Todd Terry
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COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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I agree with Grinner… I know of no comprehensive “list” of HD commercials anywhere. Best bet would be to plop down on the sofa with a pad and pencil in hand.
It is interesting to watch for HD commercials though… and the mix that you will see during network commercial breaks. Some are full-screen HD with a letterboxed version running simultaniously on the NTSC channel, some are HD but pillerboxed with a full-screen version running on NTSC, some are full-screen HD but with a side-cropped version running on NTSC, some are full-screen HD but obviously upconverted from letterboxed NTSC, some are pillerboxed HD but upconverted from full-screen NTSC… etc, etc.
The most wacky thing to see is an NTSC-produced commercial airing on HD, but where the original standard-def spot was letterboxed, yet they still show the full frame (not cropping for 16:9). There you get letterboxing nested inside of pillerboxing… with the thick black bars both on top/bottom and sides of the spot. Lots of wasted screen real estate there.
It’s pretty wild.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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[Ryan Santos] “You mean HMIs have the same color temperature as sun light?”
Typically, yes.
But not always. There are HMI lamps that are the same color temp as tungsten lamps, but they are less common. Best to ask whomever is providing the lamps.
HMIs have tremendous advantages, but of course disadvantages as well. The biggest advantage is that they put out much more light per watt compared to tungsten instruments. A 1K HMI can put out as much light as four or five thousand watts of tungsten light. And are typically daylight balanced, which is often an advantage.
The downsides are that the instruments are often big and heavy, not all of them are “instant restrike,” and you usually have to lug around a big heavy ballast as well. The biggest downside is the cost: while HMIs are several times brighter than same-watt tungstens, they are also several times as expensive. While tungsten instruments are often in the “hundreds of dollars” range, for HMIs you are going to have to add an extra zero… HMIs are usually in the thousands of dollars.
While there is a pretty good used market, the absolute least expensive new HMIs I’ve heard of are the ones promised by Richard the CoolLights guy (he’s a fairly inventive do-it-yourselfer). His HMI instruments are planned to range from a little 150watt instrument for about $500 to a 1200watt for around three grand. Development on these products is a bit slow and “still to come” (and as far as I know he doesn’t have plans for the bigger HMIs that you usually see) but commercially available instruments that you can buy right now are at least twice that cost, in some cases a lot more.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Yep… Dexter is a great show.
I’ve never been to Miami before either (although I live in the Southern US)… but the thing I noticed is how much everyone sweats… just buckets. I’m not sure how much is natural due to the Miami heat and humidity, and how much is for effect, but the continuity on it is very good.
Another show I loved watching for technicalities was another Machael C. Hall vehicle, “Six Feet Under.” If you didn’t catch its original run on HBO, it’s certainly worth a look on DVD. I found the cinematography on it to be just absolutely stunning, especially the episodes that were DP’d by Alan Caso. Just brilliant. And a good reaffirmation that the most well-lit thing on a set and the most important thing are not always the same. It’s just brilliant.
Check it out.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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I think at this point the solution is pretty obvious… cut it EXACTLY like the client wants, right down to the frame they say… no matter how bad it looks or how unhappy you are with the end results…. do it quickly… and move on.
As others have said, it’s the client’s money and the client’s project… they have the call on final cut.
As someone whose company primarily produces broadcast commercials I had to learn a similar hard lesson myself many years ago… and finally had to come to the realization that they are just commercials.
You’re not making art… you’re selling soap.
Every now and then a great client will come around that shares or accepts your complete vision, and you’ll walk away with a spot that both sells a product… and is art… or, at least something that you are proud of.
There’s a reason that not everything that gets produced “makes the reel.”
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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I can’t vouch for the quality, but if you want something dirt cheap just to play with to see if a shoulder support helps, there is the little Spider Brace… sells for next to nuthin’.
Of course with most things you get what you pay for, but if you have light usage or don’t want to make a several hundred dollars investment in one right now it might be worth trying.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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I’ve never done it, or had to, but I’ve sometimes secretly dreamed of the moment where I could throw up my hands, dramatically turn and begin to walk away, while announcing old-Hollywood style “I’m off the project!”
This might be one of the cases where you have to do so, if the excellent advice you have been given here does not work.
It sounds like they have already cost you well over the thousand bucks in grief. That’s a tiny amount in the production world, sometimes it’s better to walk away.
And, not to be mean, but the next time you are packing up your gear for a location shoot, double check and make sure you have included your backbone. Unless this gal is the one paying your bills or has been granted authority over you by the client, they can’t tell you what to do.
Unless you let them.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Well, fellow Todd, here is just my quick observation….
I was a Sony guy and a Sony fan for many years (and still buy plenty of Sony equipment, and have tons of their decks, montiors, etc.)… but our last three cameras have been Canons. And my next one very likely will be too.
I’m sure others definitely have indeed had bad experiences (when you crank out what are actually quite high-end devices and sell them for next to nothing there are bound to be some lemons, no matter what brand). However I can’t seem to recall a single time that one of our Canons has let us down, had a mechanical or electronic problem, or needed service. They have always performed beautifully and are very reliable.
That being said, every one of our Sonys were workhorses, too, and I enjoyed using them. BUT… through the years every one of them had to go in the shop at least once… some twice.
Just my two cents…
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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I must admit that I’ve pulled a similar stunt as Steve.
Many years ago in a previous life, I worked in broadcast television. As a behind-the-scenes guy now, many people are surprised when they learn of my newscaster background… but for more than quite a few years I was an on-air correspondent for an NBC affiliate.
Credentials? What credentials? Even though my mug was on the boob tube every night at 6 and 10 at the number one station in a decent-sized market (and occasionaly on NBC Nightly or CNN, etc.), the closest thing I had to “credentials” were business cards. We simply didn’t have them (and I was not aware of anyone at the competing stations in the market having real credentials either).
Well (and I’m about to tell on myself here regarding some slightly questionable ethics), one time my girlfriend, my buddy, and I planned to go to a major theme park in another state… one that had a fairly high admission price but one that also let media in free. Now, this was a bit before the Photoshop or computer graphics days, but my girlfriend happened to be a graphic artist… and after a little bit of effort on her part we found ourselves suddenly “legit” with nice looking laminated credentials complete with station logo, mug shot, bar code, even a magnetic strip on the back. The somewhat unethical part (ok, more than somewhat, but I was younger) was that I was the only one who was an actual employee… but suddenly she was the “Art Director” and my buddy was the “Stage Manager.” Hey, we bought enough of their overpriced concessions to more than make up for it.
I’d say, yes, make your own. Don’t lie about who you are or who you work for… but it still can look perfectly legit.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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[Peter Corbett] “not familiar with the Peppers but people write nice things about them”
Oh yeah, and I’m one of those people.
I’d say take a look at them… I’m a big fan of LTM Pepper. I bought my first Pepper kit probably 10 years ago, and it is still going strong. I don’t use it as primary lighting anymore, but I’d be perfectly comfortable doing that if I had to.
Peppers and Arris are quite similar… but I prefer Peppers. Not only are they more affordable, but I think they are better built. VERY rugged and dependable.
Of course you can buy different individual instruments and pieces, but the already-put-together Pepper kits are great… and very complete: not only instrument heads and stands, but barn doors, lamps, srims (both doubles and singles, and fulls and halfs for every head)… the kit we got even came with plug adapters and leather gloves. In a very sturdy wheeled case.
Several different combinations are available in their kits. I can’t say enough good things about them.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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I’m with Brendan….
I’m certainly not saying don’t get an education, but just make sure that your son is getting the right education. I personally don’t give a hoot about someone’s degree, I never even look at that part of a resume. I look at experience and mostly mostly look at their reel.
My senior editor is absolutely the best cutter that I could hope to have… he is smart, intuitive, fast, very creative… and never went to college. My art director is also fantastic, also without a degree. As for me, I consider myself a pretty fair director and DP, and although I went to film school I learned absolutely nothing about the craft there.
Wherever he goes to school, make sure they teach technique, not just technicalities. He needs to know why to make an edit in a particular place, not just which buttons to push. He need to know why to put the camera here or there, or why to choose this lens or that lens… not just how. It’s pretty often that we have, for example, a young editor come in with resume and reel in hand… a bit of conversation and we might learn that he knows Final Cut inside and out, can push the buttons in his sleep. But not why to push this button here, or that button there. He knows all the technicalities though… but guess what? We don’t use FCP. And while he knows all the techy parts of FCP, he has not developed the intuition (or dare I say theory) behind it… and is no use to me.
Again, get an education, if it is the right one. I’d almost suggest getting a major in something else, just for education’s sake… and take some production classes for a minor degree or just electives. And work during school in the industry. Everything I learned during my school years was the result of internships and outside jobs in real production facilities.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com