Question for Mr. Mullen

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

> It seems like any producer with half a brain wanna would listen to the multiple award winning DP?

 

I'm not so sure about that; if I were a studio, I'd be pretty hesitant to produce a movie in an aspect ratio that either can't be or won't be shown correctly almost anywhere in the world. And I happen to work in a projection facility where we could quite happily work with a 2:1 hard matted flat or scope print.

 

Having done a lot of respected work does not guarantee infalliability.

 

Phil

[David Mullen ASC]

Well, it's no big deal to put the 2:1 image into a scope print with black borders on the left & right side, which is how his other Univisium movies were printed. There isn't much a projectionist can do to misframe a scope print vertically without seeing the framelines, and as for the sides, the only question is whether you bother trying to get the theater to close the curtains over the black matte on each side of the print or just let it be visible. So I don't think the 2:1-on-scope image itself could be misframed any more than with a regular scope print, and even less so than a standard 1.85 print.

 

But clearly the entire of idea of REDUCING the number of aspect ratios on film and TV to just a single one, 2:1, is probably not going to happen. In this day and age, you'd be more likely to get 16x9 (1.78 : 1) to become a universal aspect ratio, not that I want to see that happen.

 

Having two choices (1.85 and 2.39) for a movie's aspect ratio in the theaters is actually a good thing, even if somewhat accidental. I wouldn't mind if we had THREE choices again and throw 1.37 Academy back into the mix.

 

But what we have to live with as a result of not sticking to just one is confusion.

[Matt Pacini]

"...Some years back we were looking into moving to America, we were looking at the houses we'd get for that kind of money, and.. wow.... this is why I say they're dirt cheap out in America. We would seriously get a mansion..."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yeah, if you want to live in a town where the only jobs are at a paper mill or MacDonals, and you smell cowshit all day long.

Seriously, I don't know where this "dirt cheap" thing came from.

And the "some years back" is the important statement here. Things have changed.

The only places where housing is cheap in America, are places where there are only low paying jobs, or few jobs.

Housing prices vary according to how nice, or how dismal, the area is.

If you haven't been to this country, you have no idea how freakin' huge and diverse it is. America is not "one place", it's like 50 different countries, with different economies, some dialects that even I can't understand, etc.

And it's not cheap, believe me.

 

MP

[Guest Daniel J. Ashley-Smith]

Yeah, if you want to live in a town where the only jobs are at a  paper mill or MacDonals, and you smell cowshit all day long.

Seriously, I don't know where this "dirt cheap" thing came from.

And the "some years back" is the important statement here. Things have changed.

The only places where housing is cheap in America, are places where there are only low paying jobs, or few jobs.

Housing prices vary according to how nice, or how dismal, the area is.

If you haven't been to this country, you have no idea how freakin' huge and diverse it is. America is not "one place", it's like 50 different countries, with different economies, some dialects that even I can't understand, etc.

And it's not cheap, believe me.

 

MP

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What? Everyone knows it's a lot cheaper in America than England, just to prove it, theres this new guy (American) working in Chas Norman Cameras, where I work, he had a huge house in America, but when he moved here he got some crappy house. And that's recent, by the way.

 

House

This place is amazing... 1700 square feet land! And a swimming pool! In a nice area!

 

I don't even want to think how much a place like that would be in England.

 

About all I have is a 100 foot garden, and some crappy swimming pool you fix together! (Which, not to mention, was a waste of money because even on a good day it's still bloody freezing, plus it's got loads of holes in it from where the pellets from my air rifle rickashayed off the target)

 

Maybe they have gone up in price I don't know, but things are still a lot cheaper in America. My house is pretty big, but the space has been divided up into lots of different rooms, so even though I can tell people I have 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, dining room, kitchen, 2 hall ways, 1 living room, I just can't mention how "big" they are.

 

Heres another example of how cheap things are in America: you walk into a McDonalds in America, their small sized meal is about the equivalent of our large sized meal. And believe me, I have a friend that works in McDonalds and he has actually had an American complaining about how small the meal was.

Edited June 14, 2005 by Daniel J. Ashley-Smith

[Guest]

"Yeah, if you want to live in a town where the only jobs are at a paper mill or MacDonals, and you smell cowshit all day long. Seriously, I don't know where this "dirt cheap" thing came from."

 

Geez Matt, you don't think people who don't live in LA or NY are going to be offended by your statement?

 

That's a pretty stinging indictment of life outside of America's big cities.

 

I could just as easily say, "Yeah if you want to live in LA where the crime rate is out of control, earthquakes happen daily, the water is polluted, and people with $100,000.00 degrees from the USC film school pump gas and wait tables."

 

Every once and a while when my wife and I want a good laugh we watch the news from "over the border", the news from Detroit and Buffalo. OH MY GOSH!!!!!! How could any one live in those places? Every night the news goes like this: Shooting, Murder, Stabbing, Murder, Shooting, Rape, Shooting, Shooting, Shooting, Shooting...."

 

Give me the peaceful tranquil life here in Horseshoe Valley Ontario any day of the week. Clean air, clean water, no crime, no earthquakes, no gun owners.

 

R,

[Guest Daniel J. Ashley-Smith]

The worst place in England is probably up North around Doncaster... I went there the other day to a gig, the air, fresh air that you go outside for, isn't clean. Literally it smelt musty up there, I've never known anything like it before, Londons much better. Even though central London seems to have a bad reputation, I've never had any trouble up there before, and it's an exciting place. If a bit expensive. (£2.90 for a pint of stella!!!!!!!! no good...)

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

Guys, get used to it - housing is very, very, very cheap in the US, at least compared to the UK. The only places that come close are parts of Manhattan and the most expensive areas of LA. Yes, I have been there, and yes, I have made direct comparisons.

 

Phil

[Brian Wells]

(£2.90 for a pint of stella!!!!!!!! no good...)

I may not be positioned to compare real estate prices, but I know about beer.

Pint of Guiness here, in a place that smells of cows in feedyards half-hour away, is $5.00.

 

Isn't that about the same??

[Brad Grimmett]

House

This place is amazing... 1700 square feet land! And a swimming pool! In a nice area!

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

No offense to you or your friend, but that house is no mansion. There's nothing wrong with it, but 1700 sq ft for $650,000 is no bargain, especially in Downey. If this is what you consider a mansion then I can start to understand where you're coming from. But you seemed to think you could move to the U.S. and get a mansion for $100,000......I don't get it.

[Brad Grimmett]

Hi,

 

For what it's worth, which isn't a lot, there's only two groups of people I've seen making a very nice porsche-owning living out of working on films - telecine colourists and Steadicam operators. In the latter case you've got the best part of a six-figure investment in equipment, but the rates are still somewhat disproportionate.

Phil

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Working as a steadicam operator is certainly not the best way to get rich. The initial investment is somewhere around $100,000, plus insurance, constant repairs and upgrades, etc.....the rental rates for the gear are normally very low. Plus the fact that steadicam is hard on the body. It takes a great deal of skill and talent to do good work with a steadicam, and the extra burden of carrying around an extra 75 lbs of weight on your body all day is taxing. It should be worth a premium, but we rarely ever get what we're worth (the rates have been steadily declining for the past few years while the prices for equipment go up). And we work even less than DP's (even the guys that do features only), so it's not like we're working 5 days a week. I'm very happy if I average 15 days a month....even 10 days is pretty good. So it's another situation that looks great on paper until you actually try to make it work financially. I love what I do but there have been MANY times when money has been very tight because I wasn't working.

The grass is always greener on the other side until you realize you've got it pretty good right where you are. Money could never replace happiness.

[Guest Daniel J. Ashley-Smith]

No offense to you or your friend, but that house is no mansion.  There's nothing wrong with it, but 1700 sq ft for $650,000 is no bargain, especially in Downey.  If this is what you consider a mansion then I can start to understand where you're coming from.  But you seemed to think you could move to the U.S. and get a mansion for $100,000......I don't get it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually I said £300,000.

[Brian Wells]

housing is very, very, very cheap in the US, at least compared to the UK. The only places that come close are parts of Manhattan and the most expensive areas of LA.

I opened up the May 2005 issue of the Hollywood Reporter, a magazine well sponsored by realtors. There's a charming little 5BR, 3.5BA cottage-looking white house in there with a window air conditioner sticking out in the front of the house and the asking price is 1.9 million. Of course, it does have a pool and spa in the backyard, yet the window air conditioner does make it seem a bit tacky for Beverly Hills.. Am I to believe an average home in England costs this much? I had no idea. That's insane!

[Guest Daniel J. Ashley-Smith]

Just bear in mind my house is worth £300,000 but I live in KENT, just on the outskirts of London. In London they are a lot more expensive. Plus theres a lot of land around where I live so big gardens come cheap.

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

My comments on colourists and steadicam guys isn't based on numbers, it's based on how I've seen a good few of them live... naturally I'm not going to name names, but, sheesh!

 

Phil

[quinn]

the past year I have lived on my own. Payed my own bills, rent, ect. I got a job, I'v had my electric shut off for non payment of bills,  don't think I need you to tell me that I have no prespective on what adult life is like!  <_<

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

well, if you had your electric shut off you still have a bit to learn. And try doing all of that with a wife and three kids heading for college, their medical coverage, car insurance for 16 year olds with three fender benders, etc. 2000 dollars a week is nothing if you only work 20 weeks a year.

 

I've been paid 5,000 bucks for a week's worth of work shooting and editing mini dv recruitment tapes for colleges - and the quality was not nearly comparable to the stuff David and other cinematographers at his level could do. 2,000 bucks for grueling feature film work is nothing if you're putting a life together.

 

Glad to hear the house has turned into a good investment, David. I need to work on that one! And thanks for the answers.

[quinn]

What? Everyone knows it's a lot cheaper in America than England, just to prove it, theres this new guy (American) working in Chas Norman Cameras, where I work, he had a huge house in America, but when he moved here he got some crappy house. And that's recent, by the way.

 

 

The value of the dollar vs the euro is also an issue, i would think. I was just in London and it cost me 50 bucks for 2 eggs over and toast while my girlfriend had an orange and glass of juice!!! Everythign is doubled. So if you had a 500,000 eu house it would be equivelent to a 250 dollar house in the us or something like that.

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

> I was just in London and it cost me 50 bucks for 2 eggs over and toast

 

Christ, where were you eating, the Berkeley Knightsbridge?

 

Phil

[Stephen Williams]

Hi,

 

> I was just in London and it cost me 50 bucks for 2 eggs over and toast

 

Christ, where were you eating, the Berkeley Knightsbridge?

 

Phil

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Hi,

 

Eating breakfast Manhatten Hotel was $27 before a tip each!

 

Stephen

[quinn]

Hi,

 

> I was just in London and it cost me 50 bucks for 2 eggs over and toast

 

Christ, where were you eating, the Berkeley Knightsbridge?

 

Phil

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

to be fair, it was at the hotel, which is always pricey - but this was insane! It was next to the london bridge. I nearly fell out of my seat when i got the bill! We didn't eat much after that : )

 

The thing is, the rates LOOK about the same - 17 euro for a steak, where ours would be 17 bucks. I had to keep reminding myself that 17 euro was about 34 dollars. Yeesh. Just the weak dollar at play.

 

But i think the dollar/euro thing has to be factored in. If this kid's parents' had bought home for 300, it doubled in value to 600, that would be 1,200,000 dollars when you transfer the money over, right? They could probably score a mansion for that. But would they be making the money to maintain it? If they bought it for 300 are they making 60 a year? So, the value of the investment would increase when transferred to dollars, but the payrate for their job could stay around $60k or whatever so they may not be able to maintain the house.

 

i guess my real question is: how do the payrates differ? If our minimum wage is $5 is your 5 euro or 2.5? I am under the impression that it'd be closer to 5 euro.

 

interesting, but annoying.

[Brian Wells]

i guess my real question is: how do the payrates differ?  If our minimum wage is $5 is your 5 euro or 2.5?  I am under the impression that it'd be closer to 5 euro.

That's the million dollar (or 500K Euro) question. :)

[Guest Daniel J. Ashley-Smith]

Actually a lot of things in Europe are cheaper than both America and England. Hence why I make trips up to france every now and then with some mates on a fag and booze run. (sell half get pissed on the rest.)

 

1 Euro equates to $1.20. 1 dollar on the other hand equates to £0.55.

Edited June 14, 2005 by Daniel J. Ashley-Smith

[John Pytlak RIP]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=100...JPg&refer=japan

 

The dollar was at $1.2116 per euro from $1.2111 yesterday, when the U.S. currency climbed to a nine-month high.

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

Um, not Euros, they're not yet - thank God - extant in the UK. Despite the fact that £ looks like E, it actually means "pounds." And yes, there's almost two dollars to each. The exchange rate between the dollar and the euro was traditionally near 1:1, as more or less everyone informed on the euro currency project predicted, until the US reelected an obvious moron and did some things that made everyone hate them at which point the value of the dollar dropped through the floor. I know some Americans studying at the LFS who are being absolutely cheese-gratered over this.

 

Yes, anywhere with a view over Tower Bridge will be obscene; bear in mind that London is actually a pretty scruffy and unpleasant town, and what you'd probably look at and consider to be a reasonable mid-level place for the US will be pretty upmarket here. These days you really do have to look on the UK has a bit of a second-world country, the same way you'd look at some eastern-european ex-communist place.

 

> The thing is, the rates LOOK about the same - 17 euro for a steak, where ours would

> be 17 bucks

 

This is normal, and notorious. Telecine rates work like this too. Euch. The national minimum wage in the UK for over-17s is £5.05/hr, roughly $100 for an eight hour day. It is impossible to live on this wage in London or the surrounding towns, even as far out as I live (about half an hour on the train.) The absolute cheapest rent I have ever seen here, which was exceptionally low, is about half the minimum monthly wage.

 

Phil

[Brian Wells]

John: Thank you for the link. Sounds like good news!

 

Phil: Pounds and euro's, sadly I had them mixed up. Consider me initiated now, eh?

I now understand a little better what you guys mean when you say housing in the U.S. is cheaper, as are the bare necessities like food+household, and also is our minimum wage. However, the cheapest rent here would be around half the minimum wage as well, which would be a very small studio apartment in an older beat up building without central air conditioning. I mean, I wouldn't want to live there!

 

Thanks everyone for nudging me to look into currencies a little more.. this is fascinating stuff!

[Matt Pacini]

Geez Matt, you don't think people who don't live in LA or NY are going to be offended by your statement?

That's a pretty stinging indictment of life outside of America's big cities.

 

R,

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

When exactly did you hear me say that everywhere but LA or NY is like that?

I didn't. You're assuming that.

 

I don't live in LA.

I'm 425 miles north of it, and the median home price is almost $400,000.

I don't smell cowshit, and there are jobs here. $400K is NOT cheap.

 

My point was, you have to move to where there are basically no jobs, before housing gets cheap ANYWHERE in the US.

Daniel is talking about America as if it's one place, where everything is alike, which is ridiculous. Using one person he knows as an example of "how cheap it is in America" is ludicrous.

 

MP