Matt Irwin

I don't know of any off hand, but nothing beats on-the-job experience (especially for grip dept).

No matter what you end up recording on, make sure you get a slate and hit the sticks close to the mic. It will be much easier to sync in post.

I highly doubt they shoot film. It's probably some high end video format like DigiBeta, Pro50, or HD coupled with good lighting. It wouldn't make any financial sense to shoot a broadcast interview on film.

The first thing we did was follow the diagram, and only got one tube to fire. No, no starters, just the ballast alone with an ac plug and two add-a-taps. Not exactly. One of the two tubes would fully fire or none would fire. On the electronic ballast, we got a very dim glow all the way across one tube only. Both ballasts are Advance brand Rapid Start. What kinds of issues are we talking about? I'm sorry I am unable to be more descriptive. I'll be at the workshop on Friday, so I'll take some pictures and post them here. Thanks for your help, Phil.

Neither did we... We tried both a magnetic and an electronic and could only get one tube to fire no matter what we did to the wiring. We followed the diagram on the ballast as a guide (like we do with the 4-tube units) and got nothing. We then tried some other combinations, and still nothing. **I realize I should have worded the original post better: We were trying to wire the 2 bank ballast alone, not with two to make a 4 bank. I decided to just look for some more 4 bank ballasts because I need some anyway.** Mind you, we weren't wiring a shoplight fixture-- we were connecting the leads to zip cord and add-a-taps, not exactly the textbook way of doing it. It is also possible that both the ballasts were defective, but it seems like it would be pretty rare to get two unidentical ballasts like that. I would post pics of our wiring, but I'm not at our workspace right now. I don't see how it would be different in 220 land. There are plenty of 4-tube fixtures here that have 2 ballasts. Although, you made me realize... I should just go buy a fully assembled shoplight, see how it's wired, and check it against ours.

I've been on the hunt for some 4 ft. 4-lamp T12 electronic ballasts for some custom fluo lights I'm building. Unfortunately, 4 bank T12 ballasts are being phased out in the States and they are really hard to find. Does anyone know of a place in the LA area that has any in stock? These aren't Kino or Magic ballasts, just regular brick ballasts. [before someone brings it up, two 2-bank ballasts won't work because of the way they have to be wired (I'm wiring them to be used with add-a-taps). I spent a few hours with a gaffer trying to make them work, and no dice.] Thanks, MI

No, it's cloaked. Now that's a smart slate. :lol:

Did you hook the camera up to a reference monitor? Does the image look blue in both the viewfinder and the flip-out?

Exactly. For most of the shooting I do, shooting uncompressed with the required external gear is usually either impractical or out-of-budget. Compared to HDV's horrible compression, writing DVCPRO50/HD to disk is worlds better. I've also heard that some company is making a DTE unit for the XLH1 that takes advantage of the SDI port, which could change things...

A Firestore is being developed for the HVX and will be released +/- March 2006. What's really cool is that it will be capable of writing the actual DVCPRO50/HD codecs to the drive. It writes via firewire and has a 100GB capacity, so thats about 100 minutes of HD recording (?). They say it will be sold for "under $2000", so $1999 :) . Here's the press release. On a side note, I think that the FW ports on cameras need to have some kind of secure plug (like BNC style) that would prevent the plug from being yanked out when the cam is hooked up to a Firestore or something important like that. Those ports and plugs get worn over time, especially those tiny 4 pin FW cables.

Good ideas, Thanks!

One of the most common and most challenging things I come across with lighting people is dealing with actors of mixed skin tones in the same shot. I always find a way, but I was wondering what techniques you guys use and would be willing to share. It would be nice to have an arsenal of ideas for that inevitable day of hell when I'll have to light, lets say, a light blonde Swedish girl wearing all white sitting next to... Bernie Mac in a black suit. (hahaha I hope that day never comes!) Any thoughts?

Perfect! Thanks guys. Heheh, yeah someone told me they saw one of those lamps instantly combust a 4x8 beadboard from about 10 feet away... in the middle of a take!

Well if you are content with SD, the Canon XL2 is also selling for under $5k. It does 24p the same way that the DVX100A does and it has a higher resolution chip and native 16:9 (which the DVX doesn't have). I've worked with both cameras, and I'd have to say that the XL2 does produce a significantly sharper image than the DVX. The DVX has a softer image and is much more portable than the XL2-- both of those points sway some people to the DVX. I'm not sure what the new HDV cameras are selling for... there's the Sony Z1U and FX1 and the JVC HD100, but I think they're both above the $5k mark. Hope this helps.

I'd have to mention Changwei Gu, who shot Ju Dou and Farewell My Concubine. Ju Dou features some breathtaking shooting set inside a Chinese textile mill. Those who haven't seen it really should. Also, Chris Soos has been turning out some great work in music videos.

I've been hearing talk about these "Firestarter" PAR 64 bulbs that are apparently the highest output par 64 lamps on the market. I understand they are 1350w VNSP lamps that will work in a 1K can. I've searched online for them, but can't find out who manufactures or supplies them. Is "Firestarter" a brand or a nickname? Does anybody know about these or where to find them in the LA area? Thanks

A friend of mine emailed me the link. There's also one for West Side Story. I know the same guy made both the trailers, but I don't know who he is. Glad you guys enjoyed it!

A good laugh. (link goes to quicktime .mov)

Dimitrios, The project doesn't have to be HD, does it? You could also go the dvcpro50 route with the SDX-900... you'd be originating in a better color space than the XL2 and XLH1 (in HDV mode) and you'd have more lens options. If you don't plan on a film out, it may not be a bad idea...

Hi Annie, For IATSE Local 600 (Los Angeles), I think you simply have to show 30 days worth of pay stubs earned within one year of each other that state your job as "camera assistant" or "loader". I may be wrong on this, but I think the stubs also have to be from union shows. (can't be a union without at least a few catch-22s! :) ) The rules for the Georgia unions may be different, though. Anyone feel free to chime in if the rules have changed.

Right. If I remember, the reason all those exteriors looked "good" is that the skies were composites. There is no way you could achieve the quality of 28 Days Later on a 200,000 euro budget. The post production alone was something like $1.5 million. That said, I have been able to get some great images from the XL2. I found it to be sharper than the DVX100 by far. The out-of-box color settings look horrible and the master RGB settings have to be tweaked. For your project, definitely push for film. You'll be pulling your hair out trying to control the limited dynamic range of the XL.

Wow. That was kind of humbling to watch. Definitely a unique way of executing a music video. Beautiful!! And yeah, if anyone knows anything more about the vid, please post! Anyone know who the DP was?

I assume you mean tripod + head, right? I have a Manfrotto 519 head and I love it. It's very smooth and has 7 steps of resistance on both pan and tilt. It's also one of only three or so Manfrotto heads that are true fluid heads and not "lubricated friction" heads. It has great counterbalance controll and can balance up to 22 lbs (with a stronger spring), so if you upgrade to a larger camera or load up with accessories, you won't have to get beefier head. It's not the cheapest head out there- it retails at about $1300 US. I got mine at Samys Camera for $790 on a deal they had. I also bought only the head and not a tripod, so you should look for a bundled tripod/head package as it will probably be a better value. I don't know how much you're looking to spend, but you should also look at Vinten, Cartoni, and Sachtler... O'Connors are fantastic, but are really expensive (even for their DV head). I think the Vinten and Cartoni DV heads can be had for around $800 (??). Hope this helps.

It seems to be some minor yet very nice tweaks. They say the release date will be "Autumn." Press Release

Ah, my mistake. The DVX100AP is NTSC and the DVX100E s the PAL version. Oops.