Michael Collier

In an earlier post, David, you mentioned some jobs are taken out of respect for the script and the visual opportunities it affords, some are taken after a long hiatus period where you just need work. My question is, knowing you have been on vacation for a while now, which was more prevelent in your decision to shoot this film. I am sure script/visuals played a role of course, but was it a feeling of just being out of the game and wanting to shoot, or is there something in this script that just jump off the page and made you want to shoot. Also, Canada? If locations are still not locked, would the producers be open to talking about Alaska as a location? I could arrange a free trip for them to come up and check out the place. I don't know if they are after mountain town and snow, or just the tax incentives, but we do have a lot to offer for a film of that size. If it seems like they might be open to it drop a bug in their ear and I can get together a free trip for them to see everything in this state that might suit their project. I can also send a library of stills of various locations we have avalible, along with general city/rural/pristine shots. I can also get them in touch with our permiting office, which for most locations, right of way can be obtained for $25 to a few hundred a day just about anywhere in town (with almost no red tape). State parks lands can be shot with a free (pretty sure its free, or cheap) permit, as long as the 1million insurance policy minimum is met. If its shooting over the next 2 or 3 months, we will still have snow on the ground (and cheap hotel rates as well) let me know if I can help.

yeah, as Hall said its more of a guide to figuring out exposure rather than a soothsayer. Usually I choose my appeture first, then meter to determine under/over values of what would be considered 'normal' Also typically I don't meter every light everywhere. I meter the key usually, then light the rest by eye. If there is a big set or I am worried about a particular spot in the set or on a charecter I might meter it to see how far over or under it may be. Lighting ratios I don't meter for, unless I know I am getting close to Dmax or min and want to know if there will be detail left in the shadow/highlight. spot meters is sort of like a waveform monitor for a single pixel, to make an analogy to the digital realm. They take into account the light that will actually hit the emulsion from that specific point in frame. I don't set appeture by it, but if theres a shine off something then generally its good to spot it to see where in the curve it will lay. I also use light meters for digital (not sure if your talking film exclusivley or both) but for me it seems like I don't get the camera set until lighting is almost done (esp when dolly/jib/steadycam is concerned), and so I don't have something to look through during lighting. It helps to know your getting to exposure and won't have to throw a scrim in every light, or switch units out if you find you haven't gotten to key yet. Also in digital its tempting to light by the monitor, but honestly, sometimes its a pain to walk all the way back to the video village to check, and no monitor on set is ever truely accurate. So if you know what your camera or film stock can handle, good meter technique can give you a very good idea of where exposure will fall for any part of frame, even if you never metered that particular area.

Way Up North An Alaskan Short Film (all images copyright Crooked Pictures, Dir. Levi Taylor) Much smoother weekend, I think we are starting to settle in with Murphey's law, though the truck I bought to replace the broken down van now seems to have a battery issue... This weekend was just a one day thing, it seems its really hard to get actors and crew together to shoot on superbowl sunday....who knew. It may have been a good thing, this day turned out to be a 16 hour day with a crew move in the middle of it. We started near girdwood, on the amazing turnagain road. Beautiful road, but its also one of the most dangerous in america (two lanes, no divider, mountains on one side, icy ocean on the other) and the director still had to drive that 1950s chevy pickup to set for our show car. I don't envy having to drive it, it looks terrifying. We shot a short sequence between the main guy and an unkown informant. I didn't need to do much lighting, but since the outside was so bright, I decided to shoot normally and correct it to a sunset look later, since doing it in camera would be difficult to view the results, given the terrible LCD monitor on camera(our only referance). The sun was still very low in the sky even by noon when we wrapped that location, so it will work beautifully. I just added some bounce fill to ballance out the shot. We also had the pleasure of setting up a dolly again in sub-zero temps, but again it went smoothly. Later that evening we set up for what has become the most difficult shot, and ultamatley my favorite. On the storyboard, the camera goes from a Med-CU flys over a gun as a hand smoking a cigar enters and settles onto a wide shot dirtied by an OTS of our villan. In that small environment, I had to make it a compound move, starting with a jib back, and just as the jib feathers, the dolly begins to extend the length of this move. Also complicating things was I didn't have an undersling rig, so I had to fly the jib an inch above the gun, and subtly boom down to catch the right motion of the gun entering frame. You can see our start frame here: and where we ended up To make things even more complicated, we couldn't rent out the follow focus for the weekend, so I had to pull focus on the lens as I operated jib. Me and my key grip, Michael Bergstrom, tallied it up and figured I was at the same time: DP, Camera op, 1st AC and jib operator. It was one hell of a move and by the time we had it set up, the extras tight schedules allowed only 20 minutes to rehearse and shoot. We got the shot, and somehow I kept focus, frame and motion correct. It was a little nerve racking because I didn't have time for playback, and during the move I had eyes on my marks, frame and the table obstacle at the same time. I never knew for sure if we got it, but the director had eyes on screen and assured me I got it. This was lit simply, just a 650 through a 4x4 above our villain, just enough to give shine to the top of his head and fill the other charecters, a 250 prolight to add edge to him and the smoke, and a shine on the gun itself, and a 300 through 1/2 CTO and 216. I ballanced to the key light, making the villan and fill go a bit blue. The hard part was lighting in a way that allowed room for the jib to move. By the time it was set, the dolly grip told me I had about 1 inch leway between a stand and the end of the jib (and the window) so I really had to watch out for when I called for dolly. After that wrapped we moved onto a later scene, where the villians cronnies are passed out in the same room. I kept lighting direction similar, but it was supposed to be night so I switched the fill light to a 250, barn doored to limit how much fill there was (we settled at around -2stops). To pick out random highlights I took an empty frame and made a cookie out of gaffers tape. I loved the look of that, esp. when our charecter walks through the room. Also added was a 300 with 3/4 CTB to backlight the charecter in the chair, and to add a soft beam of light with the smoke in the room. I picked out a picture of the moon with purple spotty light (modivated by the black light that sits next to the picture) and another blue accent light on the gun resting in the corner. We had a grip subtly bring up the level of that light to highlight the gun. The story is somewhat surreal, so its fun to get to do unmodivated lighting gags like that. The small room size again caused problems, because to get the wide shot we needed, I had to place the camera on jib to place the camera over the stairs to get the shot wide enough. In this frame grab you can see how the broken light pattern fell on our main charecter as he walked through. Next we moved to a technically difficult shot, and one that unfortunatley left me in a bit of a compromise. The shot called for a greenscreened window so the moon could be laid in. The problem was I wanted to punch moonlight through the window, and we were on the second story. Big ups to my key grip and his grips for working this out. They ended up running the greenscreen 2 storys high on hirollers and added kinos on either side on mambo's to light it. We litterally had about 3 feet from the window to an immovable trailer (itself two stories tall). When all was said and done, we didn't have stands tall enough to get the propper angle to punch the HMI through the window. I solved the problem by just cross backlighting him, which given space constraints was difficult, but it got done. Two 250s gelled are on either side, each with their own flag to keep the light off the back wall. Given the moon will be almost the size of both windows, it should seem somewhat realistic that he is cross lit like that. Again I used the frame with gaff tape to make a broken pattern. Fill was provided by a gelled 650 bounced off the ceiling. Also for this shot I found myself again pulling focus while operating, since this shot was supposed to pull from the greenscreen back to a med. shot. There. What a weekend. I am prepping for 3 days of night scenes starting this friday night. That should be interesting, if not exhausting. I am looking forward to it though, lots of fun stuff in there. If anyone has any comments I would love to hear some feedback on this shoot. Its been fun so far. (Images were captured off the downconverted DV dub. Noise is less apparent in the HD footage, shadows are more detailed, but you get the idea.)

I had that problem on a shoot last weekend. I lit the majority of the set with soft fill at -2stops and then lit the actors with their own keys, being careful to keep the keys off the walls. We did have to use a 2stop 1/2 scrim on one key to keep the walls from being too bright. when the walls are not lit to key it works best, the question is given the frame your going for, how do you prevent key light from hitting the wall, and flagging and careful lighting is the only solution.

right, I always forget. But remember, you couldn't have saved the world if we didn't knock the dreaded mole-people back to the dark side of the moon. Thats why we got the land title to the moon, as part of the mole-people/nato pact.....come to think of it, who needs canadian TV? I think I just wrote a treatment to a great show there.

Finally the Canadians are here to save our ass, just like they did in WWII. After all the great things Richard has said of CTV in the past, I personaly can't wait!

I bet my boss some ding how that Rambo would be out of theaters in 3 weeks....hoping that comes true, I could use a free meal. He saw it opening night and still swears its the best film ever. I busted out a line from the flick when shooting last weekend. I think we were laying dolly track or setting a tough light on a hill and some how the line 'when your pushed, killings as easy as breathing came out.' weird. still I probably won't even rent it on DVD, not much interest in that film.

Almost forgot more murphy's law sighting: the lamp the main charecter is holding was prone to catching fire, and almost caught one of the stingers on fire with it.

Way Up North An Alaskan Short Film (all images copyright Crooked Pictures) (If you want to skip our problems and just read the journal, skip the next three paragraphs) Well its been one hell of a production so far. This is ?Way Up North? Written and Directed by Levi Taylor, a local guy which is pretty cool. For a local shoot we are really throwing a lot at it, and after two weekends of production the footage coming back is really very good. First let me say this production should be renamed ?Why Murphy's Law hates us? as it?s been one struggle after another to get the slate up. Its all been worth it, and we all have our battle scars after two weeks, so I will get the bad out of the way first. First while picking up gear on day 1, my van suddenly dies. What a way to start a 12 day short. It was a few hours of frantic calls and we got a backup lined up, and we made it to that nights shoot. Then after that shoot, we send the location manager on to the next days location (about two hours out of anchorage) due to some bad luck a pull over for a tail light ends in the car being impounded, with the keys to the location and 1/3 of the rental gear. Lots of work went into getting the rented gear out of police impound before incurring a fee. This last weekend we had two days planned, but since the snow fell our movie truck became wildly unsafe to drive, and without another scene ready to be shot, we had to cancel the day. SO That?s the bad. here?s the production journal: We started this production with an idea of being very stylized, colorful, slightly impressionistic. I took cues from films like ?hudsucker proxy?, ?oh brother where art thou? and any film that made a cartoonish style of live action photography. The working theme we were going with was ?modern day western....in the snow? Its a story of a man who has his fortune, business and life stolen from him. We follow our guy as he finds who wronged him and takes his revenge. Its all done to a song that will narrate the film, with the singers voice synced to the lips of actors if they are to say anything on camera. Its a musical, though not like any musical you have ever seen. We are shooting on a JVC-HD110 in 24p HDV. So far I am very happy with the camera except on two fronts. 1. I wish the camera wasn?t so slow. Nominally I am rating the camera at 200asa, with all the gamma and shutter settings applied. 2. I wish the lens was a bit on the wider end, but we couldn?t afford to rent a wider lens. Other than that the image quality is stellar for a camera that size and price. We are shooting the whole film through a 1/4 promist filter, which I have been really happy with so far. I have a basic production package available, matte box, follow focus etc. I built a wireless follow focus for the steadycam, though that has yet to be used. Day 1: Bar We shot while the bar was open, which caused a lot of problems during the shoot. We managed really well however and pulled off a great shoot. We started early at the main entrance of the bar. I used 2K through a 4x4 gelled with 1/4 CTO up near the ceiling to fill, and two Lowell prolights rigged to the top of the bar as key. That worked out really well, since I had the gaffer spot both of them, giving nice pools of light for the talent to walk through on their triumphant entrance. We also had a 650 fressy with double CTO on the other side of the bar, just to add a little edge light to the charecters in the foreground, though in this screengrab they have turned their head so you don't get the effect. To accommodate the patrons of the bar, I did my best to group light stands and C-stands in one location, and keep all grip above average head height, we also kept enough extras around the rigging that patrons didn?t come close to tripping on anything. It was still a little nerve racking. At one point during the shoot I had to keep an eye out for bartenders, so I could raise the jib to allow them access. Everyone at the bar was more than accommodating, I can?t say enough. The plan was to start at the entrance and work our way towards the back as the place got more crowded. That turned out to be very helpful, though at times I had to field questions from very inebriated guests wondering why there was a light shinning in their eyes. The highlight for me of that shoot was a reverse POV from the lead character who at this point is incredibly drunk. I shot handheld from the floor and shot through a 4x4 acrylic mirror, while having the grip gently bend it. It gave a nice in camera wavy effect, and upon reviewing the dailies I think I got drunk just watching it. I posted a still below that hopefully shows the effect, it needs motion though to sell it. This is from between takes, but you get the idea. Day 2: This was a night scene in the dead of winter in Alaska. Enough said. it was -10 that night, we shot from 10pm until 8am, and really worked our tails off getting everything. I lit the scene with a 1.2k HMI through silk as key, no fill (except what bounced off the snow) and a 575 on a high roller as backlight. We used another 575 to pick out a group of trees in the background to add some layers to the image. In order to keep the snow on the ground pristine, me and my crew had to run cable about 200? around the location, through woods to place the backlight. Mad props to key grip Michael Bergstrom, and our grip Ryan for getting it set up. I felt bad sitting on the porch calling out cues to get the backlight aimed properly, knowing how much effort it took to adjust every time I wanted something slightly adjusted, they really stepped it up. Also we had two dolly positions during the night, which meant digging trenches, which our grip team also did very well. Dug all the way to ground level. Placing and leveling the track also was not cake, so it helped having a dedicated team there. I don?t remember if it was Bergstrom or Ryan, but one came up with the idea of using hot water to de-ice the tracks, it worked well, but it was so cold that within seconds of touching the track, the water would freeze, so it was a lot of work (to do anything that night) All in all the night shoot looked really good. For the most part I set the lights for the wides, and then cheated the actors to find the right light for CUs and reverses, it worked really well and we moved fast as a result. I think the biggest props of the evening was the actor playing sh!thead. He had to play half the scene nude, which I can only imagine how difficult that was for him. Not once did he complain, real dedication. We would set up a series of 2-4 shots that could be shot without changing lights or camera position, then bring him out, shoot as fast as we could and let him go warm up. Unfortunately for him, in the early part of the evening we still needed to protect the pristine snow, which meant he had to run behind the hill, around the dolly trench and into the house. As we progressed I was able to give him progressively shorter and shorter runs. I think the images speak for themselves. I love how they look effortless, knowing all the backbreaking labor that it took to set up each shot, and the mind-numbing logistical problems that have plagued us so far. I think the best I can say is last weekend, we thoroughly kicked Murphy's petute, every possible problem was overcome to get a really great night scene. (Images were captured off the downconverted DV dub, and the only color correction was to try to adjust to the crushed blacks that method puts into the image. Noise is less apparent in the HD footage, shadows are more detailed, but you will get the idea.)

how much should we factor in cable power loss over a run? It seems that the longer we throw the cable out, the more we loose, esp. when striking. I need to pick up gear in 45 minutes......I am going to murder that murphy AND his law.....thats what we need to rename this short.....'screw murphy! he ain't keeping me down!' If anyone knows if this power will work over a long run, its starting to get desperate (and dark and cold outside....which means we must be close to slate) also to check my understanding those twist hookups are nominaly 220v not 110 right?

Hahaha, do they serve cow meat in McD's in the lower 48 or canada? I doubt it...it looks like meat, but sometimes I am not so sure. You can get burgers with moose (or better caribou or reigndeer meat) from local restaraunts. I was at Chair 5 in Girdwood today and was tempted on a caribou burger. We have lots of opportunity for studios in Alaska, you just gotta know where to look. We have so much industrial warehouse space that ebs and flows as a result of the variency in petroleum construction that usually you can find a pretty big warehouse with TONS of electric for cheap. No dedicated studios....yet. The other advantage is how open the state is to shooting. There is really very little red tape anywhere. Find a location in this state and I bet you I can get you a permit to shoot there within a day, two tops. And it won't cost an arm and a leg. In fact, I think producers would be VERY surprised to find out what kind of locations can be had for next to nothing. Bergstrom knows what I'm talking about. Also housing talent is surprisingly cheap. Where in some states you might need to house them in the nicest 500/night hotel, in Alaska you can put them up in a $150/night B&B and watch even the most diva A-lists mouth drop when they see the view outside their window. Bottom line though, if you haven't seen alaska, schedule a trip, just for siteseeing. In a second you'll understand the film making potential our state has. Plus 20 hours of light aint bad.

I've shot in wx that was -45 without windchill, on betacam without anything more than a portabrace (not the best plan, but the company didn't want to provide protection gear) everything worked fine, there was no adverse affect, and that was several hours a day for many days on end. I wouldn't worry about tempature too much. the portabrace with the heaters is a good idea. Keeping the batteries in inner pockets, or somewhere thats warm is a great idea. to prevent fog on the VF, tilt the unit up or down, so theres a slight crack around your eye, that will allow airflow and keep it from fogging. If it gets too cold though, fog isn't really a problem. If condensation forms around the lens going inside, remove the UV filter if your camera has one, that is usually the longest to defog, since most condensation forms there and theres no airflow.

Thanks Chris. I will be getting the FF today. I just got the camera last night, I'm getting the matte box/rails in an hour...its been like christmas over here. I suppose the rounded edges makes it hard to measure as well. I think what I will do is just take the FF to a hobby store, and paruse their stock section and find a good hardy wood (not balsa, but the kind they use to build engine mounts for RC planes and such) and just find a good square length that I can then wittle down to the propper fit (hopefully just by rounding the edges.) then gluing that with AC glue or epoxy onto the servo horn. I think I'll make a few just incase the first one breaks.

I NEED DIMMENSIONS TO THE SQUARE THAT THE WHIP INTERFACES WITH IN THE CHROSZIEL FF QUICK!!!! ----read below for more info--- Its less than 48 hours before first slate on my next short as DP, and as always, it feels like everythings falling appart (though today I did overcome some big trouble spots and we are probably better off than I let myself think) Heres the one that has me worried now: We have steadycam on both days (we shoot sat and sun this weekend and every weekend for about a month) We can't get a real wireless follow for this, so I built my own. Its a simple modified RC car controller setup, and it works pretty good, in theory. Now that I have that built I need to integrate it into the chrosziel follow focus that we will be working with. I figure mouting wise, easiest thing is to use a maffer clamp (since i don't have anything smaller that would work better) to attach to the bottom of the rails, or follow focus base itself, depending on clearance, and just bolt a plate to that that holds the servo, reciever and batteries. I don't have access to the follow focus until friday. So I need to know the dimmension of the follow focus attachment, so I can build the addaptor that integrates the servo to the FF, hopefully tonight. I just need to know how big that square should be, and how deep. OR If you can think of an easy way to make an adjustable servo horn that can integrate directly with the FF that would be great. I am worried about this since, everything else thats been churning my stomach today got solved, now I got this to give me ulcers over (I always find something to have stage fright over the day before). Without FF, a steadycam is pretty useless, so I need it to work from day 1. if anyone has dimmensions and can post that, it would be a big help. thanks for reading such a long post. check back next week, I'll have a production journal with pictures up so you can see the wireless follow in action.

Also on Variety (probably the same info and sound bites, don't have time to read both) http://www.variety.com/VR1117979228.html

sounds like a phase issue. You say you used a 1/25th shutter, is this on a PAL camera (shot at 25fps) if so then your running a 360deg shutter. What rate did you run the strobe at? My guess is the camera was a CMOS, complete in rolling shutter wonder, and your strobe was close enough to the frame rate that it began to phase in and out. Similar to when you shoot a computer monitor without CLS shutter on (or any other non-sony equivalent sync shutter scheme) I guess we need to know camera setting and strobe setting to know for sure. I would imagine you should have seen it in the viewfinder, and could have adjusted either the shutter or the strobe rate to correct it, doesn't sound like something that can be corrected in post tho.

After a lot of talk about the native color tempature of almost all video cameras being daylight with a tungsten base cc applied, I am wondering what my options are for removing that. I am prepping a short to be shot this weekend on the HD110. I know I have the light to compensate for filter loss, and I have the 85b filter, my question is in camera can I take this base correction off to get the cleanest image possible? I read on one of these threads that the DVX and HVX has an option to remove this correction, is there a similar setting on the HD110?

If you want uncompressed, shoot film and finish chemically. Its really the only way right now. Sure you can dual link, dual SRs and get HD uncompressed, but if you got the cash for that, film isn't more than a stones throw away depending on the type of material your shooting, its distrabution plan, etc. Red fits a small window. Think the 1mil feature that is pressed on budget for being ambitious. Sure theres money there for film, for an F900, etc, but in the end, you can rent a few reds for the price of an F900 and still be able to filmout. Is it perfect? No but when budget is limited compromises have to be made. Its a matter of which compromises are acceptable and which are not. its purely subjective (as most choices in filmmaking are) Red has problems, but its a solid offering for a first camera from the company. From what I read the accessories are poorly built though, so if I end up buying a red, I am going to zacuto for support, but the camera is decent for the price. But like was said before its not really the same market as a F900, or the F23 (which if I am not mistaken, is not out yet right?) They say they are developing a lower end prosumer-ish camera, I would like to see them come out with a Red pro after that. Take all the lessons they have learned and make an uncompromising 4K (or more)camera with uncompressed out and a suitable recording option for storing that data. Make a camera that is uncompromising, even if its expensive. Make one for the bigger budget flicks that choose video not because they can't afford film, but for whatever reason they want video (Michael Mann, Bryan Singer, George Lucas have all shot 100mil+ on video, so there are projects out there) That would really round out their selection. Still more choices are better than no choices. Not long ago (relatively) I was shooting my 'films' on one of the first VHS camcorders, editing VCR to VCR and wound up with over-detailed, under-saturated muddy crap, so as far as I am concerned the future is looking up. as for the compression, its not ideal, but from the raw footage I have played with in RedCine, its pretty adequate and it makes storage and backup and data wrangling less of a nightmare. I am getting about 30gB of unproccessed redcode in the next few weeks to test so I will be able to report more soon. Hopefully within two months I will get a chance to test a red out for myself, and have a better informed opinion.

I think thats what the january update is, allowing iPhone and iTouch users to upload apps to their devices and customize the home screen. It allows for new things to be added, where before you were stuck with the base programs. I don't think, however, that you can upload a widget for OSX directly to the device. For one, I think both devices are built on FreeBSD, not OSX (though I am relatively new to apple) but moreover, I think that anything designed for an OSX computer wouldn't be very functional in a device that has only a touch screen to interface with. It seems the core software could stay the same, but a new GUI would need to be written to make it touch friendly (double entandre much?) Good call chris with the inventory. I am sure a whole host of apps could be developed for the iPhone for set use.

I just saw apple has released an SKD for its Iphone and Itouch and has invited people to make apps for it. If anyone who has any experience programming let me make this request: BUILD A DOF CALC! I have my iTouch ready for it, it would be so much more handy than the paper ones, or the little electronic ones, since I always have the touch on me. plus I am sure the interface would be cool too. I think we as cinematographers deserve something like that, since I see an app on apple.com that does calculations for pilots in regard to aviation stuff (not a pilot myself, so I am not sure what it does) but if pilots can have their own app, why not us? Anyone from panavision, arri, able-cine, etc trolling this site get on it! it would be easy and cheap to make, and if you put ads up on the calculator, it would be a wise investment to offer the download for free. (1sts and DPs staring at an Able-cine banner all day, hot linked to the website if an emergency rental order needs to be placed? anyone?) I guess I just want a free DOF calc on my iTouch, but its a resonable request right?

I have heard rumors of a march contract, but thats not here or there. I don't have any solid info to go on. Of course, all this might be repeated when the DGA goes on strike. My hope is the contract the writters work out will give a good negotiating point for both sides when DGA goes to table. Then they would only have to work out formulas, not the concepts and sticking points the writters have fought so hard for. Either way. Heres to a speedy recovery of the industry once this whole strike thing is over. At least I begin shooting a short this weekend, so I'm not twiddling my thumbs, but the strike has me concerned of possible future work in the pipeline.

I have been watching this thread from a distance and its been strange watching it evolve, so I think I must say something, hopefully to bring back the thread to were its suppose to be. Its gotten to a point where we are arguing the merits of filmmaking itself...is that nessicary on this kind of a site? Shouldn't we all have very deep seated opinions of why films are important, and why we do what we do? If it is or isn't art really doesn't matter. Its a job and a lifestyle that has its own attraction. Call it art, call it crap, call it what you will, but theres a reason we do this, and its not the money. That said the question was argued about pay and perks. Perks is part of a pay structure. Call it the benifits offered. As david pointed out there are very definite advantages to a producer with their eye on the clock to provide when the crew is in a logistically difficult situation. I think we can all agree that nobody should work films for free...we all have bills to pay, and some a family to feed. I think we also agree that we shouldn't make millions of dollars to grip an indie, so where does the balance fall? Producers who only see money out as a negative cost, not an investment, loath every extra going out the door, and fail to see any benifit it could bring in. Naturaly most producers will try and save money where they can, and often crew is targeted because we make up a large portion of most films budget. Without control, producers would be free to cheapen everything down until nobody can make a middleclass living at it...but films would still get made. More people would work 14 hours for 100 bucks, and producers would feel better about their costs. As a group of skilled laborers however, we should have the right to stand up and say 'our time and talent is valuable' and fight to get that value. They should have the right to stand together and say 'you have the money, but we have the power' and throw their weight around when they are being taken advantage of. A union. Sure it hurts everyone to see a strike. Its not good, but it does drive home the point to those that hold the money that workers want an equitable deal. Its a form of protest, and it works to improve working conditions and compensation. Its the only way to fight against the natural tendancy to slowly chip away C&C over time. It shows the people who really do make millions that the guy working for his day rate (often below) is worth his paycheck. Also it makes the head honchos pony up when the urge is to be zero-based. If you raised 3mil for a feature, are you telling me you can't find one more investor and make it a 3.01mil and provide food when traveling, or pay overtime or add a day to prevent an 18 hour day followed by a 6 hour turn with another 18 to follow? You can produce any way you want, but we are agreed that there should be a baseline of C&C for workers, the question is were does that line rest? Producers have their checkbook as a sword, workers have the threat of strike as a sword. At some point the two come together and iron out standards that are followed until the pendulum swings back. Its the 'invisible hand' theory applied to pay and perk structer. I don't see unions as bad, just a natural in the evolution of a free market. Free market is also the freedom to stand together. All that said. I want to see this go back to a question of how the set hands are faring in the writters strike. Thats very interesting to me, since we are mostly sheilded from unions up here in alaska. Its too small of a production community to have much of an effect. I am glad to hear that even though its tough people are still making it out ok. Like annie, you joined union last year? you're still able to pay bills (and buy granola!) so its not a dead business, if even new cardholders can find some kind of work. I am happy to hear people aren't starving. I think that is what this thread should be, not an argument between producers and below line. I think passion is making this too heated. I don't think Richard strikes his workers on set and pays them in half-loafs of bread, and I don't think that all the people who are arguing with him are making artless films while adding weight from eating at their 5-course craft table. Anyway, I'm done. I hope someone out there backs me up. sorry this was so long and the spelling is terrible. Sometimes my fingers type as fast as my ADD brain can spark. I hope the contract negotiation team is having more productive arguments (though I won't hold my breath, given some of the news I read.)

Looks like it will be a fun shoot. very dark and dramatic. I love the storyboard panels, they are very well fleshed out. If they were a cartoon, I would probably watch it and enjoy it. If possible I would like to see camera view shots of these panels as you shoot them, to see how you take the story board through production. Are these boards the work of the director or a story board artist?

Greetings from Anchorage! good to hear people know we exist and are bringing work up. Where are you shooting, Fairbanks I assume? (its surely not that cold here in anchorage) As far as shooting you won't need to do much. I have run betacams, lights, batt belts, etc. with no special protection in wx that cold. You'll want to keep your batteries warm, so they don't freeze (in your jacket works, or with a hand warmer pack) The globes should be fine in that wx. You'll find you don't have to wait for the lights to cool before packing them. Also you can adjust the barndoors with no gloves (though if your gloveless in -30 temp good luck to you.) The biggest effect you'll see on the lights will be with the power chords. They tend to get really stiff and freeze, so keep them in a car thats warm, and only pull it out when you have your power run done. If you pull them early and they are wrapped, and they freeze, you'll have a hell of a time running power. If your running a lot of power through them, they should stay more or less warm enough to roll up when your done, but they might need a bit of warming before propper packing, depending on the gadge wire and power load. Good luck and courage in the cold. Let me know when you get in, if your flying through anchorage I'll buy you a beer.

Nice tip with the Ipod Corey. I am shooting a music video next month and I think I might try that out. Just got an iPod touch, so it should be pretty visible on cam (large bright screen). saves me rental on a TC slate and playback.