[Nick Griffin]

Bob-
One of the more cost effective solutions I’ve heard of is getting voice recognition software, training it to your own voice, then with the source material playing back in headphones, repeat what you’ve heard into the software. Of course it’s not 100% accurate and will require some cleaning up and no, it doesn’t have to be you doing it, but it’s one way to get transcriptions for a lot less money.

[Nick Griffin]

I think it would also be a good idea for James to set up a separate company as the entity which RENTS the camera to his employer, at or slightly below market rates, each time it’s used. I strongly recommend against making your ownership of gear one of the things you bring to the job at no additional cost. But then I’m not an accountant and I suspect that Mr. Boultbee might be.

[Nick Griffin]

T2-
I think the biggest issue here is the 1/6th of the price part. Since everything else about this is ethically questionable, how likely is it that through changes, revised work orders and so on that the winning bidder will actually end up getting a much higher price than their winning bid — an already knows this? If so many other aspects were tilted their way, why not that too?

I like Mark’s suggestion about reporting it, but the problem is you, being seen potentially as Mr. sour grapes, really can’t be the one to do so.

If you really did want to get in the trenches there’s a possibility of there being some litigious angle to handling this. But that would likely be expensive, protracted and (did I mention) expensive.

I say F’em and move on having learned in the future to not even bother with what’s obviously a stacked deck.

[Nick Griffin]

I can’t speak for anyone other than myself here and I’ve never ‘studied’ editing, just done a fair amount for my own projects. Okay, with that as my starting point… What?? I’ve never heard of there being any set length, minimum or maximum, for individual shots. It’s dictated by what works for telling the story, not by any particular rule or trade practice.

Not to get too cinematic on you but think of the shower scene in Hitchcock’s Psycho. I believe that had some cuts as short as a half second. Dozens and dozens of them in quick succession. Compare that to the majority of Stanley Kubrick’s work where many scenes were a single shot, from a single perspective, lasting sometimes for minutes while the action just took place within the confines of the frame. Which of these classic directors was right? Both of them, because there is no “rule” on this. It’s dictated by your style and what works.

As to trailers, the whole idea is to create a storyline (or, more typically, the illusion of a storyline whether it’s true to the movie or not) in as short a period of time as possible. So there, yes, the shot durations would logically be far shorter than the longer piece they are attempting to sell you on.

[Nick Griffin]

For true “run and gun” I like to carry a small pop-out “Lite Disc” / “Flex Fill” reflector. It helps open up eyes and other shadows when working with ambient light, weighs only a few ounces (.056kg) and our smallest one folds down to about a foot around by half an inch deep (304mm x 25mm).

For audio I carry a handheld Beyer omni as a back-up in case the lav mic has problems or if there simply isn’t time to wire up a subject.

Granted neither of these are the way I like to work. We’re far more “production” oriented with three or more point lighting, large softboxes, boomed mic and even a dolly with tracks when appropriate. But having that stuff isn’t always possible or practical.

I haven’t had to work a trade show / expo floor in several years, but if I do again, I’d add a cheap trackless set of dolly wheels to the tripod for ease of moving between locations.

[Nick Griffin]

There’s really no good substitute for hands on experience and direct observation. Often times this is first gained through unpaid internships or just plain volunteering to help out on a friend’s shoot as often as the chance presents itself. In both cases you will have great opportunities to see how lights are rigged, mics concealed, camera moves blocked and so on. While you can learn from trial and error (which you invariably will) and you may pick up a few ideas from others also just starting out, it won’t be necessarily a fast way to get ahead.

Speaking of which:
[Chris Wood] ”
Basically, I’d like to find some good forums for amateur / independent / student filmmakers where we can all get together and discuss and offer advice on filmmaking.”

In many respects you’ve already found a great resource here in the COW. While there are many newbies posting here, and many, many more lurking, there is also a huge number of seasoned pros. Ask questions in the Lighting Design and Cinematography forums in particular and the chances are fairly high that your questions will be addressed by people working in the highest levels of the film and television industries.

Also, don’t forget that the majority of the COW forums have archives which go back several years. There is a LOT of information there as well in the hundreds (or is it thousands) of tutorials.

And a small plug for the forum I helped start, don’t hesitate to visit the COW’s “Business & Marketing” forum when you’re ready for advice on pricing and selling your services as well as dozens of other topics related to making a living in this business.

[Nick Griffin]

[James Dow] “I’m sure we will be seeing this quite a bit in the near future.”

Maybe, maybe not. I’m betting that the effect is labor-intensive and technology-intensive enough that its use will be limited for financial reasons. As a case in point, this particular show “House of Lies”, had several of these freezes in the pilot, then one as I recall in the second episode and a much simpler one on the third episode along with a couple of scenes where they were obviously attempting to fake the effect because you could see the “frozen” actors slightly moving. EFX are money and that can be severely limiting in an TV show which doesn’t always require them to tell its story.

[James Dow] “Now, who knows how they did it?”

Here’s my guess: The frozen foreground plate is shot on green screen. The moving center plate is also shot on green screen. They are then composited over the frozen background shot. The real trick comes when there is a camera move on all three so that, I assume, is done by a motion-controlled camera that can do the identical move time after time. But, as I said, that’s just my guess so, as James said “…who knows how they did it?”

[Nick Griffin]

[Mark Suszko] ”
I’m really starting to not like this current USSC.”

And you thought the Supreme Court’s allowance of corporations and unions to use anonymous donors to do whatever they want with SuperPACS was a good idea? Hopefully Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will begin to open a few eyes to just what a stupid idea that was — no matter WHAT side of the political spectrum you favor.

[Nick Griffin]

Thank you, Matt, for a great post on a very complex subject.

[Nick Griffin]

Excuse me for being blunt, but… WHAT???

Eight un-edited hours of each inspection?? POV (point of view) shot by a non-professional, who obviously will have other things to do during these eight hours? How many of these recordings will there be? Who is even going to WATCH this??? Has this client ever done this before? Have you or they ever seen anyone who has done something like this before?

I guess the Field Production COW is the appropriate place to ask about this but to most of us “production” would seldom involve a single camera view for eight hours. Maybe a lock-down or time lapse but eight hours of watching one thing from one POV… probably not.