Davon Slininger

We have straight Schneider ND's on the show I'm on now. Apparently Schneider has the least color abberration when shooting HD, or so we heard from comrades in the industry that had done may tests. We noticed that ND15 and higher had a much more dramatic color shift that any ND below that. If we used an IR (T1 specifically) with anything less than an ND15 it would be much too green as well.

We've compromised and have been using the IR only on ND15 and higher. It is quite a noticeable difference from 12 to 15 but the grading in post has been much more manageable sticking to this routine now.

I feel like you just get what you get with HD these days and even if you are using the same camera it still needs some fine tuning and a bit of testing until you figure out a solution appropriate for your shoot.

Hope that helps! Have a great shoot!

Hey Chris I PM'd you but it says you cannot receive any new messages.

I've heard that there is another company manufacturing quick release assemblies like the Ronford Baker RBQ. Does anyone know what those are and where I can find them in LA.

Or if you have an RBQ to sell I'll gladly take it off your hands too.

Looking to put together a filter package for myself. Starting with 6x6 ND's and 4x5 ND's. IR's, and Grads too if they are out there.

Please shoot me an email or PM if you have anything available.

thanks much

davons@gmail.com

Where do you guys get foam for your pelican and flight cases in Los Angeles?

I just got a few cases for my personal gear and need to get some custom foam cut to fit.

Looking for help with an Industrial next week. We are shooting a round table discussion for a DVD project on Wednesday the 7th. There will be a pre-light day on the 6th, shoot the 7th. Our location is an interior warehouse office and we'll need to rig to the ceiling to shoot 360 degrees. There are exposed beams and plenty of options for rigging. We'll definitely need someone that's familiar with rigging it safe. The shoot day will entail lots of dolly moves.

Email if interested for more info. Please send a resume or link, and tell me a little bit about yourself.

This is a paid position but its a flat rate and will most likely be long days. 400/day

Looking for help with an Industrial next week. We are shooting a round table discussion for a DVD project on Wednesday the 7th. I need a 1st AC that can also operate. We will have 2 cameras, you'll need to operate and pull your own focus on one. We are shooting Sony EX1/EX3 with a lens adapter. There will be a couple of set ups so knowledge of the gear and building the camera is a must.

Please email with a resume or a link, and tell me a little about yourself.

This is a paid position but flat for the day and it will most likely be a long day. 400/day

Please take a look at my reel! I'd appreciate any solid, critical feedback.

Thanks all!

http://davonslininger.com

Did anyone attend any of the Master Classes at Cinegear this year?

It would be great if anyone has transcriptions or notes they could post from any of the classes.

I am particularly interested in the "Lighting Workshop" moderated by Eagle Egilsson, Mike Bonvillain, and Dick Pope. And also the "Cinematography Survival Skills you can Learn on Your Own" moderated by Ron Dexter.

I had actually registered for both but ended up picking up work that day and missed them.

Any notes would be great!

Why can't you get wider apertures on longer lenses?

I've been looking at still camera formats and a 50mm T1.4 equivalent 35mm camera lens on an 8x10 is about a 300-360mm. Largest aperture I can find on a 360mm 8x10 camera lens is T5.5.

It had me thinking about cine lenses too. A set of S4's are T2 but why can't I get a T2 360mm?

Whats the science?

HAHA Tom! I just did a real life spit take reading your comment. I can't even begin to count how many espressos I've fetched.

On the Criterion Collection of "The Double Life of Veronique" dir Kyrzystof Kyslowski, Cinematographer Slawomir Idziak discusses a lot of the way they approached the filmed.

I was in the first row! So nice to see some peers here that were there too. I unfortunately don't have a recording or a video. Just wanted to chime in with my "I was there too!"

Does anyone remember what he said about "Margo at the Wedding." I remember he said he tried something on that film that he had never done before and that he would never do it again.

I can't remember what it was though.

Who cares if its digital? Cinematography is still about considering everything, and making all the decisions it takes to represent a narrative (or non-narrative) visually in the best way possible.

Benjamin Buttons was mixed format but primarily digital. With the exception of a few things like higher frame rates it was mostly shot with Vipers. If it had won, would anyone really be questioning its validity?

Does anyone have any links to info on this film?

"Down to the Bone"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363579/

I'm about to start a project like this and I feel like they did a particularly great job shooting this digital on a shoestring budget.

I'd love to find some material on it. I've done a couple of searches but haven't come up with much. If anyone has any other suggestions on similar films to research I'd love to hear them.

thanks all!

Does anyone know where to get surveillance earpieces repaired in LA. I have heard of an electronics place in North Hollywood but can't remember the name.

I have 3 fussy earpieces and would rather fix them than have to keep shelling out another hundred bucks for a new one every time.

Thanks for the info guys. Maybe I should have posted in the newbie forum. I'm not too familiar with my formats/ratios. I think i'm going from 35mm/1.85 to super 16/1.78.

I plugged in some numbers to the Panavision conversion tool and it gives me anywhere from 25mm-28mm.

thanks for the feedback

From a 35mm camera, what is the 50mm lens equivalent on a 16mm camera? Is there an equation for figuring this out?

thanks all.

The film inventory sheets are to be done by the 2nd AC. As a loader, just ask the 2nd if you have any questions. If he doesn't know, he'll ask the 1st.

 

Loading to be quite honest is not a very hard job. It requires a ton of focus to do it well, and a good loader is hard to come by, but working smart really makes the job pretty easy. The 2nd is the one who really has their work cut out for them.

 

One thing you can do to help yourself is come in extra early and stay late getting some of your paperwork in order for the next day.

 

For instance, a big killer of time in a sweaty dark room can be taping the mag and getting the label prepared. In the morning (or night), just precut a bunch of strips of tape for the right length to go around the mag and stick them on the wall of the darkroom (or table that your tent is on).

 

Make printed labels (or pre write) the tag that goes with the mag with as much info as you can. The stock, show title, date, and footage are all things you will know ahead of time. Just leave M: & R: blank.

 

Make sure the 2nd (and you can also) has ordered pre-printed camera reports. If you don't have them, fill them out ahead of time.

 

All these little things add up to quicker mag turn arounds.

 

With regard to not cracking open too much film, look at the call sheet, if you know that one of the last shots on the shooting schedule is up on the slate, take that as a cue to quietly ask the 2nd if you should keep more mags hot than you already have.

 

Kevin Zanit

I beg to differ on a few things with you Kevin. Loading is often not an easy job. All of the AC positions have their respective challenges and loading is no exception.

I just finished a 4 day car commercial shot entirely on location. We had two full units and four cameras working at a time. 2 picture vehicles with car mounts and follow vehicles with mounts as well. As the loader on this job I had to make sure that there was a magazine ready on every camera at all times as well as a backup mag in each car, 2 if possible for all of these cameras in case they needed to reload remotely. Frame rates would often change as well from 40 to 60fps. Since it was all 400' loads to lighten the weight of the mounts it meant we were reloading a lot.

The challenge was keeping all my ducks in a row. I had to check the footage on every camera every time it came back to basecamp. I had to check to see if they reloaded remotely and used one of the backup mags on the road. If any one of them had, I had to down that mag and get a fresh one back in there before they took off again.

Add to that that it was an overcast day and we were switching from 5201 50D to 5205 250D, which meant I had to have 2 stocks ready, but play it careful too so that I didn't crack too many cans open and have a ton of recans at the end of the day. Having sunset shots also meant that I had to have our third stock, some 500T ready too, which we used on only 2 days. The other 2 days they were able to get the shots with the 250D

Add to that that a few times they decided to take one car out further on the road for running shots and wanted me to set up mobile in the follow vehicle. In very little time I had to prepare a mobile kit, changing bag, extra film and mags and hop in the follow vehicle, but also had to make sure the second unit had plenty of magazines and film stock because I had no idea when I would see them again. The magazines add up quikly. Upon returning from working mobile, second unit had shot 4 to 5 rolls and I'd have to download them all get them fresh ones asap.

There was never one second where I wasn't counting, checking, reloading, balancing inventory, checking with the AD for upcoming shots, updating the DP with film totals, and keeping the 1AC informed on what film we had left. My lunch hour was spent balancing the inventory, doing timecards and mileage reports for the crew and finishing the camera reports that were often absent due to the pace at which we were shooting.

As a loader I am solely responsible for the inventory of the film. It is not the 2AC that manages that. I come in early, count, and keep everybody informed on whats been shot. While keeping the crew informed on totals it is also my responsibilty to keep the producer informed so that production knows where we stand and can be prepared to send someone for more film if we need it asap.

I do agree with Kevin on the prep work. Prep work is a lifesaver if you can get in and set stuff up early. I always try and arrive a half hour early and get in to the darkroom and sort things out. I try to label all the rawstock so that all I have to do is pull that label and slap it on the mag when I load it. I also cut a bunch of strips of tape for safetys that I can just grab and slap on the mag latches and around the edges. I fill in as much info on the camera reports as possible before I give them to the 2nd because often they come back blank or with minimal notes.

At the end of the day it often takes a bit of time to close out all your paperwork at wrap. If you are behind and have to catch up on a lot you'll be keeping production from being able to go home. There is nothing like a cranky Production Manager and PA breathing down your neck waiting to take the film delivery while you are frantically trying to balance your inventory and write the Lab order.

On the flip side though, I have been on dialogue heavy shoots where we shot 5000' a day and all 1000' loads. Thats when the crossword puzzles and sudoku get passed around set!

Does anyone know of a place to get 35mm stock cut down to 16mm? I have a ton of 35mm short ends from previous productions and could really use them to supplement a super16 project I am doing.

A place like pro8mm.com will cut down to super8 but not 16. Any ideas?

Production almost always pays for expendables on the union commercials I've been on. Sometimes they give a P.O. number during the prep (if you ask nicely), and you can buy your expendables at the rental house and have the rental house add your purchases to the rental P.O.

If you don't get that far on prep day you can usually submit an invoice for your expendables to production with your timecard at wrap. They'll cover most things to an extent but you can't get too crazy with invoices. Usually just bill for the most common things like tape, eyepiece chamois, pens or markers, etc.

In the end it all depends on the production though. If it is a PSA with a Union crew that the Prod.Co. is doing for free, nobody is really billing for anything on that so you just eat it and take your day rate. On bigger shows with bigger clients they are usually pretty accommodating.

Hey Mitch,

I'll just add a couple things to Rory's excellent list.

I use a short, fat flathead screwdriver all the time for switching and tightening baseplates and changing heads etc. I forget the size of mine but its got a full handle to get a good grip and a short 2" but very fat tip. Fits in my pouch so if we are swapping plates I don't have to hunt for it on the cart.

Also for tape, my tape roll has:

3- 1/2" rolls of color paper - different colors for diff actors

1- 1" cloth tape for general utility, usually white but any bright color works, for marking camera position, labeling filters etc.

1- 2" black paper tape - comes in handy for everything! can set small marks for actors on dark floors if you are seeing the floor, can tape filters to a MB if for some reason they dont fit, can make a lens shade, and many many more.

I find that I can pretty much handle anything with that tape roll.

Good luck!

Any reccommends on a super16 package? This will be my first 16mm shoot. I'll need something portable and quiet. I have some car interiors, and a lot of handheld. I helped prep an Aaton Xprod package the other day and I really liked the camera but I didn't check on ramping fps. I need to slow down from 24fps to 3fps at most for a sped up time look for a couple shots. Maybe have to do that in post? Any ideas?

Doing my research but curious to hear about any experiences, preferences or reccommends.

I saw a lighting demo by Christian Sebalt ASC once and he said that he never uses his incident meter. He prefers to be by the camera so that he can evaluate the scene as a whole and fire off spot meter readings from there. He also boasted that the lab he works with told him once that his negatives are always consistent with their exposure.

He justified metering this way by saying that if he meters the incident light he feels he is just getting an approximation of light values. If he spot meters from the camera he feels like he is reading light the same way the film will since the film is exposing what is reflected at it. He also said that by no means was this a scientific justification but it works for him.

Of course you still have to pick an exposure based on your spot readings.

"The Negative" by Ansel Adams has great info on this as well as some info on the Zone system that may help round out your choices on exposure.

I'm totally in Dave! Shooting you an email and resume :D