Todd Terry
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COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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Well, what editing platform are you talking about? In Adobe Premiere (i.e., Premire Pro CS3), “frame blend” only has any affect if your clip on the timeline is anything other than “normal”, that is, not 100% speed.
If you speed up a clip (set its speed >100%) or slow it down (speed <100%) then checking or unchecking the "frame blend" box is definitely worth trying... sometimes you get much better results with one vs. the other. However if your clip speed is 100%, it doesn't matter if the box is checked or not... since no frame blending is actually applied to normal speed clips.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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[Chris Blair] “and the only leverage we have is we’ve shot hundreds of hours of raw footage (and we have the tapes), and more importantly, we have the power to NOT output and upload their spots for air.”
That’s actually a lot of leverage, if these projects are important to them.
You’ve got to hold their feet to the fire. I don’t know what your terms are (let’s say, net 30). In that case, the very next time they call you for anything, and I do mean anything, whether it’s to shoot something, edit something, or even just look up a slate number… I’d inform them (politely) that you simply can’t do any more work for them until any and all invoices that are past due (more than 30) are paid in full. Period.
It might seem that it is better to get a little of their money at a time if possible… but it sounds like you have a lot personally invested in their projects. Look at it this way, if they are in financial trouble, you’re probably not going to get paid anyway. If they are able to pay, they are obviously one of those clients that will do so only when forced. You can’t be the weak link, you have to be the squeaky wheel. I guarantee you that they are not 150 days late on their rent, phone, internet service, payroll, insurance, and all that jazz. If they were, they’d be out of buisness… because none of those other vendors would stand for it. Why should you? You’re their production company, you are not their bank. Why should they treat you as such? More importantly, why should YOU let them treat you as such?
[Chris Blair] “My question is: has anyone else faced this problem?”
Yep. We do business primarily with advertising agencies. One of them in particular we really like because they are very talented folks and bring us very good and interesting work. But they are VERY slow to pay. Once they ordered some new dubs of a television commercial that we produced for them more than a year earlier, despite fact that they had very large outstanding and waaaaay overdue bills for several other projects. We made the dubs, called them and told them they were ready for pickup, and asked that they please bring a check to cover ALL of their overdue invoices before we released the dubs to them. Well, the lady that runs their office was livid. She came down to the office, didn’t quite make a scene in the lobby but did read our general manager the riot act. She claimed that we were “holding her dubs hostage” and that she didn’t do business that way. She wrote the check, got the dubs… but then demanded all of their archival material and left in a huff saying they would “never be back.”
The next month they were back, and have been back ever since (and are paying faster).
The simple fact that this client reverse-billed substantial FedEx charges to you without your permission is completely unethical and should give you a good clue as to how they operate. I guarantee you they wouldn’t give you the kind of break that you are giving them.
Time to “man up” and get your money. With your attorney, if need be.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Probably could be accomplished fairly easily…
If you want to do it practically on location…. I would try hanging a silk or other diffusion material outside the door (if not a cloth rag, maybe a roll of Lee 250 or something along those lines).
Then from the outside simply blast the diffuser with as big an instrument that you can get your hands on. Something in the 1200w HMI range would probably be more than sufficient. If you design your interior lighting with levels that are on the lowish side (but still sufficient for your camera without jacking up the gain) you will have an easier time blowing out the door lighting. Alternately, if you don’t want to light through the diffuser, then put a white background at a bit greater distance behind the door (could be a white solid rag in a frame, or just a roll of white seamless background paper from the photo shop). Then front light that with similar instruments. A 1200w HMI (or maybe even an 800w Joker-Bug) would probably be enough.
If you want to do it in post, hang a well evenly-lit greenscreen outside the door. In post, replace the green (or blue, if you prefer bluescreen) with pure (or near) white. Also use the chromakey shot to create a matte to add some “glow” around the edges (could be as simple as adding a blur filter to the matte).
Either will work well, but give different results. If you go the practical route, the opening door will also illuminate the interior scene as the door opens. If you go the post route, it will not (unless you were to ramp up the brightness of the shot as the door opens).
Just depends on the look you are going for….
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Hi Antonio…
That’s just a little confusing, you might check with the photographer or whomever is actually in charge of the lighting design.
Degrees in Kelvin would be a measure of the color temperature of the light, not the amount of intensity or brightness (which would be expressed in some other form, such as lumens or footcandles).
Intensity/brightness and color temp are independent, one doesn’t really have that much to do with the other.
5600K would indicate use of “daylight” instruments (HMI, fluorescents, or perhaps LEDs). I would think it would be highly unusual to find a fashion show (or any theatrical production) lit with daylight-balanced lighting. Tungsten-balanced lighting (more in the 3200Kish neighborhood) would probably be much more the norm. In addition, for something like a fashion show I can envision a wide range of color gels that might be on the instruments.
But as I said, the Kelvin specification only tells you the color of the light… which your Z1 can compensate for and yield properly color-balanced images regardless of the color temp. What you really need to know is if you have sufficient lighting output from the instruments, not color temp.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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[Nick Griffin] “It is surreal, yet somehow appropriate to use this place…”
It’s so appropriate simply because, unlike most industry gathering spots and on-line lists in anonymous cyberspace, the COW is not a forum… it’s a family.
I know Ron and Kathlyn know this, and hope they feel free to call on “the family” as needed… whether to swap a smile, share a memory, wipe a tear, or find a shoulder to lean on.
That’s what family does.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Sounds good in theory, but grrrrrr…. I wish they would show some samples.
Without seeing it, it’s kinda like trying to sell an oil painting on the radio.
This guy has a couple of samples, but nothing exhaustive…
https://pinelakefilms.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Oh God, Ron…. absoutely nothing to say in such a moment, other than deepest sympathies to you and your family.
Your last exchange with him will be a priceless memory.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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[Antonio Atzei] “would you say that as safe line I should keep ehutter speed between 25 when very low light or 50 in better conditions.”
I would not drop the shutter speed below 50 or you will begin to get some definitely noticable motion smear.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Glad to hear it…. I figured they would have something that worked, even if it wasn’t the “official” ring for that particular light.
I have a couple of “universal” speedrings from them that I use on several different kinds/types/brands of instruments and they work fine… these however are bout 8-10 years old and I notice that they don’t even make that exact one any more.
The guys at Photoflex have always been super helpful and forthcoming with info. I was in need of another of their Transpac bags a while back, and called them about some specs. The guy on the phone actually told me, “Don’t buy one now, if you are not in a hurry,” and let me know that the bags were being completely redesigned and that if I could wait a couple of months there would be a much better product for the same money…. and he was right. Thought it was cool of him to give me the heads-up rather than just sell something already in their inventory.
By the way, when I did buy the bags, I got them from B&H rather than ordering from Photoflex directly… the price was much much better. Apparently they give their distributors quite a price break over selling directly.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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[Bob Cole] “It isn’t going to hurt him a bit.”
Oh, I agree… he burns it right off.
I must say Michael turned me from a skeptic into a real fan… he’s a stunning machine. He ate virtually nothing but carbs when training/competing… afterwards was when he loaded up on greasy meat.
I was just disappointed in his aesthetic choice of McDonalds. For God’s sake, the kid’s a hero… somebody hand him a real cheeseburger!
T2
__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com