[Todd Terry]

Glass will, yes, obviously reflect.

Whether or not that poses problems will depend on the exact positions and angles of both your lighting instruments and your camera.

If you’re set on glass, you could try building it with non-glare or more heavily frosted glass, with the “rough” side of the glass facing out.

Or hit it with photographic dulling spray (temporary, wipe off), or Krylon Matte Finish 1311 spray (more permanent) to kill reflections. Do-it-yourself spray dulling though is very difficult to do with absolutely perfectly even results over large areas.

Or you could use Plexiglass instead of real glass, and gradually dull it with steel wool until you get to a level that adequately eliminates reflections.

Obviously, any of those solutions is going to affect the transparency of the glass, to different degrees.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Thanks Emre… I looked at each of your suggestions.

The Soom won’t work, obviously, yes it is for smaller cameras. I need one rated about three times that much.

As for the others, I was a little confused by Sachtler’s “Speed Lock” label… don’t you still have to unlock each leg individually to adjust height? Or maybe I’m reading it wrong, but that’s what it appears to me. If so, I’m not sure where they get the “Speed” in Speed Lock, that’s pretty much the way all tripods operate. If however, that means you can lock and unlock all legs at once with one motion of one control… then yes that’s exactly what I’m definitely looking for. I’m too spoiled with the Oconnors to give that up.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

[Jolly Jackson] “How do people get on crews for well-established tv-shows or features?”

Well, in addition to being knowledgeable, proficient, and great at your job… and doing all the things that John suggested…. there’s another thing to keep in mind. All those jobs you mentioned are union gigs.

It’s yet another of the chicken-and-the-egg things… you generally can’t get those jobs unless you are a union member… and it’s much easier to join the union if you have one of those jobs.

Unfortunately, it’s tough to join IATSE out of the blue in an attempt to get a film job. However, it may be a little bit easier to get a theatrical job that requires or allows union membership. Just a suggestion, but you might explore seeking employment at a theatre (I’m not talking about a movie theatre, but one that does stage productions… local productions, touring broadway shows, etc.). Many people I know have found it a bit easier to get hired in those venues without pre-existing union membership. Once you get that job there as an electrician, or rigger, or grip, or whatever… then you are eligible to join IATSE.

IATSE, like most all unions, is a very close family and very “clique-ish.” On the inside, everyone knows everyone, and everyone knows who is hiring, where the jobs are, etc.

I’m not trying to come across as a union cheerleader… in fact even though I was a card-carrying teamster of sorts (AFTRA/SAG member) for years, frankly the union never did bupkus for me… but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

But first and foremost, you have to be great at what you do, of course.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

[Danny Grizzle] “I don’t want to be the kid who spends more on his car stereo than the value of the automobile.”

Haha… I hear what you are saying. I guess personally I’m just one of those kids who doesn’t mind spending more on the stereo, if wanting great sounding music is the goal. Come to think of it, I’ve got at least one motorcycle where the accessories are worth far more than the actual bike itself…. hmmmm.

[Danny Grizzle] “Cavision stuff looks interesting for a lot less money.”

Yes, just don’t go in with overblown expectations. I’ve had some Cavision products in the past (in fact, I still probably have a couple of matte boxes laying around). It is inexpensive. And you get exactly what you pay for with Cavision, no more. For some things, that’s ok… for others, not so much. I’d say it’s functional, but most of their stuff is quite cheaply made and really looks/feels it (and lasts like it).

[Danny Grizzle] “Note I’m not badmouthing Zacuto or Redrock,”

Actually, Zacuto makes really good stuff. Stuff, that is (in my opinion) wildly overpriced. I think the quality and pricing with Redrock is a lot more in line. Frankly, I wasn’t a fan at first of RedrockMicro. They first came about of course with budget-priced DoF converters… and I’m an old-time P+S Technik user and fan, and probably had a snobby attitude about them. However, when Redrock sent me one of their followfocus units to test drive when I was writing an article for the COW Magazine, I was super impressed. It is a great piece of equipment, I’d say on par with an Arri or Chroisel but less than $1000. It blows all of those other sub-$1K “Fisher Price” FF units out of the wather (those that are all over eBay in the $300-$600 range). I’ve been equally impressed with their other accessories. I still don’t have their uber-cool (and cheap) swingaway matte box, but want to get one soon.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

[Danny Grizzle] “Zacuto and Redrock Micro make gorgeous shooting rigs…but the money can become a multiple of what the 5D Mk II costs, which offends me.”

Well, that’s understandable… but I’d suggest that stand might be a little bit myopic.

To blow things out of porportion, one probably wouldn’t think twice if you needed a $20,000 lens on a $50,000 camera… but if you need the same lens on a $5,000 camera it suddenly seems unreasonable. It’s sort of an economic phenominon of the relativity of economics.

I’d contend that those prices aren’t out of line, if that’s what it takes to do the job and do it really well. I know in my own daily shooting rig (which starts with a Canon XLH1), the camera body is actually one of the cheaper parts of the setup. The lens converter that I use was a lot more expensive than the camera itself, and the lenses themselves set be back a lot more than the camera, converter, and everything else combined. At first, yes, I had the knee-jerk reaction “What the heck? These dang lenses are costing five times as much as the darn camera.” But… it doesn’t matter, because they are worth it. That’s what it takes to do the job and do it the way I want. Not all pieces of the puzzle are going to cost the same, and some are more than others.

I think it’s easy to become jaded at the relative costs of things because the 5D and 7D bodies are so darn cheap. They really are. Yes, they are expensiveish for still cameras, but compare that to what we’ve all been spending for “real” video cameras for years. In sheer cost comparison, the Canon SLRs have almost throwaway price tags.

Ergo… accessories may indeed end up being a lot more costly than the camera. If you want a really good follow focus unit (like an Arri, or Chroisel), it’s going to cost as much as the camera. You can easily buy a small LCD monitor as a viewfinder that costs twice as much as the camera or more, if you get a legit full-display HD screen.

The thing to remember is that many of the toys that we all use every day are pretty darn expensive, and aways have been. Now it’s suddenly possible to do very high end work using a camera body that cost a fraction of what the same job would take in the past. But, unfortunately, the prices didn’t drop on all those other bits and pieces that it takes to complete the rig.

But, yes… you can take the camera right out of the box and get to shooting without spending another dime. But, to do it the way we’ve all been used to… it still takes some of those other expensive gadgets.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

[Kian Amirkhizi] “Well Mr. Terry, I’ve been reading your posts for a while”

Well, first… Mr. Terry is my dad. I’m Todd. 🙂

[Kian Amirkhizi] “have a xh a1 and have found that the footage looks choppy as well in 24f when there is any sort of fast moving action.”

As I said earlier in this (very old) thread, that is just the nature of the beast when shooting at 24 frames per second… no matter what the format or camera. The same action could likely look just as “choppy” as the XHA1 footage if you were shooting real 35mm film with a million-dollar Panvision camera… provided the frame rate and shutter speeds were the same.

[Kian Amirkhizi] “does it help to always tripod the camera-avoiding necessary shaking when filming faster movements?”

Not necessarily. It depends on what kind of look and camera movement you want as a director. Watch Hollywood movies… action scenes often have cameras that move a lot. Imagine one of the fight scenes from “Raging Bull” (or even “Gladiator”) with a locked-down camera. They’d probably be pretty boring. But rather, in those instances the camera moves a lot… in fact, it is darn near constantly moving. In those cases they add to the drama and make the action look more “actiony” than it actually is. Whether to move the camera or not is primariy a directoral decision (will it add to the drama? Will it help tell the story the way I want?) rather than a cinematographic decision (Will the action look smoother?).

[Kian Amirkhizi] “what about the hand held stabilizers (which I use)?”

Again, that’s a directoral and stylistic decision. Does the scene call for a locked-down tripod shot? Or a smooth dolly shot? Or a floating Steadicam shot? Or a raw and shaky handheld shot? Each of those choices will affect the dynamic look of the scene, and each of them will tell the story in a slightly different way. It’s a directoral choice.

[Kian Amirkhizi] “I would hazard that the “shaky” look to increase tension is probably not ideal when talent is moving quickly.”

Actually, it’s done all the time. Again, pick almost any action movie and I’ll bet you’ll find numerous examples where they do just that to good effect.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

[Ron Lindeboom] “Once you see the fabulous Real-D system in action… there is no going back.”

Well, I dunno if I’m a lone wolf here… I’ll admit that it’s pretty amazing stuff, but still the “RealD” system drives my brain crazy. I’ve only seen a few, but have not been able to enjoy any of them. The last RealD movie we saw was the fantastic “Up,” but after 20 minutes of it I was searching through my pockets trying to find something with which to fashion a crude eyepatch (which fortunately, I found something). After that, enjoyed the rest of the movie immensely… albeit in one-eyed “pirate mode.”

If my better half insists on seeing the 3D version of another of these, I will try to get two pairs of glasses in advance so I can cannibalize them and create one pair both with the same eye.

It screws with my brain, gives me headaches. Maybe it’s because I spend half of my waking hours with one peeper glued to an eyepiece. But it’s not for me.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

[Peter Ralph] “So when shooting under office fluorescents the phasing should be less noticeable if you shoot without additional tungsten fixtures?”

Right.

What is happening when the flos are phasing is that they are not actually changing in color temp, but they are changing in intensity. Very very slightly… not enough for your eyeball to see… but enough so that is changing the ratio of the flo lighting compared to the non-flo lighting which does not phase. Therefore the color temperature of the mixed light is changing because the ratio keeps changing.

If you were to just shoot under the office flos alone, you likely would not see any color phasing at all. Now, you might see some slight exposure phasing, but usually it is very very minor. And if you shoot with a camera that has a clearscan mode set to the proper frequency, you shouldn’t see it at all.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Interesting, Steve…

Our CPA has always fully deducted both craft and catering services… and the usual half of “regular” meals and entertainment. As for catering, he’s always told us that if we feed the cast/crew in the middle of the day so that doing so is germane to expediting the shoot day (as opposed to sending everyone away for lunch) that it is fully deductible. Conversely though… if, for example, a shoot day just wrapped and we invited the cast/crew to stay and enjoy a meal on us, then it is not deductible (well, not fully, we could deduct half as a regular meals/entertainment expense).

I was unaware though that that was peculiar to our particular industry.

It pays to have a bean counter who knows his or her stuff.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

I think you must have just run into a dud.

As Bob says, most any CPA who handles small businesses should know all of that stuff inside and out. If you have any other friends who own their own businesses ask for another recommendation.

I’d suspect it would be easy to find someone, given the current state of things almost everyone is looking for more work, accountants included. Although we have been with the same CPA for 13 years and the economy in our particular area is still quite good, right now every week or two we get cold calls from accountants and CPA firms trying to win our business. They are hungry. You might have to interview a few to find the perfect one for your business, but surely they are out there.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com