Evan Bourcier

Honestly it goes either way. To be honest I've only been offered $2k/day once, and that was just me. Production company was supplying dragons and all that. Sometimes the $850-$1500/day stuff is with my c100, but usually we're just renting cameras. Mixture of stuff, some work for ESPN/facebook, some random corporate stuff in Nashville, some music videos and like 3 minute web highlights on people for non-profits.. EDIT: Worth mentioning that as Adrian said I am East Coast, so the competition isn't very fierce. Also there are only a few good DPs that aren't just shooting high-end music videos in nashville I find, so I get called a good bit from there.

I'm actually really curious for more people to throw numbers into this thread, as based on what exists so far I feel like I'm some anomaly. I'm based out of Massachusetts but work around the country, and right now I'm usually around $850-$2000/day depending on how complicated the project is. I've been a DP for 4 years.

Ok - I just wanted to quickly ask about best practices with streaks and tips black hairspray dye. I picked up a can with a recent order of gels to play around with, and it seems pretty straight forward. I was just curious of any best practices/things to avoid. I tested it on a 75 watt bulb in my house and noticed some light smoke when I turned the bulb on, is that normal? Have you ever had issues cleaning off bulbs? Related - are there any other odds and ends like this you love to have in your kit? Thanks, Evan

Appreciate everyones feedback! Definitely some interesting thoughts shared here, and I definitely see both sides of the coin. I do actually shoot my own projects a lot, so it's beneficial for me to have my own kit. I'm also a couple hours from the nearest rental house. I didn't realize actual Arri HMIs could be had as cheap as shared above, I've mostly seen joker prices. Why is an Arri 1200 watt HMI par $1800 while an 800 watt joker is $6500 on eBay? I'm sure there's some basic thing I'm missing here, as I've shot with jokers but never the Arri. This info is really interesting Guy - so if I'm reading correctly you think these should be relatively safe on house power? Most of my non-travel jobs are house power, so I'd be willing to accept that as a limitation. Also - saw you're in Boston, I'm actually based out of Springfield MA! Would love to connect some time, I've been working here for 4 years but know very little of the Boston scene. (And I could always use a good Gaffer!)

Hey guys! Been reading the forums for a while, this is the first topic that made me make an account though. I've been watching to add some good daylight punch to my personal kit, and I love jokers but can't currently justify the cost. I found these Chinese knockoff HMIs on eBay and was curious if anyone has any experience with them. Obviously I'm sure they're nothing like high-end HMIs, I'm mainly just worried about safety with them. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-2KW-HMI-Fresnel-HMI-DayLight-Lighting-Electronic-Ballast-Dimmer-Lamp-AS-ARRI-/261188319914?hash=item3cd0097aaa:g:-SAAAMXQhuVRSSDJ Additionally, are there any other cheaper HMIs that you would recommend instead? Thanks, Evan