Daniel Stigler

The standard tie down skrew has a 3/8 thread and is 16mm long. I'm not 100% sure, but i don't think the R16 makes an exception.

Another point that concerns me as an AC is the usability in actual shooting conditions. With an Arriflex i know i can plug in whatever accesories needed, that it's fully remote controllable and stuff like changes in flange focal depth are not an issue.

Hi Daniel, you are referring to my post. The question about the Mag number was answered above. Usually Mags are numbered (#1, #2, #3,...), if not the assistants stick on numbers. This numbering is a lot easier to use than the multi digit serial numbers the manufacturer stamped in.

I know more than one DP that can tell the exact stop by eye. One sent me off to take readings so the director and producer would stay calm but he told me what the stop would be before i had the reading and it always matched. I worked on a show where the director took my DP aside and asked him if i knew what i was doing cause in his eyes i used my tapemeasure far too little. My DP told me and i then started taking psychological focus readings. There's no business like showbusiness.

Oh, and the A has electronically adjustable shutter and does 3-50 fps while the shutter of the B can only be set manually and it does 3-60fps.

Not much. The B has a different viewfinder, slightly different control panels and two "horns" (handgrips) while the A has only one.

I tried to get on the show as focus puller to check out the D20. Didn't work out. But i got a call from some HFF guy asking me to help them out as electrician for the last shooting days.

My DoP bought one to play arround which arrived just last week. I have to say the Redrock isn't built with the precision an optical device needs to be built and it has a lot of flaws. Besides that the M2 can't be shipped to germany by Redrock, as P&S holds the patent for moving groundglasses. Feel free to give me a call at 0173 6673476 and i can explain all the issues in german which works a little better for me than english.

Get into editing soon as you will have to learn to choose framing and camera movement to shoot stuff that actually can be cut nicely.

Harder than the SR as you have to set the loop length inside the changing tent. But you'll get used to that. My biggest concern about the BL is that spare parts are very hard to come by.

I worked on a musicvideo this thursday where the director wanted the look the Zeiss HS lenses have at T1.3 at close up range. They drop out of focus very harshly and the areas that are out of focus look like they are filtered with a ProMist as well. Sidenote: i still have a headache from keeping dancing singers' eyes in focus at T1.3 and a distance of 35cm...

For the Arricams and the 435Xtreme there's a little box called Timing Shift Box that plugs to the camera and lets you turn the timing out of phase.

Keep looking. They come up all the time. I bought three 200ft IIC magazines, each for around $50 and spent a little extra money to get them serviced. Because they fit a 235 or 435 i can rent them out when working on shots that require small mags.

These things are called ARRI Film Cutting Gauge. I never used one but they sure are a helpful tools for starters. 99% of the Kodak rolls i ever loaded were cut through the holes but it's a different story with Fuji. Nooman: Filmstock can easily be torn apart by hand at the sprocket hole. With a little experience you can do this in the changing bag to get the end to thread easier. You can practice that with a shortend and see if it works out for you. If doing this when loading be sure not to get any filmchips into the magazine.

Always use sunscreen and wear a hat. When shooting in deserts i usually wear white, thin shirts with long sleeves i don't roll up to protect myself from the sun. Be prepared that the sand will get EVERYWHERE so it might be a good idea to wrap your steadycam in plasticbags.

The IIC is a very simple camera. A while ago the manual was posted here. If you have some basic understanding for motion picture cameras you will be fine after reading the manual. Be sure to use batteries with the correct voltage (16V) as this is the most common source of problems when shooting with a IIC.

Damn, i'm at the bottom!

The bare basic: On the camera side there's a mark that shows where the filmplane is. You need to know the distance from the filmplane to the subject (actor, wall, screw, whatever) that needs to be in focus. The lens is marked with distances. Set the lens to the according distance and keep adjusting it if the distance changes. I'm not sure if that answers your question but to me that's the basic thing. Details about follow focuses, depth of field, aesthetics and all that can be found in various threads.

I fully agree with you Leo. Of course framing the same shot with a wideangle lens or with a tele lens has different side effects. For example the ever popular lens-straight-down-on-subject-camera-moves-straight-up-on-crane-shot looks a lot more dramatic on a wide angle lens.

Where are you located?

It's the magnification ratio. A short focal length in a close up will give you less DOF then a long focal length in a total shot with focus set to infinity.

It's the size of the area the lens is projecting the image on. The variables are the magnification and the iris setting. That's it.

I've been out shooting the last days. One night, after a few wrap beers, we looked backed at this time and laughed.

Usually we send the camera trainee to the rental place to get the "optische Achse" and call them to tell that someone is coming to pick it up. That way the guys at the rental place have enough time to fill the biggest case they have with the heaviest junk they can find.... :P

All screen end art is technical. As a painter you need to know how colors and brushes behave, as a sculptor you need to know stones, wood and tools and everything else you might want want to work with. If you have achived a certain control and understanding of those elements you are able to create something great not only by luck.