[Jay Curtis]

I worked for a place once that had one of those clients. He would talk about a project he had on the way, “should have it for you tomorrow.” Tomorrow came, then the next, then another. Then he shows up and needs it the next day.

He was an agency — they get paid more (commission) the more times a spot runs this month. The smaller the window between a client saying “go” for a new spot and the spot hitting the air, the more they bill this month.

It was amazing to see how quickly the urgency died out when we mentioned we’d be happy to get the project done on his timeline, but it would mean working in the evening (at time and a half)!

Jay Curtis

Blue Vase Productions

[Jay Curtis]

Ron & Kathlyn,
Our deepest condolences for the loss of your son and grandson. Most of us can’t begin to imagine what your family is going through right now.

I know you don’t grieve the way the world grieves, because you hold tight to hope you have to see them both again. On this earth we grieve only because it’s so hard to wait for that next meeting.

Please know that our hearts and prayers are with your family in the days and weeks to come.

Jay Curtis

[Jay Curtis]

I spent a week as staff vodeographer/editor for a church youth retreat — a last-minute “work with whatcha got” scenario, shooting with a GL-2.

With no time to order (or budget) for an on-camera light, I got a $4 LED flashlight from the hardware store, gaffed it to the camera handle, then added some 216 and a 1/2 CTO. It worked great — not enough punch for any full shots, but perfect for tight face shots or as a filler in worship services.

Keep the tips coming!
Jay

[Jay Curtis]

Thanks for your insight Tim!

A progress report: it was a trouble free week camerawise. I did end up loosely bagging the camera with a clear plastic garbage bag, using gaff at the eyepiece and lens hood. It was mostly for my sanity, to protect the camera from a wild splash or kick of sand.

Although I was in a cabin with polar bears (they loved the A/C), I didn’t have too much trouble with humidity. There was usually that 5 minute walk to the beach that allowed the camera to warm up. On one stormy-looking particularly humid day, I did find that the polarizer liked to fog up on the inside (between the polarizer and the UV filter). I learned that I needed to take the polarizer off until both the camera and the filter had adjusted.

I had them pick up a can of compressed air and a set of lens cleaner & wipes before we left. I used these pretty reguarly, and had no trouble. Thanks to all for the insight!

Jay

[Jay Curtis]

Thanks for your help Ryan. I’m shooting with a Canon GL-2.

The only time I’ve tried shooting at the beach was with my consumer miniDV camera (a couple of years ago) — it fogged up immediately and didn’t have any intention of doing anything else. I had the sense to turn it off and take it back inside to let it dry off before I tried to use it again.

So what’s the best way to protect a camera from the humidity? Is it merely a matter of letting the camera adjust to outside conditions before powering up?

Thanks for the case suggestion, but my connection with the retreat came together in less than a week, and we leave on Sunday night.
I’ll check on the possibility of a cleaning tape, too.

Jay Curtis

Blue Vase Productions

[Jay Curtis]

Lots of tips I’ve never seen explained before! Thanks for posting it!

[Jay Curtis]

Generally speaking, I’m more likely to use a reflector instead of a white board in outdoor settings. The reflector will give you more fill for your buck, so to speak, especially for a wider shot.

The foam core or bead board solution is softer and easier for the talent to look into, but often doesn’t give enough kick to compare with the sun.

Jay

Jay Curtis

Blue Vase Productions

[Jay Curtis]

You should do all of those things above to get as familiar as possible with the sports you’re interested in covering. Watch televised sporting events with an eye for camera placement and number. Then…

Get in touch with the sports information departments of some colleges and universities there in the Houston area. You can find out which of them have televised games from their websites. Tell the sports information office you’re interested as working as a utility for the next televised game for their school.

The sports networks often require that the host school provide (and pay) utilities, or grips, for the hand-held camera operators working for the network. That means they hire locally.

You could also show up early (really early — crews arrive as early as 6 or 7 hours or more before a game) and volunteer to work as an extra utility for free.

Be prepared, though. The Utility is the cable-puller and gear-toting grunt of the mobile sports production world. It’s hard and often hot work. Once you’re there, though, if you do a good job, it will get back to the sports information people, and they’ll call you again.

Here’s where it gets interesting. As you work closely with the hand-held operators, do some power networking. If you’re good, you’ll get recommendations on other games. Eventually, one or two things will happen; either you’ll work a game where a camera operator doesn’t show and they’re in a bind — you’ll be able to volunteer your services, with the blessings of the other established camera operators. Alternatively, one of the camera ops you’ve befriended will recommend you the next time a crewer calls them for a game.

Good luck!

Jay

Jay Curtis

Blue Vase Productions

[Jay Curtis]

A couple of things to try, including some more discussion/education with the stage crew.

Uneven lighting: work with the lighting guy to even out the coverage of the stage lighting. There are two ways to do that– checking the focus of the lights to make sure they provide even light across the stage, eliminating super hot spots as much as possible. Second, work with intensity. If they’re using a number of different wattages of instruments in one group, you may be able to get them to dim some of the brighter ones or boost intensity of the smaller wattage ones.

For video in any theatre, slightly dimmer is more likely to be even.

Eye sockets: unless you can add lighting from the front, there’s not much you can do. You didn’t mention what kind of theatre you’re working in — if there are lights in front of the stage of any kind, adding them to the stage lighting can only help. Just be careful; if you add too much, you’ll create wierd dancing shadows on the cyc.

White balance: You did it the right way the first time — manual white balance on a white object under white light. Color reproduction is tough enough under all-tungsten lighting; adding colored theatre lighting only makes it worse. You might try to talk the lighting designer into a less saturate color, like a no-color pink, or maybe a surprise pink.

Since cameras are much more sensitive to color differences than our eyes are, adding brighly colored gels just amplifies those color differences. I do some work with a guy who’s been shooting the same dance company for more than 20 years. He just finished a DVD of an outdoor dance event under barely adequate lighting — choices of pink or blue washes of the stage. When the ballet director complained, “That looks so blue!” he replied, “Well, it was blue!”

If all else fails, is there any chance of color-correction in post?

Jay Curtis
Blue Vase Productions

[Jay Curtis]

Had a friend some time ago who had some Light Breaks — he loved them because they rolled up to pack easily. Where can you find them now?

Also, I agree the Source 4 ellipsoidal is a great idea, if you have a heavy-duty stand to travel with you.

Jay Curtis

Blue Vase Productions