or two features of her face into proper exposure (like the far side of your background talents face). If it fits into your scene, consider panning a couple lights through the windshield across your talents face to simulate headlights from cars driving by. This is a pitfall of the camera you're using, but the shallow depth of field means that both actors are held in relative focus and it can be a bit distracting as we don't know which one to concentrate on. Try opening up the iris as wide as you can (don't know what it is on your camera, maybe 2-2.8) and using Neutral Density filters (all the better if they're built into your camera) to compensate. That might help reduce the depth of field slightly.

I think a grip forum would be great to discuss more technical things like rigging, dollying etc. It's got my vote!

This is from the Kodak website. Technical data for Vision 2 100t: "Store unexposed film at 13°C (55°F) or lower. For extended storage, store at -18°C (0°F) or lower" I've never heard of film loosing sensitivity. People sometimes overexpose questionable film in order to push the image out of the toe of the film where fogging occours. Thanks everyone for their advice. I'm just going to leave the stock in the fridge. I'm trying to find a recan reseller who might take it in a trade for some 16mm stock.

They're your tests, you can be as thorough as you like. Make a diagram of your scene. For each light, note what type of fixture it is is, if it's spotted or flooded, what gels or diffusion are on it, where it's pointed, what the light has been cut off of with barn doors or flags. You may want to take spot readings from camera position of elements of your scene (key & fill sides of talent's face, various background and foreground items, anything you feel may be in the highlights or shadows). Kodak does this for examples of it's film stocks: Obviously, the more information you have, the better your ability to analyze what you've done.

It isn't so much the case with todays film stocks, but different film stocks used to have much more unique looks to them. Hall (great last name btw) might also have used the 100t for interiors, and wanted the same stock to do exteriors (with an 85 filter of course) for a few reasons, most likely a consistent look, or perhaps to only have to order / carry one stock. I don't know much about 5248, but I have 400ft of it in my fridge waiting to shoot. From this photo on off the Kodak website, the colours look to have a very muted, pastel look to them.

I was recently given 400ft of recanned 5248 (EXR 100t). It had been sitting in a cool closet in the basement of a studio since September 2003. I didn't have much hope for it, but I took it to Deluxe to be snip tested, and to my surprise and delight, it passed (R.19, G.53, B.94). Right now the film is in my fridge, but I won't be able to shoot it for some time. I don't want to risk letting this film fog, so I am considering moving it to the freezer, as it might be a year before i use it. I've already read about freezing stock on this forum and on Kodak's website: http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/....11.12.10&lc=en http://www.cinematography.com/forum2004/in...c=6859&hl=freez My concern though is that this is a recan, and it has been stored in less than ideal conditions (although it hasn't yet resulted in film fogging). Would it be inadvisable to freeze film that has such a history? Will keeping it in the fridge likely suffice for the next 8-12 months? Thanks

Are you kidding? That is the most unfortunately named piece of hardware, ever.

You don't need a light meter to determine your fstop on a video camera. Just put an 18% grey card in front of your talent, zoom in on it, and the auto exposure will tell you the exact same thing a light meter will. And you don't even need to do that. Just look in the eye piece and decide what you want to expose the shot at. Spend your money instead on a good video monitor, like the Sony PVM-9L3. You could probably find one used for about the same price as a good quality light meter. A good monitor will do more to help you get great images than any light meter will. Most of the DVX community seem to agree. http://www.dvxuser.com/V3/showthread.php?t=40654

Oh, I don't disagree that it IS the law, I disagree with the law itself. Any Gaffer or Best Boy should know as much as a certified electrician when it comes to performing a tie-in. It is a dangerous procedure, but I think a certified electrician is just as likely to make a mistake as a technician. Obviously with larger industrial services, an Electrician should perform the tie-in as he will be able to identiy hazards which may be unfamiliar to the technician (like a 16KV service as mentioned in an earlier post!).

I thought some of you might get a kick out of this. I found this box in the basement of the studio while looking for some Socapex splays. Whats inside? The most dangerour piece of electric equipment ever!!! As you can see, it has three jumper cable-like clamps, presumably to connect to the lines in the box. The joy cable is very thin, not 6 gauge, maybe 8. There was a very dodgy looking dief in the the case as well, it was the only thing on this rig that has any sort of breaker. I hope no one ever connected a 5K to this joy! The picture didn't turn out very good, but here is an idea of how thin the wire is. And yes, it is wrapped in electrical tape. It's shocking (no pun intended) to think anyone ever used this rig. If you want to hear some scarry (but hilarious) stories, just talk to some old gaffers about the wildest things they've ever done. Guys tying into lamp posts, an old box in a 100 year old church basement. Even 20 year veteren trying to tie-in whilst standing on a full apple in a half-apple's deep water (he was eventually convinced to rent a genny). The thing is, as crazy as they sound, these guys knew what they were doing. And they are a lot less likely to get fried then some young filmmaker doing a standard tie-in to a standard household service (except maybe the guy in the flooded basement). I disagree, however, that a certified electrician should be required to do a tie-in. If you've been shown how to do it properly then it's a very straight forward procedure that any best boy or even electric should be qualified to do. Here is a photo of a properly done tie-in to a two-phase 100amp service (similiar to a household service). The tie-in cables (double-ought wire)are connected to the first and third connections (the middle being neutral) to provide 220v power to a mobile TV-Truck. That being said, there is NO WAY that an indie filmmaker should attempt to do this.

No, I don't know anyone who has shot there. I'm only familiar with it because a friend of mine used to throw parties there years ago. I found a photo on their website that shows the court at night lit by mercury lights. I'm guessing the photo was taken from the balcony you described.

For lighting a large area evenly, you can't go wrong with spacelights. Each one is 6 kW (6 1k bulbs in each). A few well placed spacelights in the ceiling will give you good even illumination on the walls and talent. Then you have your smaller fixtures free to light the talent from the floor. Power wise, a spacelight has 3 AC cable's, each powering two of the bulbs (2kw each). If you absolutely can't have a genny, provided your location has 20amp breakers, you can plug these directly into the wall, provided nothing else is running on that circuit. Both Whites & PS rents them. BTW, are you shooting at that volleyball court at Lawrence & Victoria Park?

The only tools I really find necessary to have ON my belt are: Crescent Wrench Silent 6in1 Screwdriver - Cause no one wants to hear you 'clink' around during a shot. Voltage Tester Retractible Boxcutter Knife Needle Nose Pliers - One of those fold up deals. Also has some knives. Wood Screws Wire Caps 1 C-74 (reversed C-47) - For lifting hot scrims from lights. 18" piece of sash - Such pieces have saved me more times that I care to count. 1" Black Masking & 1" Black Cloth (anything else I get off the tape stringer) Sharipe Marker & Ballpoint Pen And this is one of my favourites, a hold over from when I was real fresh in the industry: Small pieces of 1/2 CTO, 1/2 CTB & 1/2 Minus-Green This is invaluable after a long day when your eyes are tired. Not sure if a piece is full or half? Just check it against your small piece of 1/2. This all fits in my fairly compact ACG Grip/Electric pouch, except the tape which is on a tape loop (also ACG), and the Pliers, which have their own case.

Perhaps with the technicians strike you might just get in there =) Some hapless management type may need someone to read the manual to him as he tries to operate the camera or TV truck. j/k But seriously. Check out L.I.F.T., The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto http://www.lift.on.ca. They offer tons of workshops every few months in things like Lighting, Camera Theory, Intro to Directing. It's also a good place to meet other young people who are probably in a similiar situation, looking to gain experience in film & televison. If you haven't already, check out http://www.mandy.com. When people are looking for crew for a small film (it's almost always for volunteer crew), they post on there. Apply as a P.A. on any shoots that come up on there. It's helpful if you have a driver's license as you're a more desirable P.A. if you can drive the truck around. As the crew's are generally small, you'll do a bit of everything and it's easy to keep an eye on the different crew (AD's, Electrics, Grips etc...) and learn from what they're doing. Don't be down about never having gone to film school. You just have to work harder to try and get your chance to impress people. What you do with that chance will depend on how much sucess you have getting into the industry. I never went to film school, I just read a lot of film books, took workshops and volunteered at LIFT, and volunteered on sets. As long as yuo show people that you will work long and hard for free, eventually someone will pay you.

...And don't forget to check out a few Seminoles games this year. Tickets get more expensive after you graduate. :)

The Cardellini Clamp is designed for just such purposes. Just make sure to use a saftey cable as well, especially if the light is overhead on a grid. http://www.filmtools.com/cardellini.htm

Film Lighting is a great book for beginners, does a good job of covering a wide range of lighting topics (techniques, characteristics of light, power distribution etc). I was gaffing on a shoot over the weekend. I had my copy in my van and I lent it to a P.A. who looked pretty bored minding a couple production trucks. He got through about half of it before the end of the day, and then bought it off me for $10 so he could read the rest. I think I might have created a future Electric =)

I own the same meter (non cine). Quite happy with it (except for the lack of footcandle reading, but I can do my own math. The shutter speed is determined by the shutter opening and the frame rate you select. As you said, the meter assumes a shutter opening of 180 degrees (open half the time). At 24 fps, the shutter speed will be 1/48 of a second. If your camera has a 150 deg shutter opening, then it has an effective shutter speed of 1/60 of a second when shooting at 24 fps. On the L-558, I would just select 1/60 shutter speed. If you want to use the fps settings, you could compensate simply by setting the frame rate on the meter to 30fps, which, assumining as the meter does, a 180 degree opening, will be a shutter speed of 1/60 second. A compensation in the ISO speed is unnecessary, though it's good to understand their relationship to each other.