Marshall Hendershot

I wasn't referring to your post Robin - your info was great. I was speaking to the part of Aapo's post about windows and mac being unreliable and not connecting the computer to the internet. Not that it is essentially incorrect - mistakes and errors do happen - but if you are using a system you should understand it well enough and have taken the necessary precautions to ensure it all works (have a backup). If it doesn't that's pretty much on you. In other words don't form systems out of fear, form them out of an understanding of the process. I agree you shouldn't have a "student DIT" doing offloading (whatever that means).

I would agree that it is forging but so far every union crew I have worked with has expected me to fill out and sign all their paperwork (other than start work).

*Lowest person or the loader is in charge of paperwork. *Operators and Dp's are done at wrap. Assistants are done when the truck is packed. All are clocked out when they arrive at basecamp. Apologies for multiple posts, couldn't edit my original post for some reason.

There isn't to the best of my knowledge. Its poor practice to use the viewfinder for anything more than framing and focus anyway. Use a light meter, scopes and an understanding of digital imaging.

First off - don't be scared of downloading despite what was said above. If it is unstable you are doing it wrong. I would call a MacBook (2014ish MacBook pro or newer) fairy standard for loaders. Get shot-put, hedge or silverstack and make sure you have a very good understanding on how data transfers work and you can go from there. There is plenty of good info out there that you can research. As for as grading goes - that's another topic. On set editing isn't a DIT role in the US.

It's generally the lowest person in the camera dpt. who is in charge of processing paperwork and keeping track of hours for everyone. It's not your job to fill out start work but you should know how to fill out timecards. Remember all time is calculated in military decimal (.6 increments). Operators and Dp's are normally clocked out when wrap is called. Assistants are wrapped when they arrive back at basecamp. Go read through the local 600 contracts when you have some time. Also make sure you have copies of rental house orders and mid shoot add-ons etc.. Keep scanned copies of everything on your phone and have some sort of folder and/or binder system to organize everything.

A beginner 1st AC is a phrase that could be considered an oxymoron. I have no idea what your situation is but you should try to find work as a digital utility or loader as you dont have a clear grasp on working in a camera dpt.. Go by the camera assistants manual, David Elkins and Douglas Hart both have one. Optics and Focus for Camera Assistants is a great book as well (albeit expensive).

Six or so years ago he had lots great stuff especially as a beginner without a lot of highly experienced people to learn from. A company I worked for paid for me to go to one of his classes so I got into the inner circle when it was 7 bucks a month, the class was excellent as well. I really don't use it much any more but I will occasionally reference it and figured it was cheap enough at that price not to worry about the money. As someone looking to register now, I really don't know how helpful it would be especially with older content not being provided. The overall feel has really gotten sales-y (not in a good way) and the Facebook group is primarily a bunch of novice professionals (best why I can define it) and fanboys. He does do a monthly podcast which I really like. He answers questions that are emailed to him, not sure of the chances of yours being picked though. Other than that there is not any personal access to him that I have seen. Overall opinion- I agree with the above posts. I feel like it's quite expensive and to product focused (companies do pay him for exposure) at times. It is nicely packaged though and would definately provide some nice resources to an aspiring DP especially in an area without many working professionals. David Mullen has an incredible amount of posts on here, red user, and Roger Deakins Blog and there is quite a lot of other good free info out there if you are good at digging. Up to you wether the convenience of Shanes stuff is worth the price.

http://www.studiodaily.com/2017/07/first-ac-bob-hall-camera-lensing-challenges-dunkirk/ Here is an interview that the 1st AC did. He addresses the focusing challenges of this movie.

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Hey everyone! Quick question. I recently moved to LA (trying to pursue either Camera Assisting or DIT work) after doing the equivalent of those jobs in Colorado for about 3 years. I don't have very many contacts out here so I have been trying to figure out the best way to get connected other than seeking out work in rental houses (which I am pursuing as well). My question is about the appropriateness of cold emailing/cold contacting. I emailed a DIT that I follow on instagram (used the email he had on his website) asking if we could maybe meet up sometime and got the following response: "First rule, most folks in the camera dept don’t like cold emails. Tends to leave a bad taste. Try a different route or try commercial folks or agency’s as a PA. If your interested in the camera dept then try to setup an appointment at Local 600 to learn what you can. Most my features are out of the country these days so I will be of little help." After reading back over the email I sent him it did seem like I was asking for a job on the next feature he had. Is cold contacting people a big thing that you shouldn't do? I do understand most people are not to keen to share their knowledge with some random person, especially out here. My intention is not to ask for jobs but simply to hear stories and experiences from people who are doing what I am aiming to do. Is their a better way to go about this other than cold emailing? Or do I just need to word things better?

Curious if you have any thoughts on the focus pullings? Quite a bit was soft but it seemed understandable to me given the circumstances

Pelican 1510 with trekpak and a lid organizer is what I decided on.....I much prefer it over having to carry a bag everywhere. Also feel like its looks a bit better (IMO). Trekpak is a must have (again IMO) and allows you to make the most of the space you do have. Don't know many people who need more room in their kit than that.

That was originally what I thought as we were using Rokinon lenses with them but then the same thing happened on several Red zooms and well as a set of CP2's. Admittedly I am no expert on optics and I did not do any in depth testing to diagnose the problem. The second system I used (this one was rented, first system was from the production company I worked for) seem to hit marks just fine.

Ive pretty much only used redrock. Here were the problems I had from the two systems I used: Set one: It would never return to a mark, had to pull past the point and go back to it to hit it. Repair and updates never changed it. Motors occasionaly had random issues. Had random problems updating the firmware to 3.0 and 4.0 that I couldn't seem to diagnose. Still not sure what I did wrong even after contacting customer support which was annoying. I did follow the steps exactly as described in the manual. Set two: Auto calibrate would not work at all. Overall it was okay considering the price but wasn't the most precise or consistent tool. It would be hard to go into a larger show and be confident in using a tool like that. Smaller stuff it is obviously is fine for.