Film crew ramblings

A small update on my life

2006-05-03T16:23:00.000-07:00

For the last few months I have been busy traveling and working. I have done a few small TV shows and two short films. The first one in Cleveland called "The Carpet Kingdom"(link to pics) and the second in my home town of Chicago, "The Art of Stalking"(link to pics) Both shows where over all a good time and it was a great experience to travel to the Midwest and Chicago with a Film.

I want to also mention all of the great fun that I have received from the Camera toss flags and my last posting. I have really enjoyed all of the comments and hits so thank you, because it was a lot of fun to do and I hope to share a new project with the internet world soon.

My Camera Tossing Technique

2006-02-16T08:50:00.000-08:00

If anyone has seen my Flickr page in the last week you have noticed a large amount of pictures that are made by "Camera Tossing." If you are unaware of what that is a brief explanation is a photograph taken where the camera and photographer are not in direct contact with each other. It literally means tossing the camera in the air while a picture is being taken.

During the beginning of the month of February I put together a collection of 36 different camera toss pictures where each one represented a different flag. You can see the whole collection here.

These new flag camera tosses were done using two different sources. The idea came into my head that I could use two different computer monitors to get two different looks. The LCD screen monitor is a source of constant light, and a CRT monitor will give 30 interlaced frames a second creating the solid shapes you see.

Unfortunately this method did not work for me since the two screens were off on color temperature and light levels. So I went on to build a light box where I could control the light levels with different watt bulbs. I would switch between 60w and 100w depending on how thick the color gel was.

The picture to the left shows the light box with a plate of seven cut out slots. Most of the flags were done with a plate that just had three slots. Behind the plate is a sheet of light diffusion. This was needed to get a more consistent look from the slots, otherwise the bulb in the light box would create some unwanted highlights. With the diffusion on it looks just like a bright light passing through plexiglass, i.e. that thing you place negatives and slides on at the photo developer.

After all this was built I was able to start creating the images to be placed on the monitor. I was lucky enough to have a semi-pro monitor around that I could change the brightness/contrast and color temperature really fast. The monitor would be able to give me repeating union jacks, stars, moons and any other crazy thing on a flag.

Then I was able to take pictures, a lot of pictures. My guess is that I took around 2200-3000 photos for the 36 photos I choose to share. I have around 1000 versions of photos of the different flags, but that does not include the many, many different photos I trashed before or after I put on the computer. Surprisingly the best one was not hard to choose for the most part. There was almost always a stand out in each set.

Side by Side HD Camera Test and Comparison

2006-01-30T21:12:00.000-08:00

This last week I was able to work on a test with a DP looking at different HD Cameras. We tested four in total including the new Panasonic AGHVX200 (which I will sometimes call just 200). The set up was a little rushed since we only had one day to test them all, but a lot of different looks and settings were applied.

Four Cameras

(top row from left)
Sony F-900 HDCAM Sony BCT-32HD
Panasonic Varicam DVCPRO HD AJ-P126LP

(bottom row from left)
Sony HDV Z1U HDV Stock PHDVM63
Panasonic AGHVX200 P2 Card

That is a picture of the cameras setup inside. We did many variations of a scene. The scene consisted of a person, color chart, sheet of black, bright white and color gel with light passing through. Wide, median, and close shots of all with different variations on key, fill and back light.

This is a subject outside where we did not have as much control over the lighting, but needed to test how the camera did in a "Field Test." Cars in the background passing showed some movement, and some trees helped show how well the camera dealt with detail. We would later do movement test which included: panning, handheld and placing the car in the back of a truck.

Here is the future of my job. So this new camera uses memory cards to record. Not so much of a crazy idea if you think about digital still cameras, but still very different for "film" people. This card is only a 4GB card and holds about 4 minutes of HD footage, so there is the first problem.
The cards slide into old power Macs (new models don't have this slot). It takes just about as long to shoot as it does to down load. When we shot this we did not have the right software to look at the footage, but I can only assume that it has worked out fine back at the post house.

I can not give a good recommendation on what camera is good for what yet, because I have not seen the footage yet. All that I can say is how good they work in the field.

The F900 and Varicam are the high end models and will not be replaced by these smaller units. They are easy to use and have more options on lens and different looks made in the menu. The representitive of Panasonic , who let us use the 200, said we will see a difference in quality between the big an the small cameras. Although we would like to believe that a $4,000 camera can look like a $60,000 camera, it will not.

I like the placement of the screen on the AGHVX200 as opposed to the one above the lens on the HDV. The layout of the 200 is almost the same as the DVX100, which will make a lot of people happy. What is really going to upset people is the P2 cards. The cards will someday hold 100GB of info but until then producers will not want to wait on a memory card to down load while an interviewee will loose their train of thought.

Let Down

2006-01-11T22:02:00.000-08:00

During the break of the holidays with time to be able to reflect on things I became very...angry. Angry in the way that I want to break down work walls and not work only as a hired hand. "Working the neck down" or working as a manual laborer is all that I seem to be doing since I moved out to LA. I needed to do something other than just work on a Film, TV Show, commercials or Music Video. That was my goal this year and still is.

My first direction was to look at web sites like craigs list. I am almost done looking at that. I do not have a bunch of free time helping out projects that can not help me. All that I found so far are projects that don't interest me. What I should be saying is a post on craigs list does not give me the right feeling, as I am sure that my or anyone else's website does. That is something that I have not figured out.

In the back of my mind are a couple of ideas. While I don't have the contacts to pursue my feature films ideas I did have a couple of friends in TV. In my mind I had a great idea for a TV show and by chance I had a second to pitch an idea to a friend who liked the idea and thought it would be good to bring to his boss. Great.

Long story short: after I have been researching for about a week. I found the TV Show already on TV and done badly. The reason I didn't know the show had already been done was that it was already pulled of the air a year ago. CRAP. So not only was it on TV it was also canceled.

The bright side was I got close to pitching an Idea. All my hard work of meeting people and making friends had be for good use. Not only do they keep me sane in this crazy land they also can help me .

I still have a couple of ideas, but I will do a bit more looking next time.

USC student film "Secret Son"

2005-12-19T12:34:00.000-08:00

Click title to see more pictures.

I just finished a USC student film called "Secret Son." I had a really fun time doing so with a crew of mixed students and some working professionals. It reminded me of the fun I had on shows in college.

Also, something weird happened where the 100mm Lens had my name on it. Just in small white letters by the PL mount was "Shane." I am a big fan of that lens, so it was even cooler.

Quality Filter Tags

2005-11-22T12:24:00.000-08:00

As you may know a DP will like to see on the side of a Matte Box a list of what filters are in it. As well as a tag on the camera if the frame rate or shutter is different than normal.

The best method I have found is having small tags on all of the filter cases with soft side velcro on the back. That is so it can attach to the filter case and the side of a matte box. I also want to stress the durability of these little tags, because I have gone through a few sets of these. I ran across a great way of making them more sturdy. By using a thin plastic like the material for a "for Rent" sign the tag will have just the right strength.

WHAT YOU NEED
1. Sheet of plastic (as seen here FOR RENT sign)
2. Velcro 2-4 feet long. Depending on how many tags you need.
3. Scissors
4. P-touch. Best if you get 1" size. But I guess you could print out on computer and then laminate

I found that laying down the soft side velcro on the printed side lets our labels look clearer. So I place down a foot worth of velcro and then cut it out. Then I print out my labels on my p-touch. After trimming down the labels I pack them tightly and neatly on the plastic.

Once I cut out the tags I place them on my front box where there is already hard side velcro. Now they are ready for my next job.

"So I'm going to put you on hold." Reply: "OK, Great! What does that mean."

2005-10-19T16:27:00.000-07:00

I heard two things today that I haven't heard in a long time. First one being, "Are you available?" It has been over a week, way too long for not hearing that. The second being, "I'll put you on hold."

Now some of you may know this well, but others working in the independent world could go years without knowing what that means. In fact, since I have been out in LA for over two years I think I have only heard this twice. While in Chicago it was a very common term along with 'second hold' and 'booked.'

While working as a PA on commercials in Chicago I would be asked my availability. If there was no conflict most of the time I was on hold for thoses days. Most of the time the coordinator would call again a couple days/hours before and give the call time for the first day of production. In my experience very few times would I not get work out of a hold, but it does happen.

Then maybe another production might ask you for the same days as the first one. You explain that you are on hold for a different show and then they might ask you to go on a 2nd hold. That means if the first hold goes through you are in line for the second.

Now here is where it gets fun. Lets say the second production is locked down on those dates. They might say to you "I could book you." This is great, because when they say book that means they have to pay you for thoses days even if the shoot does not go through. Now you still have a loyalty towards your first hold. So then you must call up your contact for the first hold and explain that someone would like to 'book' you. The first production must then offer you the same 'booked' deal or give up there hold on you. So as you can guess getting a booked call is most of the time rather good.

Also, I must say that I find productions that use these terms more professional and generally a smoother show.

Super Camera for a Superman (Lame I know)

2005-10-19T11:18:00.000-07:00

So this might be old news, but I still wanted to post it. While the camera has been out for awhile, not many set pics or examples of footage. So here are some examples of crews using the new "magical" no film camera.

Along with Superman other shows like the new TV show Night Stalker are using the Panavision Genesis. And according to my old college roommate who works at Panavision it has been smooth sailing with the Genesis down under. Along with the fact that Panavision can't keep up the demand for this new camera.

I'm here to prep the Camera, that's right the cell phone camera

2005-10-18T17:39:00.000-07:00

So I guess it's time for me to learn a new format. The first music video shot completely with cell phones has been completed. The crazy part is that it looks not all that bad. Here's the link. The old band The Presidents of the United States are the first to try out this new "format." I can just read the future of Cinematography manuals describing the film curve of each cell phone make/model. All in all it would be nice to not carry around all that gear, but expect to find in the future PL mounts on cell phones.

Just some pictures of past shows

2005-10-17T18:36:00.000-07:00

As I will try to get more production photos of current projects; I am also going through photos from productions of old. Some of them even taken with film (gasp).

This group is from my final film I helped produced AtColumbia College Chicago. I am now going to spend some time resurrecting that film and place it on this website. For a student film it was pretty good.

These two pictures are from a show The Moment After II: Sleepers Awake. It's a Christian movie, and yes there are sequels to Christian movies. If, they are as action packed as this one. Check out the wire work on this righteous vision.

I am a little upset that I do not have more photos of this show, Nice Guys. This was a very fun show and my first comedy. I think that I have more photos somewhere, but where I do not know. Oh, And this is the first AC Bradley Richard.

So, there is a small start.

Not much work going on right now

2005-10-16T18:42:00.000-07:00

So, it is October and the same is true each year at this time, I'm sitting at home and watching the Baseball playoffs. Not that I can't really complain, because I love baseball, but I do need some work.

What also seems to be the problem is that a lot of personal things are arising. It's tough when personal things come up like: friends weddings, family members funerals and just the "life" issues that happen. While I would never have it any other way and not be present at these moments. I am finding it hard to get jobs because of the dates missed for things like this.

What really seems to be the problem is, this is the first time I am really getting a lot of these "life" issues. So this is a learning experience on how to juggle these life moments.

Movie's getting it wrong - Extras

2005-10-12T21:48:00.000-07:00

So while watching the new HBO show "Extras" I saw in the background the operator pulling his own focus. Now if this was a ENG camera I wouldn't question it, but it was an Atton package. What's funny about this is that the show "extras" didn't have an extra extra to put as the focus puller. Along with that was the gaffer looking through a contrast glass at a light blasting through a window, but the gaffer was in-between the light and the window.

So I would just like to start a section called "Movie's getting it wrong" for lack of a better name

Start of my American Cinematographer Covers Page

2005-10-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

I worked for a show over a year ago that dealt with a large amount of images, magazine cover images to be exact. Most of my time on the show was scanning and importing new covers along with archiving images inside of the database. Now, most of the time was hell but I did get to do one cool thing.

Since I was a big American Cinematographer fan I asked to add that magazine into the mix. The legal department did its thing and the people at AC where glad to let there covers be apart of the show. So one boring day of work got a lot better when I spent the morning at the ASC club house and looked through old magazines.

The show has ended (at least production has, I think the show still airs) but I made sure to keep all the files. So I am beginning to set them up for you geeky viewing pleasure. I am new to this so I don't know how long it will take but if you are a fan come back soon.

Camera Tools and Expendables links

2005-10-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the websites I have used in the past to get camera supplies

Backstage Carts are the best carts in my opinion. This web sight is not so good. I would contact them by phone or get to there office.

FilmTools is a great place to get expendables and tons of camera supplies.

Studio Depot is another store very much like filmtool. I tend to see the prices a tiny bit more here, but sometimes they are cheeper.

David Eubank is a First AC in Los Angeles that has the Depth of field and camera log for a Palm pilot. (very nice guy)

I will add more later, but it's a good start

So it begins

2005-10-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

So this has been on the back of my mind for awhile. I decided to wait until I became close to the 1 billionth person ever to post a blog. I heard there was a prize. But alas I was two off of that number. On ward to the real stuff.

This Blog will hopefully continue as a story of a young hopeful trying to make it in this world of film and television. I am not going to say I know it all, in fact just the opposite. I will try and share the good and bad moments to my struggles and other people's struggle. Maybe this will help others trying to do the same thing I am, or more likely make the friends around me laugh at the stupid things we have done.

So in the future there will be other stories and helpful tips to newcomers. As well as past stories and other writings I have made not in Blog form.

Really All I can hope for is a chance to walk by Robert Redford and say, "There goes Roy Hobbs. The best there ever was in this game." then pray I am the millionth person to say that, and win a prize.

Old postings - "My First Job"

2004-11-04T14:11:00.000-08:00

So about a year ago I had the idea to make a website and write what I have learned. It's kind of nice, because I look at what I was saying over a year ago and it's a completely different person. I seem really angry it bits of this. So just for the sake of doing so...

My First Job

I had done a few free jobs here and there but only for the Famous “Copy, Credit, Meals” All of the times that I have done these projects I have never received all three things promised. The only time that I have ever received a copy I was demoted to Key grip in the credits where there was no Gaffer listed. So even when I get a copy I get screwed on the credit.

So, I get a call from my friend, who is a story editor, but started out as an intern for a documentary company.. This friend let me stay at his place for a week when I first moved here. The first night in LA we where watching TV and on HBO was a project he worked on and did some camera work. The same night on Showtime I had a short film that I was the camera operator. This was rather cool I must say. Hours after I arrived to Hollywood I could see mine and my friends work on TV for the world to see.

Two months pass and I still don’t have a job, but I do have my girlfriend visiting. IF YOU EVER NEED WORK JUST HAVE SOMEONE VISIT FROM OUT OF TOWN AND YOUR PHONE WILL BE RINGING. So I get my first job and I was about to do anything to get money. I know where you mind is going right now but I promise you that I never went that direction. The job was for the company that made documentaries. They had a project that was going on hiatus for months. The subject matter need some time to pass for its development. While that time passed they wanted to open up their very expensive editing equipment for rental time. The Job was putting up flyers in local colleges and other areas where budding filmmakers might see it.

That’s right. I had the prestigious job of driving around town and putting up flyers. Holy shit was that degrading. But you know what, sometimes you have to do the little shit jobs. I’m not a heavy hitter. I don’t have a famous name. I don’t know one goddamn person in this town that is established at all. So you know what? I do the shitty work. I will pass out flyers. I learned how to get to all of these colleges and all the cool video stores. That’s important stuff to know.

Those people that are starting out just like I am are my best friends in this business. I get more work from them then anyone elce.

...So that was it. I cut out a little bit of the rage and some of the bad sentence structure. Further more I would like to say that I have not put up flyers since and I don't do really crappie jobs anymore. I can be a little more selective.