Jon O'Brien

That would make a good T shirt - with a picture of a Bolex or Arri S or something like that. Probably already been done. "Get out there and get filming"

Yeah, the tripod and head I bought are, I'm pretty sure, going to turn out to be (ideally speaking) too light for my Bolex, which is approx. 4.5 kg but I'm only using an inaccurate scale to weigh it on. I could have bought an old Miller but went with a much newer Manfrotto combination that is rated at a maximum capacity of nearly 7kg, so strong enough in that sense, but rated at 4kg for the non-adjustable counterbalance mechanism. So my camera will be too heavy no doubt. However, I had to weigh up my limited budget with the need for a tripod/head with a lot of versatility. These Manfrotto tripods are very variable in height. With the sort of filming I want to do, if I'd gotten the Miller I would have also had to buy a tiny hi hat type tripod as well. I hope to later on, when I've saved up more, buy a bigger Miller tripod and head but the priority for now is get out there and get filming.

Directing suddenly seems very appealing. Come to think of it, I once directed a Super 8 production at school and got a reputation for being too demanding - but the film was a success. Edit: correction, two films I directed at school, plus the ones I did at home. It's all coming back to me. Man, that was a lot of fun.

Have got to write up a list of remember-it points for first shoot. One is, shut viewfinder off when taking eye away. Have decided I will do a bit of taping here and there on door and filter slide. I think the reminder that film is in there is as good a reason as any, and the pros do it, too. A short poem: My tripod quest bore fruit It is now Time to shoot

Yes, there is a head on it already and it's also rated for the same weight. It's a 502HD fluid head with flat base. Second hand and not too far away from me.

Tyler, and anyone else, if I can ask your opinion for a tripod that would go well with a Bolex H16, about 4.5 kg, what do you think of this type of tripod. I ask because it is the same brand: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist.jsp&A=details&Q=&sku=504845&is=REG&fromDisList=y It is rated to approximately 7kg so should be strong enough. I know that it will be useful for the Bolex only, and nothing bigger, and also realise that it doesn't have a 100mm bowl so is limited in the type of heads that can go with it. The appeal of it is that it can be used for very low to the ground camera positions and is a lower price which, at the moment, is very appealing to me.

You must have sold it to me. I will go and see it.

Thanks Doug for your valuable advice. One thing I wasn't clear on, though, in your last two sentences. Are you saying that for normal shooting eg. of live action footage, that you do tape up the door, just in case? I've never bought camera tape. What is the type to get? Excuse my ignorance - I was mainly into Super 8 and such details of film production weren't necessary back then.

There's something magical to me, I must admit, about the film compartment of a movie camera - the bit where the film gate and sprocket wheels are. Partly what motivated me back to a decision to get into film again (I was already moving in that direction but this helped to speed me up) was the brief shot in The Force Awakens 'making of' segment on location where they open up the Panaflex camera and run the mechanism. I was completely hooked when I saw that. It brought the magic back to me after many years of being bored by the idea of cinema. I'd still kept going to see movies but the flickerless video projection had reduced my interest in "film" by 'a lot.' So to the people who made the decision to show that little tidbit of filming on that documentary: thanks! And to the ones who think my thoughts above are pathetic and cinephile-esque, you don't have a leg to stand on! You are just as much in love with those ENG "cinema" cameras with Arri and Red written on the side, and little fans blowing to cool off all that technological hot air.

Thanks Gregg, if I buy from him I will take the bigger aluminium one as per your advice. Just going through last moments of indecision. Can anyone comment on what these Manfrotto video tripods are like, for an H16, such as the discontinued 055XPROB, which unlike the bigger Miller/O'Connor 100mm bowl type tripods seem to be able to get a lot lower to the ground and in some ways might be very versatile.

Guys, now cool it, everyone get back to work. Aren't we supposed to be working? Just kidding. I think this has been an interesting thread.

Sorry! My mistake. I typed "my friend" into a French translator and that is what came out. Merely a faux pas on my part. I'm not French and indeed of Irish stock mostly. You coming from Europe, and far away from Australia, I had a mental image of Hercule Poirot for some reason, and typed that welcoming phrase without giving it much thought. It was not meant to be offensive or to be humour at your expense, or indeed anyone else's. You see, like anyone else, Australians can put their foot in it, so to speak, when writing!

Ah-ha yes, the penny has dropped, now I understand. Thank you Simon. It is for threading the LOOP straight through, as if loading a Panaflex or something like that. I get it. Thank you, mon amie.

I will definitely keep that firm in mind, Samuel. Found these two Millers not too far away, and the shipping shouldn't cost too much. Contacted owner and he said they were a relative's of his and have been in storage since 1991. They mightn't have been used for some years before that. The prices are good! Anyone know if a Miller fluid head likely to still work okay after maybe up to 30 years or more of storage? The fact that the ball bearings have been sitting soaked in oil/grease all that time means they might be fine. I'm more interested in the smaller one with wooden leg tops: https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/marks-point/video-camera-accessories/miller-tripods/1161323354 How do they look? A bit old and not very snazzy, sure. The other alternative, more expensive, is a used Manfrotto 502HD head, flat base mounted on an 055XPROB tripod. This is for a Bolex H16, weight about 4.5kg maximum. Any opinions on these? Thank you.

Ah-ha! Eureka. I see now Dom and Simon what you are saying. Thanks! Simon, I didn't read carefully enough what you wrote, until just now. So this sprocket guide lock (the bifurcated sliding lever) is only used when using the 400 ft magazine? I can't figure out how on earth why, but will leave that query for another day. So in a nutshell, to quote Austin Powers, I don't need to touch this lever lock at all if using 100 ft daylight spools - I just leave the two sprung sprocket guides unlocked and in the far right hand position and thread the film the standard way?

I'm not saying that all good or great script writers and directors are inspired by real film. But if you put your ear to the ground and actually listen to what some of the most creative people are saying today, it's definitely a factor worth taking note of. You can have all your top, uber cool technology if that's what floats your boat as a cinematographer, but remember that you are but one link in a chain.

A lot of commercials on tv here have a milky look that I despise. It literally looks like milk has been doodled into the image with a whisk. I don't know what it is, where it comes from, but it's pretty obvious someone high up likes the look because they keep churning the muck out.

Those bent dogs sound scary, I will avoid those! :o :) Thanks Simon and Dom. Could you describe in some more detail what you mean by springing open the sprocket guides? When I push this to the left and to the right, about 2 or 3mm of travel, absolutely nothing seems to happen to the mechanism. Nothing locks or springs open or closed. In case there is any confusion, I'm not talking about the lever that swings down to close down the loop formers. If we are talking about the same thing, should the "lever" (I wouldn't call it a lever, I'd call it a sliding metal piece that is held down by a black anodised screw) be pushed to the left or to the right before threading the film into the top sprocket wheel? Thank you! Sorry, I'm not too mechanically savvy in some ways.

Also, yes, this is a forum on cinematography, but a lot of factors come into cinematography, as David has shown above. A big part of the whole shebang is the script, which everyone is talking about. Do you understand what a writer is? That they must be a sensitive artist? A writer is by definition a type of dreamer and wannabe. These people must be inspired to create a great script. If that inspiration happens to come from real film, stand back and let that writer indulge their passion because otherwise your whole industry is not going to have any creative product at all. Stand back and let the artists do their thing ... and support them, or all the engineers can give up, drive cabs, drink beer if they can afford it, and dream of the days when they worked in film.

That's an interesting observation about professional filmmaking, that cinephiles generally don't work in the industry. I think they certainly do, but possibly not in the departments you've worked in. Quite a few directors have said they're huge movie fans. But by cinephile are we talking movie lovers or specifically movies shot on celluloid? There is a big difference between a fan of actors, roles and stories, which is the fictional side, and being a fan of movies themselves, which is a deep appreciation for the medium. But as for poseurs, this same thing happens in other industries as I've seen it several times and it is tiresome. It's a well-known thing in science, with hot shot know it alls turning up who are in love with the topic but don't actually do any research or anything else. I have great respect for what people who actually work in the industry do, and have done. I can also see the hilarity of this topic being around for so long. But people do have to say and write what they do in defense of real film because if they didn't, and don't still today, film will disappear. In music, a creative field I do know something about, the best, most influential creative people are most definitely huge music fans. They just couldn't do what they do if they weren't. A creative industry like music production and the film industry basically needs two types: hard bitten engineering type people of many types who actually do things, and the others who maybe some pass off as being dreamers and wannabes of which there are an almost endless supply, but if you look at history, who actually gets big new projects off the ground? Is it the hard bitten engineering types? They assist, but they don't generate. The dreamers do it with the absolutely necessary help of the, maybe at times cynical, down to earth types. I just felt that self-evident truth had to be stated in reply!

Is that because there's a lot of light on set, and the camera is sitting in that light for ages, Brian? I used to do stop-motion on Super 8. I got pretty good at it too, usually with clay models.

It's neither of those things, but thank you for mentioning - I was trying to figure out how to turn off the audible click and just figured it out.

Harry Lime in his dark alcove wouldn't be quite the same.

One more question, Bolex users! This one may seem infuriatingly obvious, but bear with me - I'm trying not to ruin my first roll. I can load a roll of 50D in subdued light, as in, enough light to see what I'm doing? Correct? Thanks for any advice.

Also, is it necessary with a Bolex to put tape around the film door? I'm assuming not, since no one ever mentions it. The door on my Bolex seems to close well. I'm forever reading about pro filmmakers putting tape around Arri magazines, that's all.