Episodic TV shoot

[Paul Maibaum ASC]

Here is a response to the questions re: 4:4:4 vs. 4:2:2 and the Genesis by Mike Kovacevich, Digital Systems Engineer/Technical Marketing at Panavision:

".......testing of 422 for HD broadcast, honestly I do not remember, but there was a lot of stuff done in the early to mid 90's mostly by CBS and the ATSC. The difference between 422 and 444 is not visible on TV and the history was with Genesis in the early years you could not record anything but 444 at several of the frame rates, and to help people from making mistakes we recommended that they shoot 444 for everything except Selectable 59.94 . But now, as of the last 6 months, the recorder can do either 422 or 444, so it is not a problem. The color space is not a problem either, but what you do get with 444 is the very best the camera is capable of producing. Also if one were to need the ability to pull a matte, 444 is the preferred format as it is the cleanest. In short with 444 you can always go back to the very best format, and off the back of the studio deck you have the ability to either take 444, or 422, but you are only broadcasting 422. Now in another statement about how post houses are editing, the majority are doing it in 422, very few bother doing it in 444. The next statement is, yes. Log does make a major improvement to the dynamic range and is very visible when viewed at home if there is a scene with some dynamics to be captured. And the last one almost everyone except a few who experimented with 880, but never shot anything, and also a couple of mistakes that I can remember everyone is SQ. But things may start to change on this one next month when the new Sony SRW 5800 will become available so people can play back 444 HQ and 444 at all Selectable frame rates. I really believe this will only be for specialty shots, like commercials, some features, and some special effects, as history has proved, 444 SQ looks very good, but if you want the very best it is now available."

Mike has been our "go to guy" at Panavision whenever we had the occasional technical issue with The Genesis.

[Paul Maibaum ASC]

Due to the strike between WGA and AMPTP there hasn't been much to report. However, during this time I have taken the opportunity to sit with the colorist during final tape to tape grading sessions. One interesting note is that when I came on board the show there was the prerequisite discussion about "the look". I was told by the line producer that the studio and network thought that the pilot episode looked a bit "dramatic" for a comedy and perhaps could use a bit of a lift in the overall lighting. I had no problem with that request as long as everyone (show runner/exec. producers/studio/network) was on board with this slightly different interpretation of "the look". I was then told that the show runner and the execs. were very happy with the look of the pilot and beyond helping the lead actress out with some "cosmetic lighting", did not want anything to change. Then, a couple of weeks ago I received notes from the show runner/exec. producer that he thought the show needed to be brighter, more in line with a standard "comedic look". So with that in mind we have been lifting the levels in the tape to tape process to give the show runner what he desires. It is interesting how opinions evolve in the creative process and my goal is to give the producers, studio and network what they want, even if that notion changes through the course of production.

Camera crew:

*note the Genesis deck and power supply separated from the camera body for steadicam use and the mini ring-lite on the camera.

[Andrew Brinkhaus]

Paul, I am in my final months of film school, and am very passionate about AC'ing. It looks like you have a great, hard working crew. My goal is to AC on an episodic show in LA, are their any recommendations or tips you might suggest for getting into the television world? Is it possible to get onto a show as a camera intern, or loader? What does hiring look like for a company in television, as compared to narrative film? (Where my experience lies) Any help is appreciated.

 

BTW- Interesting to hear about your timing change in the light levels...Kind of a funny decision to make at this point.

Edited November 29, 2007 by Andrew Brinkhaus

[Paul Maibaum ASC]

Most, if not all episodic tv crew are covered under the IATSE Basic Agreement so you would have to become a member of Local 600 before you could gain employment. There is little difference between working as an assistant camera person on episodic tv as opposed to what you call "narrative film", which, I take it to mean features and shorts, other than the assistants have to work faster because episodic tv schedules are usually truncated as compared to feature films.

There are no shortcuts to getting tv work. The union, as far as I know, no longer has a sanctioned training program and due to liability issues most productions will not hire interns who work for free. My suggestion would be to continue to get on non-union productions in the hopes one will get organized by the IATSE and keep records of all your employment because after a certain amount of non-union work (check with local 600 in L.A., 323-876-0160) one can become eligible to apply for union status. Then one has to be placed on the industry roster in order to be hired by any of the major production companies that produce episodic tv. This also entails taking Safety Pass Training Programs, check with Contract Services (818-995-0900 - http://www.csatf.org/) for details about what is necessary to qualify once you have all your union hours.

Best of luck to you in your endeavor.

[Guest Gary Baum]

Due to the strike between WGA and AMPTP there hasn't been much to report. However, during this time I have taken the opportunity to sit with the colorist during final tape to tape grading sessions. One interesting note is that when I came on board the show there was the prerequisite discussion about "the look". I was told by the line producer that the studio and network thought that the pilot episode looked a bit "dramatic" for a comedy and perhaps could use a bit of a lift in the overall lighting. I had no problem with that request as long as everyone (show runner/exec. producers/studio/network) was on board with this slightly different interpretation of "the look". I was then told that the show runner and the execs. were very happy with the look of the pilot and beyond helping the lead actress out with some "cosmetic lighting", did not want anything to change. Then, a couple of weeks ago I received notes from the show runner/exec. producer that he thought the show needed to be brighter, more in line with a standard "comedic look". So with that in mind we have been lifting the levels in the tape to tape process to give the show runner what he desires. It is interesting how opinions evolve in the creative process and my goal is to give the producers, studio and network what they want, even if that notion changes through the course of production.

Camera crew:

*note the Genesis deck and power supply separated from the camera body for steadicam use and the mini ring-lite on the camera.

 

Hi Paul, since we have time on our hands, I have just stumbled upon your daily log, and posts, very interesting, and informative with the use of the Genesis.

Your above paragraph hits it on the nail, of course.

I had the same issue, with producers getting "a note from the network". It's an evolving craft.

How much of difference do you notice between your CTM and what you see on actual first run broadcast?

The show looks great!

[Andrew Brinkhaus]

Thanks so much for the reply Paul, I am on that exact route as we speak. Just building the resume and the hours to get into the 600 here in Florida, and then will be transferring to LA next year. I guess the more difficult part will be getting onto the Industry Roster... I'll do whatever it takes though, getting there is part of the process, and it wouldn't be as gratifying if you didn't have to work for it. Thanks again.

[Travis Cline]

Paul

 

 

 

It sounds like you shoot on primes quite a bit, especially for a TV show. How often do you shoot on primes vs. zooms? Personally, I am a prime man myself and that's great if you can get away with it on a show like this with a truncated timetable. By the way, the show does look great.

 

Thanks for your time.

 

 

Travis

Edited December 1, 2007 by Travis Cline

[Chris Keth]

after a certain amount of non-union work (check with local 600 in L.A., 323-876-0160) one can become eligible to apply for union status.

 

I recently made just that call. It's 100 days of paid work, in the job category for which you are applying, in the three year period prior to applying.

[Paul Maibaum ASC]

"How often do you shoot on primes vs. zooms?"

On "Samantha Who?" I use prime lenses (Primos) 99% of the time. Using prime lenses does not slow down the process of making our days at all. Among the advantages of using prime lenses for me are that the camera footprint is considerably smaller, the lenses are faster than zooms, the smaller front elements reduce flaring, I believe that primes are slightly sharper than zooms, and the use of a fixed focal length lens forces us to move the camera more with the dolly than relying on the zoom to adjust the size of the shot.

We carry two zooms lenses in the camera package, a 4:1 and 11:1, and I will use a zoom when the camera goes on a crane (remote or otherwise) or in certain situations where re-sizing during a take is required, shooting crowd reaction shots for example.

[Walter Graff]

To further answer David's question, a response from the Digital Imaging Technician on "Samantha Who?":

"The 4:4:4 we acquire on set is sampled at 4:2:2 by just about every house and our on set monitoring.

The reason to record at 4:4:4 is the same as shooting 35 over 16mm. The 4:2:2 sample rate takes advantage of the deeper information envelope.

Recording in the Panalog (or other log format) allows greater control of the gamma curve and knee.

Like shooting film and transfering to tape the REC 709 should be sampling these downstream values.

A rough analogy would be photographing a vista with a video camera directly or shooting the same vista off a post card originated on film taking advantage of the greater dynamic range and color space.

The bottom line is that it looks better."

 

Have to agree with you here David. The marketing people have used these terms just like they have 1080p more to say well it's the best of the best but the reality is that it offers little to nothing in the broadcast world in 99% of senarios. But as he says, we start out with the best of the best which is what you want to always do so nothing wrong with knowing it can't get any better. As for the 16 vs 35 I agree, comparing color sampling to 16 vs 35 is a stretch and probably the wrong type of comparison.

[Travis Cline]

That's good to hear Paul. I find the same thing, shooting with primes has all the advantages you mentioned and it never slows you down, but for some reason producers believe it is much better with a tight schedule.

 

Travis

[Emmanuel Lariviere]

Paul, you did an awesome job, with the coverage. Thanks for sharing.

[David Tilburey]

Paul..."Samantha Who?" finally hits Australian shores sometime this year. I very much look forward to seeing it. Your thread is fantastic, thank you very much.

[Chris Keth]

Enjoyable read. I like the stuff from preproduction as I rarely hear about that stuff.

 

Did you get to test your filtration choices on the Genesis? How does it respond differently than a film camera? It seems like you use a great deal of diffusion compared to the norm, is it just a personal preference or is part of it softening a harsh digital format?

[Paul Maibaum ASC]

The amount of filtration used on "Samantha Who?" is mainly for cosmetic reasons, keeping the ladies looking soft and wrinkle free. I would probably be using less filtration if the show originated on 35mm film.

[Matthew Parnell]

Samantha Who premieres in Australia on Sunday night on the 7 Network following Kath and Kim.

 

Looking forward to finally checking it out!

[Paul Maibaum ASC]

?Samantha Who?? is returning to production for 3 episodes. I started prep this past week.

Two of the sets are expanding necessitating re-rigging the lighting to a certain extent. One of these sets being a coffee shop where, much as in ?Sex and The City?, I am told, the main characters spent a lot of screen time chatting, always sitting at the same table. This in theory would allow the writers to set the obligatory expository scenes in the coffee shop where the lighting would be faster since everyone is always in the same place in the set. To accomplish this we are adding about a dozen Vistabeam units around the set so we will be able to bring up the light level rather drastically if need be in order to balance to the exterior seen out the windows of the set since production no longer wants to be hamstrung in scheduling around when the exterior façade is in shade (i.e. afternoon).

The other set that is being re-vamped (made larger) is the night club set. While we were on hiatus another company used this set and left the electrical rigging in disarray so the gaffer feels it is best to start fresh as opposed to trying to trace everything back to the dimmer board and since the footprint of the set is changing rather drastically this makes sense.

We have had our meeting about the ?look? of the show with the production design and costume departments. The thought is that the overall look of the show needs to be brighter, more color in costumes, more saturation and color contrast in the sets, and the lighting brighter and alas, flatter. This as a result, in the show-runners? mind, of ?Samantha Who?? airing after ?Dancing With The Stars? which is a very bright, glittery, video production, and, not wanting to lose any of that audience, perhaps ?Samantha Who?? needs to look a little more like that as opposed to a one-hour drama.

[Hal Smith]

.........................?Samantha Who?" airing after ?Dancing With The Stars? which is a very bright, glittery, video production, and, not wanting to lose any of that audience, perhaps ?Samantha Who?? needs to look a little more like that as opposed to a one-hour drama.

I'm rather impressed that the Showrunner thinks of issues like what's the "look" of the lead-in production. I don't know whether I agree or not with their decision but it's of note that they're worrying about it.

[Paul Maibaum ASC]

?Samantha Who?? has wrapped the truncated season ?1.5? or back 3.

We were successful in giving the producers and network what they asked for vis-à-vis a brighter, more comedic look for the show. In doing so, we not only achieved this with lighting but we backed off considerably on the contrast and color saturation of the LUTs sent to the dailies colorist. We gave them a look that can be compared to a very thick negative so there is much greater range for manipulation in the tape to tape process.

We also discovered that the brighter and less specific lighting for the show allowed us to move much faster, there was hardly a day over 12 hours and most were 11 or under, something else the producers were eager for us to achieve.

I am now returning to my other show, ?My Boys? for TBS, another ½ hour single camera comedy shot with Sony F900 cameras supplied by Clairmont Hollywood. We have 9 episodes to do, wrapping in early June. The producers dangled the ?directing carrot? before me to entice me to return to the show. Their efforts have been successful. I will be directing the 4th episode of the season and I am greatly looking forward to that experience. I will endeavor to post about ?My Boys?, both the shooting and directing aspects, as I have about ?Samantha Who?? There won?t be any stills since dailies on that show are done in house with direct transfers from Digi-Beta (I think) direct to DVD with no sweetening.

Although ?Samantha Who?? has been picked up for a 2nd season it remains to be seen when it will actually start up. Many productions will be starting early to finish a few episodes before the June 30 SAG contract expiration date. I am hoping that a strike can be avoided, and ?Samantha Who?? will go back into production in July with my participation.

Some stills:

[Hal Smith]

I gotta ask: What's Christina like on the set? I've been a fan since "Married With Children" and even caught her in "Sweet Charity" on Broadway about two days after she came back from her accident. "Charity" was quite a bit better than the critics thought - my wife's a retired dancer and a big Fosse fan, she's seen "Charity" in other Broadway productions and said Kelly's "If They Could See Me Know" was the best of the best. If set politics allow, pass that on to Christina.

[Paul Maibaum ASC]

She's the best.....a true professional, personable, funny, caring and very sweet.