[Bob Cole]

Lowell is good about sending you the parts you’ll need.

[Bob Cole]

Very interesting – I’ll try to get a demo of it.

Thanks Todd!

Bob C

[Bob Cole]

Related question:

I shoot a lot of interviews in real-world settings, e.g. in a park, under the dappled shade of a tree. The problem, often, is dealing with a blow-out background.

I currently use reflectors, but I’d like to be able to boost the light on the face and have more control.

Being able to power off a 30v battery belt, or even a vehicle’s charge plug, would be a real plus.

Any suggestions? I was looking at the 200 watt Joker Bug, but I wonder whether it has enough punch.

Bob C

[Bob Cole]

[Steve Martin] “LIke you, we seldom travel with lighting gear. It’s almost always better for us to hire a good local gaffer & grip with gear.”

Couldn’t agree more, with emphasis on the word “good” (or “great,” actually). But you can’t always find lighting gear & gaffers at all locations, and some gaffers/grips just aren’t that fast or enthusiastic, which can be a real drag. On a recent trip, VERY run-and-gun, the producer and I went gaffer-less & found it kind of liberating not to have to worry about the extra personnel, even though it was a ton of work to do all the schlepping, lighting, and audio.

You can’t rely on people you’ve never worked with, nor the airline to carry your luggage on your flight. So I take something with me every trip, or else use FedEx Ground to ship it ahead of time. Always assume that FedEx or your checked luggage won’t arrive; take enough in carry-on to do the shoot in some fashion (camera, batteries, lav, etc.)

Budget-wise, “Miscellaneous” is an absolutely essential category. Nick’s list is excellent, but you can’t possibly foresee all contingencies. Paying the jackhammer construction crew $60 to take off early for lunch, while you finish your interview?

Bob C

[Bob Cole]

Thanks John and Bill. I should have explained more fully: when I am working as a one-man-band, lighting and shooting, I’m also traveling by air to locations and watching every ounce. I totally get John’s point about the 12 gauge being preferable. But in those situations, being able to get away with a thinner gauge helps me to carry more cables and other useful things.

[Bob Cole]

Thank you! Never saw that before and glad to know about it.

Bob C

[Bob Cole]

[Bret Williams] “Back to your original topic- why not FTP a couple gigs?”

It seemed to be a limitation of https://www.yousendit.com, but you are correct – I shouldn’t accept that. I did manage to send a 1.2 gb file, and I think the immediate problem is solved. But I’ll have to look into DropBox.

Thanks!

Bob C

[Bob Cole]

[Bret Williams] “Which is after they quit making MacPros. Well, new ones at least.”

This is a total aside to this thread, which may belong in some other forum; but I started it nad Bret raised it, so maybe I’ll just do it:

As much as I am ticked off at Apple for its failure to update the MacPro line, and its deliberate veering away from the architecture of FCP7, there is a part of me which really admires this company for its singleness of purpose and its unwillingness to be distracted from whatever it chooses to do.

With my small company, I can and will rationalize pursuing all sorts of peripheral projects, just because they interest me. So it is very instructive to see Apple, with all the money they could possibly need, deliberately neglect a whole product line, just because they are so intensely focused on other things.

At the same time, I’m going to miss the Apple OS and the MacPro, if and when I have to jump to a PC for whatever I choose as an alternative to FCP.

Was I talking about iMovie? Sorry for the lack of laser-like focus – I’m not Apple, am I?

Bob C

[Bob Cole]

Not to belabor a point, but if my MacPro 1,1 ever had iLife installed (which I don’t recall it having), it doesn’t have it now.

Thank you for assuming that I would have the latest and greatest MacPro, though!

Bob C

[Bob Cole]

Exporting from FCP to Apple Intermediate Codec resulted in the 2.81 gb SD anamorphic file.

Compressor/output for Apple TV resulted in a 348 mb file, but Compressor said it had “failed,” although it looks fine to me.