Bill Totolo

I just went through a very frustrating experience with FedEx as well, coupled with a young arrogant immature customer service agent on the phone. End result, I had to go acrss LA to get my package. 2 hours completely wasted in traffic. On the other hand UPS has been really great. Even USPS has been pretty darn good for me, and I've been shipping nationally and internationally without a hitch.

I had four Paris Hilton related shoots between Thursday and Friday which involved three trips to the couthouse. What really surprised me, among the 34 phone calls I received from the network that day, was the call informing me that we were doing a live broadcast, which obviously involved satellite time, a sat truck, engineers, cable etc. To say it was nutty would be a gross understatement. Got the live shot though and three segments at the top of Friday's News.

Right on Bryan, Glad to see the decision of leaving the post house worked out for you. That was a pretty big set up, judging from your photos. BT

BTW, did you stake the place out to observe how the light changes throughout the day? It can vary dramatically depending on the angle of the sun. Choosing an appropriate time of day to shoot may be your biggest allie.

Looking for technical specs on the music video. I have Mark Romanek's DVD, I'm aware Jeff Cronenweth shot it, but I'm interested in spec's like lenses, film stocks, filtration, lighting. If it's out there point me in the right direction. Thanks.

Nicw work. What cameras and lenses did you use. Any filtration?

Has anyone run a comparison between these two tapeless recording units? Strengths, weaknesses, reliability? Thanks,

As I've always been told by Panavision (they offer a weekend assisting program and I interned there when I was a younger man) the mag port handle is just that and not to be used to support any of the weight of the camera. Although without this information it certainly looks exactly like a handle meant to assist in bearing the weight of the camera body.

Take a look at the Zoom H4.

ResellerRatings.com If you're thinking about purchasing some gear from an online reseller check this website for feedback on the company. They'll provide user feedback and reports from the Better Business Bureau. I've come across a lot of "too good to be true" bargains out there lately.

If you can't wait for it to arrive via Netflix, like me, here are afew clips available on YouTube.

I got a cheap yellow rubber suit from the Army Navy Surplus store. Basically, I look like the Gorton's Fisherman. Hey, it's re-useable and I don't care if it gets full of mud. Buy some cheap rubber boots with a good tread on the sole too.

How extreme do you expect the distances between objects in your frame to be? I never had a problem pulling my own focus on an SR, but I shoot a lot of ENG so I'm used to it. I would suggest giving yourself plenty of depth of field, use a wide lens and a fast film stock in plenty of light (if possible). Try to avoid a lot of filtration. Good luck. bt

Can you figure it out now?

You know... Keeping some of the flat stuff in there really helps sell the flashier imagery and shows you have range. If you're going out for a feature the producers may welcome that. A reel with all flash may be totally appropriate for a commercial or music video but movies have pacing. You might want to be the guy that has some subtlety to his work. And all your work is very good so that's not an issue at all. Hey, just an opinion.

Well the screen grabs gave me a lot more info than the YouTube videos. I like what you're going for, particularly the noirish hard lighting. Some of the color schemes reminded me of "Das boot". I'd say this will really benefit from some time spent in a telecine bay with a good colorist. That will give you the polish you're looking for. I love the props and the hair, make-up and wardrobe. I don't like the locations or the music. But you asked about the lighting and I like it along with the rough handheld work. I'm more a fan of the hard lighting you did on this than the soft light, but that's just a stylistic opinion. Nice work.

"Tuesdays with Morrie", oh wait..."All Quiet on the Western Front", oh yeah, "The Bible"...really?

Will all NLE's properly unsqueeze an anamorphic image from a DV camera?

Hey, where are you guys picking up your Fuji stock? Can I buy directly from Fuji in Hollywood?

Just caught a screening of Russian Ark last night at the Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood. This was my first time seeing it. What a privilege to see it projected. Afterwards a Russian historian broke down the significance of the time periods and symbology. Very, very impressive. Gorgeous movie.

Looks great, very impressive for SD miniDV. Did you use a lens adapter or anything else on the lens, filters, nets?

Is that a personal kit or a rental? What lenses a you using?

Home color correction. Check it out.

Hey man, nice work. You kept it simple, I like that. Keep it up.

Yeah. I think I'd want to meet face to face with someone before I dropped 50K on anything, let alone a first time seller on ebay, right? As Dana Carvey used to say, "Wouldn't be prudent"