The Film Business - Greed, Glamour, Glitz and occasionally Good Movies

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Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

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I also work in the film industry, and have been in it for longer than I can remember, so maybe I could also contribute some answers from a crew perspective, if that's okay with the OP? I work as a camera/Steadicam operator and, since the last three years, also as a DoP. I've been involved in pretty much any type of production you can think of, from low end industrials to huge budget features. Any camera dept. questions, or general life-on-set questions, I'd be happy to weigh in on.

Schweinhund posted:

Are there any directors today who just shoot in the Hitchcock style where everything is story-boarded and they only shoot the exact shots they need? Rather than shooting everything from 10 angles then choosing the best angles when editing (as I understand it's generally done but could be wrong). (Not sure how that fits into "business", but the "editing is easy" discussion made me wonder about it)

There's a lot of these still out there. Probably among the most famous are the Wachowskis but many more too. It's fortunately still common but there's been a definite increase in people who just shoot everything and figure out in post what they actually want. I'm finding this more common with new/young directors. I think it's an awful way to work since you waste a huge amount of time, effort, and money on things that never end up being used. Much better to have a clear idea and shoot what you need. It's partially a confidence thing too, it takes a lot of confidence to just say "this is what we are shooting, nothing else" when you know you can't go back once you're in post. Well, you can do a pickup day but that's not ideal. So it's much easier to just shoot the crap out of everything for safety.

I find that directors coming from an editing background are very good at shooting only what they need, since they tend to have an incredibly good idea about how it's all going to cut together even while you're still shooting. I've worked with directors who already knew, down to the second, where they were going to cut and, through that, were comfortable approving less than ideal takes just because they knew they could cut around the bits that went wrong. As a result, you can go through a huge amount of setups quickly, which is how I love working. Nothing is worse than waiting around on a set while the director makes up his mind about what they actually want to see, all the while walking around saying "hmmmmm, maybe if we...no...how about we....hmmm, no". It's infuriating!

Steadiman fucked around with this message at 12:42 on Nov 22, 2010

# ¿ Nov 22, 2010 12:40

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 03:10

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

Rogetz posted:

Tacking on to this, how do I set myself apart as a camera man when everyone and their mother owns a video camera and is competing for the same low-level jobs? I can't afford my own equipment beyond the basic stuff that I have, especially now that everyone's expecting you to be a one-man band. I've got feature credit but not on anything that anyone's heard of or going to hear of, how can I leverage that when I still don't know anyone?

The most important thing is not to worry about equipment. Gear is just a tool and means nothing to your skill as a cameraman. It just means you spent a lot of money on something that will be obsolete soon and you know how to read a manual, it says nothing at all about how talented you are. Being a good cameraman is all about your mind and your eyes. Way too many aspiring cameramen get bogged down in fancy technology and expensive gadgets, these are all unimportant. A good cameraman can make almost any camera look good because he works on what fills the frame, not on what captures the frame. So that's how you set yourself apart from all the gear heads, work on developing an amazing eye for composition, learn about motivated movement, study up on lighting. All that good stuff.

You need to be able to tell a story within any frame, this is not easy and takes experience. What works, what doesn't work, all these things will start making sense to you the more you play with it. There's thousands of ways to frame any given setup, choosing the best one is the talent of a good cameraman. Every shot you make should be in service of the story you're trying to tell, even random b-roll needs to be considered and set with care. Never just throw a camera down and say it's good, even if the director just wants "a quick closeup". look at everything in the frame. Think of what else you shot for the scene and how it will cut with what you're doing now. Inch the camera around to find the ideal background, keep both eyes open so you can find alternatives.

If you start moving the camera, consider the move carefully. Can you motivate it or are you just moving for the sake of moving? Does it add the the story or distract from it. Sometimes no move is better, no matter how tempting it may be. Learn about all your options for movement as well. Do you want a dolly or crane or Steadicam, they all move but they all move differently. Once you've decided on the tool, learn to utilize it properly. A crane doesn't just have to move up and down, for instance. It also does wonderful tracking on any level, which very few people use strangely enough. A Steadicam is often not the best choice for static parts in your shot so maybe a dolly would be better. Etc. Learn everything about the tools available to you and then you'll be able to apply them effectively.

Finally, a good cameraman is a great politician. You have to be assertive, social, calm, and fast. You're going to be dealing with a lot of talking and you're going to have to learn how to fight for the shots you want. You'll have to be able to calmly deal with spoiled actors who don't like your light or frame, you'll have to deal with directors who want stupid, or impossible, things. You're going to deal with producers who don't want to pay for what you need to get the shot. If you can make all that work in a calm and professional manner, people will want to work with you. Hell, they'll demand to work with you!

So, as I said, a good cameraman is all about your mind and your eyes. Train these, practise a lot, and you'll set yourself apart quite well. Make a nice demo reel to show off these skills and people will eventually want to work with you.

# ¿ Nov 23, 2010 12:01

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

Mozzie posted:

Sure, I look forward to the tooth fairy doing a camera test with them.

I've just tested the Epic for a 3d production, they are out there and shooting. If the iPad would let me upload images, I'd show you. Does that mean I'm the tooth fairy? Cause that's gonna cost me a lot of quarters and I'm not that rich! I don't wanna be a fairy

# ¿ Nov 24, 2010 11:20

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

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AccountSupervisor posted:

How is the Epic? I havent heard any first hand accounts and I really trust your opinions. I read the poo poo out of the cinematography thread and learn a ton from it, especially you.

Well unfortunately I'm not entirely sure what I can and cannot say at this point, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to owe you on that. I can tell you that there are still a bunch of issues that need to be worked out on the software front, and it's surprisingly heavy once it's configured in a production ready setup. Ofcourse, shooting with two of them, plus the 3D rig, makes it insanely heavy! By the time we had a workable setup, we were close to 78lbs total rig weight. Still working out ways to strip it down more but, to give you an idea, that's close to the two-Alexa setup now being used on Scorsese's new film and also dangerously close to IMAX territory! So far I am not a big fan of the design of it, it's too small for proper balancing. Not much more I can say about the operation at this point.�

Here's some pictures though

. This is the rig
https://wi.somethingawful.com/5f/5fc4a7bf3c770ab04b966e86af1b336402a53749.jpg

And this is me operating it, impersonating the tooth fairy. Anyone who knows something about Steadicam balancing can take a pretty good guess at how heavy this thing is based on the amount of weight we had to add to the bottom and the length of the post!
https://wi.somethingawful.com/13/13b5769ad0ed5522a76b080a4dffdaa0745b7015.jpg

Steadiman fucked around with this message at 16:02 on Nov 24, 2010

# ¿ Nov 24, 2010 15:37

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

Mozzie posted:

So basically it's block of hot air that appeals to nothing but Jim Jannard's ego and a market that is being consumed from all directions but more cost effective or more establish camera companies.

I stand by my original assumptions, tooth fairy.

Yeah, I can't really disagree with you here. I have to work with this stuff so I deal but if I had to choose I wouldn't even come close to these cameras when there's so much better out there. But I will give them this much; they did throw out an awfully loud wakeup call to other camera manufacturers. And that's a great thing because things were getting awfully stagnant. And they are trying very hard to invent new things, like the HDR stuff they're doing now. So for that, I have to thank Jim. Now to wait for ARRI to take those ideas and actually do them right!

And if you keep calling me tooth fairy, I'm gonna give you $50,- and kick your teeth out!

WebDog posted:

...
(BTW Steadiman where did your stories end up, they were a great read)
...

You know what, I don't actually know. My first thread was in the goldmine but it disappeared from there and the second is probably in archives somewhere. You could probably find them but I barely remember when I made them so I have no idea where to look. Oh well.

Adrianics posted:

This may sound like a slightly bizarre and out-there question, but do any of you guys have experience with child actors?

I ask because I have a history of volunteer and professional work with children and was massively soured on professional film work when I got a scrub job on a short film produced in Pinewood where I had to watch a typical 'stage mother' basically force her sobbing young daughter, at the end of a long days' shooting, to do another take despite both the director and AD insisting that it wasn't necessary.

I mean, it shocked me so much I actually find it drat difficult to watch any child actor now.

But yeah, just hoping you could assure me that not every experience with a child actor is that terrible?

No it's not always terrible, but it does happen a lot. There's a very good reason the saying "never work with children or animals" exists. There are rules and guidelines that should be followed when working with kids, dictating the hours they're allowed to work and the amount of work they actually do, but unfortunately the parents have the ultimate say and some parents are just complete and utter scum, desperate to live a life of fame vicariously through their poor child. To me that is pure abuse and it's infuriating to witness when you can't do anything about it. Also there's rarely anyone on set to actually enforce those rules and it's left to the production to see that the kids are treated fair. Since this often creates a conflict of interest, production tends to look the other way or conveniently forgets the rules. It's one of the reasons so many child actors become so hosed up when they're older.

Fortunately it's not always like that and sometimes you get great kids with caring parents and a production that actually cares about the kids so they'll schedule around them and keep them entertained in down time. This way you'll get the best work out of the little time you have with the kid because they're not bored and not crying because mommy/daddy yelled at them. Much more productive.

Ofcourse, some kids are just assholes.

Steadiman fucked around with this message at 11:46 on Nov 25, 2010

# ¿ Nov 25, 2010 11:43

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

WebDog posted:

You made them in 2006.
There was a PDF version of them floating around but the links so far are dead.

Day in the life of a Steadicam operator
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1816759

Lights, Steadicam, Action; more tales from the movie biz
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1997326

Hey thanks! So that's where they went!

Popelmon posted:

1. I read about this "Red" camera thing in a few other topics (and here). But Wikipedia doesn't really tell me why it is a big deal. It's a digital camera, what's all the fuss about?

Here's my take on it. The reasons for RED's popularity are really simple: it's cheap for what you get and they make awesome brochures. It creates a high quality image for a low cost of entry, atleast for the basic package. This, combined with the amazing marketing they put into it, created a huge amount of hype among starters, indie guys, and students. This is where most of the madness came from. There are better cameras out there, but they're not nearly as affordable or as good at marketing to the young internet crowd. It's created an almost Apple vs Microsoft like struggle in the film industry, there's fanatics on both sides. RED has created a lot of ignorance in parts of the industry, where people take the word of marketing literature at face value and don't do any further research on what it actually means. They see, for instance, 4K and accept that blindly, without realizing the cheats and compromises they use to reach this 4K. Also the RED is not nearly as light and small as people seem to think. In fact, by the time you have a production-ready set, the thing is bloody big and heavy (and surprisingly expensive too!)

It creates a market for people purely buying based on tech-spec brochure bullet points and that market is filled with ignorance. I've seen a film student argue with an academy award winning, ASC member, DP about how the RED would've made his shots so much better, quicker, and easier if only he got out of the stone age and dropped his 35mm preference. This dude had never even actually worked with the RED but chose to believe what the brochure, written to sell the thing, and the Internet said over what this 30+ year veteran DP said. The DP in question wasn't even anti-digital, he's shooting his new film on the Alexa.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not anti-RED. In fact, I DP'd two features on it. I am, however, allergic to the incredibly biased debates it always seems to trigger (film is dead, greatest camera ever, makes anything look good, grows your penis 4"). It's always pointless and people are too stubborn to change their minds on either side.

What it boils down to is very simple, it's a box that takes pictures just like all the other boxes that take pictures. What box you use isn't nearly as important as how you use it. Hype is stupid, brochures are gay, and resolution is not nearly as important over 2K as people think. Do your own research and tests before you decide what to use and always remember, it's just a camera and the camera only takes the picture that you tell it to take. If that picture looks like poo poo, it's not the camera's fault. Pick a camera for reliability first, everything else is secondary. Don't worry about it so much and you'll have much more fun shooting

# ¿ Nov 27, 2010 12:11

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

Timby posted:

Steadiman, are you at all familiar with the Red Epic? I only ask because apparently Peter Jackson will be shooting the two Hobbit movies on them, and has ordered thirty of them for the production. Is the Epic just a different kind of hardware on the same heavy rig?

Yes I am but, as I mentioned earlier on the page, I'm not entirely sure what I can and cannot say about the functionality of it. In fact, I'm not even entirely sure if I was allowed to post those pictures. It's a different kind of hardware but it's not much lighter than the RED one. It's much smaller in length, which is actually a downside since that makes it a difficult camera to balance for 3d and it also makes it uncomfortable to shoulder as all the weight is upfront. It's about the size of a RED one cut in the middle.

penismightier posted:

Herzog did My Son My Son on RED One and hated it. Is he right about it taking 4 minutes to load? That'd kill me.

No the RED, as has been said, takes about 90 seconds to boot. Also called "the longest 90 seconds of your life" However, I think that what he's talking about is that it's never just 90 seconds. If the camera crashes or loses power, or needs to reboot for any reason, the whole set deflates in those 90 seconds. You can see it happen, everyone is all tensed up and ready for the take but if the camera needs to boot then the tension gets released slowly. The first ten seconds everyone is still pumped but the longer it takes, the more people are going to start to relax. Conversations will slowly start to happen and actors will get restless and start leaving their marks. The result is that it's never 90 seconds, that's just the camera. By the time you have everyone back in place and ready, you've lost at least another five to ten minutes if you're lucky! That adds up. And the RED has a nasty tendency of crashing, though this has gotten a lot better. But when it crashes, it's always at exactly the wrong moment.

I've had it happen that the battery couldn't keep up with the power drain of all our accessories (though nothing more than usual) and would just lock up the moment you pressed the run button. Or it would crash because the Lockit wasn't perfectly in sync. These kind of things are horribly annoying when you have an entire cast and crew standing by and the time lost to stuff like this adds up. Fortunately the battery running down can be solved with hot-swapping the battery but all the other problems are unpredictable.

Another hugely annoying thing of the bootup is that it used to just display a logo on a black screen for the whole sequence, so you couldn't do anything while it was booting. After many complaints that people wanted to at least see a picture so they could continue framing up, RED gave in and a picture comes up almost immediately on boot. Awesome, right? Well no, because RED is so petrified that you'd maybe forget what you're shooting on, that picture gets filled with a fullscreen RED logo. Making it essentially useless. So there's really not much you can do during booting. Very silly.

Two Worlds posted:

He is shooting 3D, so it's more like 15.

Well less than that. Not all of those are production units, some are backup units. Due to the newness of the camera they're not taking any chances with a failing unit on location so there's plenty of redundancy built in the pipeline.

Edit: I'm sorry NE, I feel like this is slowly turning into another RED thread. Didn't mean to help derail this into a camera thread.

Edit edit: while I'm here, may as well ask a question myself. I'm trying to expand my market into the whole web 2.0 scene but I'm just not hip enough to fully use it all, I have a Twitter (though I haven't used it much lately), Facebook profile, several Steadicam and crew sites profiles, and a LinkedIn profile with several recommendations on it. Are there any other avenues I could be exploring to expand my network? Cause so far I haven't really had much return for the effort, which has led me to kind of give up on updating all that crap. Is it worth it?

Steadiman fucked around with this message at 14:41 on Nov 29, 2010

# ¿ Nov 29, 2010 11:47

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

Magic Hate Ball posted:

Weavers Rock

Oh my god, that was...uhm, something else.

# ¿ Nov 29, 2010 20:17

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

CaptainViolence posted:

So on a different note, how hard is it to get into Steadicam work? I read Steadiman's old threads and I got the impression that people tend to be either good, dedicated operators or jerks with a lot of cash to burn, without much in between and easily differentiated. I'm going to invest in a lower-end Steadicam this summer so that by the time I graduate I'll hopefully be pretty good with it and ready to move up to a larger rig, but I don't know how much if any edge that will give me when I start looking for work. Can anybody shed some light on the current state of Steadicam for me?

Well the easy answer is "very hard". So good luck.

Anyway, the more involved answer then. It is still very hard but the best way to do it is to first become a really good camera operator, remember that Steadicam is still just another form of camera operating. Understanding framing, camera movement, etc. is crucial. Once you have that, you take a Steadicam workshop. This is a huge thing! These workshops generally run 5/6 days and teach you pretty much everything you'll need to know, not just about the art of operating and wearing this thing but also about the industry. You will be taught by some of the best and most experienced operators in the industry. Steadicam is insanely specialized and a workshop is a great way to get in with the right people (other operators). Getting a low-end rig will be nice for practice but don't expect it to give you much of an edge, going the self-taught route is generally not a smart idea with a machine that can cripple you for life if done wrong! It's pretty forgiving with light cameras, which means you can learn bad habits/posture without realizing, and that can break you up when you move up to heavier rigs.

Once you've taken the workshop you will feel much more confident and safe, from there it becomes a matter of lots and lots of practice and getting your name out there. Depending on where your market is, this could be pretty difficult. Start out shooting stuff for students, low end, indie, just anything that gets you practice and footage. These lower end jobs are generally just grateful to have you there so there's plenty of work to do. As you get better (this could take a while) you will feel more confident in taking on bigger jobs. Getting the work is the same as any other freelance career; lots of coldcalls, going to tradeshows and such places to network, meeting the right people, etc.

Be aware that you need to know your market too. If you want to break into features then getting a Glidecam or Sachtler or Movcam, or whatever other low-end knock off rig, will not suffice. You can lose work from the gear you have. For high-end work, you'll need to invest in high-end gear (an actual Steadicam, PRO, MK-V rig, etc.) and it will be expensive. Clients expect that because they know it's reliable. You'll also need to invest in a lot of extra stuff (transmitters, follow focus, cables...oh god the cables, brackets, etc) to fill out your kit and make it production ready.

So yeah, that's the quick and dirty version of what you'll need. It can seem intimidating but it is doable. You will enter a very competitive and high-stress market so you should be ready for that, and the insanely hard work involved, but it is worth it in my opinion. Most importantly you should be able to stay cool at all times and have a lot of fun while doing it all! Go get 'em tiger!

And to Nerd Of Prey, good luck! I hope you make it, go make your movie and make it great! Also, hire me. I'm good and my rates are competitive. (see CaptainViolence...networking, always networking

)

# ¿ Mar 15, 2011 13:27

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

Please, on behalf of crews everywhere, do NOT make the film crew crash with the band or couch surf. Give them hotel rooms, good food, and down-time. I would recommend against a fresh-out-of-filmschool crew, or at least get a DP who has experience so he can lead the f.o.o.f.s crew (they will cost more than $1200-$1400 a month though) but you need a minimum of one experienced cameraman/sound guy there. Ideally, for this style, you'd need two crews. One small, one-camera, crew to follow the band and a bigger crew (three cameras or more) completely seperate for the show footage. That way the single-cam crew has a clear goal and time to do it while the multi-cam crew can set up for the show and shoot that without having to run out to catch the band. This way you have coverage everywhere.

Three cameras will get you a camera on stage and two front-of-house (one wide and one close) or you could choose to get a fourth unmanned camera for the wide and send another one in the crowd handheld. For any concert I think three cameras is the absolute minimum you can get away with while still getting enough coverage. More cameras=better coverage and less random b-roll to hide your cuts and the camera corrections. If possible, give them a director and an intercom so you don't end up with three closeups of the singer all the time. Multi-cam needs direction or it becomes a mess easily. Also try to avoid mixing and matching different cameras, unless it's a conscious stylistic choice ofcourse. This will be a nightmare in post when you have to match all the shots to eachother. Get zoom lenses with remote servos for the multi-cams too, not sure if I'd choose to use DSLRs for that portion to be honest. Those are not the best cameras for that sort of thing as far as usability and practicality is concerned.

I would put the guy with experience on the single-cam crew so that I know I will get good and usable footage. It is so worth the money! Documentary filming is not an easy thing to do, you need someone who is completely aware of what's going on and knows how to improvise fast and shoot good and not get in the way while getting the whole story. There is an art to shooting a documentary where you're never sure what's going to happen and where you'll go next. A good documentary cameraman will provide consistently useful footage and very few useless frames. Even their corrections are still perfectly usable because they treat all footage as something that might end up being used. They also never leave the camera running during boring moments (a godsend once you get to editing and have to spot through hours and hours of footage!).

Just some thoughts off the top of my head. Good luck, sounds like a fun project. Get hotels!!!!

# ¿ Aug 24, 2012 16:08

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

NeuroticErotica posted:

Welp. Time to pack it in. We had a good run.

Goodbye everyone.

Well I blame you for starting the thread. You destroyed the film business! Hope you're proud, you big jerk!

# ¿ Oct 17, 2012 01:56

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

NeuroticErotica posted:

Honestly, if you ask anybody I know, they'd tell you that they'd be more surprised if I didn't bring this whole thing down in a smoldering heap.

I have already started sending out resumes for different jobs because of you. I have high hopes of becoming a manager at Burger King, I hope I meet the qualifications.

# ¿ Oct 17, 2012 14:32

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

An important point about unions is that it becomes absolutely crucial to be a member if you want, or hope, to work on bigger shows in your function of choice. Though whether you really want to do that is up to you but don't expect to be working on the new Spielberg unless you're union. It can be very tricky to get on the union roster, outside of maybe working on a non-union show that flips (rare but not impossible), and you will need to do quite a few work days on a union show to qualify, I believe it's anywhere from 30 to 90 days inside two years, depending on which local you want. This is easier said than done since the function you want will likely already be filled by a union guy. So you either need to get the producer to hire you because you rock so much (which gives you an "in" into the union too) or start in a low function that is non-unionized. You will need to get a waiver to be allowed to work on that show in most functions outside of PA-ing or something. You can get in the union through non-union shows too but it takes a lot more days and other loopholes. There's some other small crap to deal with but that's the biggest hurdle you might face.

Important point to remember is that being on that roster does not guarantee work but it does mean the work you get will likely not abuse you as much as a non-union show might (i.e. no 20 hour days with cold pizza for lunch

), also better benefits and insurance, and better pay. All things that we like!

On the whole, you need to decide for yourself if it's beneficial to try to get in the union at the start of your career or if you want to rough it on the (generally lower budget) non union shows for a few years while you build up experience (which will make it easier to get in simply because producers will want to work with you more so that waiver will be easier to get). My advice would be the latter, get some experience first and get working before worrying about all that union stuff. Chances are that even if you get in the union, you won't work much if you lack experience so there's very little benefit to you. It might even be harder to get work simply because you are in a union if you are just beginning. Non union shows tend to be much less picky about that sort of thing.

# ¿ Apr 5, 2013 12:52

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

holocaust bloopers posted:

With that being said, here's a question: not every job is your favorite or something you're really thrilled to work on so how do you put up with all the poo poo working on a really lovely production? Is it just a "glad to have a job!" type deal or just a sincere love of the work that keeps you motivated?

Even the best jobs can have crappy days. I think as long as you love what you do, you'll love doing it at every opportunity. Even if that opportunity is an awful show where you work 18 hours and get yelled at by the director while the producer want to cut your rate after the shoot and the actor wants you fired for moving an inch or two below their eye line or for asking them if they wouldn't mind moving a step forward. On those days you have to find the enjoyment where you can, it can be from hanging out with the crew or from pulling off an amazing setup or simply because you just love being on set so much that you don't care where it is. I'm a bit of all of that. You know there's going to be bad days and you are ready for them. After that, the good days become so much better! That's how I cope, I just look forward to/remember the good days I had (which still outweigh the bad).

The point is, don't stress and don't worry. It's just a movie, it's not rocket surgery. Have fun with it

Also alcohol.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2013 10:55

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

Crossposting this from the cinematography thread; I wrote an article about the making of a movie I shot at the Cannes filmfestival last year called "Seduced and Abandoned". Was an insane ride and the people at Steadicam asked me to write about it, this is the result. Might be a nice read for people with an interest in moviemaking or Steadicam and I am very proud of the finished movie (which premiered at this year's Cannes festival to great reviews). Hope you enjoy it!

http://www.flysteadicam.com/the-little-rig-that-could/

# ¿ Jun 15, 2013 17:58

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

therattle posted:

Hey! The company I used to work for is selling that internationally. They're very good, and apparently the film is too.

I really enjoyed the finished movie when I saw it, I think most filmmakers will because it is a pretty interesting insight into the whole finance thing and how to get a movie greenlit. Not sure how well it all plays to non-film people but I think they'll get it too. To be perfectly honest, the film does get a bit up its own rear end a few times during the run but fortunately those moments are kept to a minimum. Also it has a surprising amount of humor, it really is quite funny at times, and the chemistry between the leads is great. So in all I would certainly recommend giving it a viewing if you can.

# ¿ Jul 18, 2013 09:42

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

Here is the trailer for my movie, should give you all some idea of what it's about. I'm very proud of it, as you can tell

. Hope you like it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfzrA5seD3c

# ¿ Jul 30, 2013 23:30

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

SquareDog posted:

I live in Burbank and I'm a director who hasn't "made it" yet. My only real qualification for "making it" is to quit my day job and be able to support my family without my wife needing to work. This is my advice to anyone trying to get in to the industry, not only to direct but to do any job; you have to love it enough to be able to keep at it even if you never ever "make it". I got lucky and was hired to write and direct a feature because a producer liked my thesis film and other body of student work. I haven't and won't make a dime off of it and that's okay, because I got to make a movie and I was lucky enough to not have to spend anything to get it made. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuJJUWC-uAI I think that if I keep at it I might get to make at least two or three more features before I die and I probably won't make much or any money off of them either, and I'm okay with that. A couple months ago I made a spec ad for Campbell's Soup that won a contest and they shipped me and my wife out to Cannes for a week to collect the award and party down, live it up on the Riviera. When I told my co-workers, they said, "Welp, Goodbye Squaredog. You're sure to get representation and I guess you won't be working around here anymore." To which I responded, "I wouldn't bet on it." Sure enough, after the expense paid trip was over, the prize money, and some hearty pats on the back, it's back to working that 9-5 like it never happened, still chugging away, doing my projects on the side when I can. The industry isn't knocking down my door to have me work for them, and that's okay. My best hope is that I can get into commercials and earn a decent enough living to "make it", but that hasn't happened yet. I just keep working, try to enjoy it and hope for the best. Now I'm working on finishing a feature script, post production on an ambitious short, and then doing more spec ads until I can get hired to make real ads, and that's okay with me.

Also, don't be a dick.

I don't think there's really such a thing as actually "making it", in the romantic sense, below the level of a Spielberg and such. It's all temporary and you always have to keep actively chasing the next gig. Prior work/achievements may help you get that next gig but there's absolutely no guarantees. It's always been that way. Having personal goals for success is much better, creating your own goal will motivate you more than chasing an elusive concept of "making it". As long as you stay realistic, and don't get stars in your eyes at the first hint of success, you'll live much happier and you can be surprisingly succesfull without fully realizing it. If you keep holding off for that mythical "big break" you'll miss so many opportunities and end up broke and miserable. And a dick

By the way, great job on the movie!

# ¿ Aug 2, 2013 12:59

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

BonoMan posted:

I'm 1st AD'ing pickups on a feature this weekend and we were out in a field doing a tech scout next to a railroad and someone said "we need to check the train schedule" and someone else said "first rule is never trust the train schedule."

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/midnight-rider-crew-member-killed-in-georgia-train-accident-1201114468/

Just heard about this awful accident this morning, really bummed out now. Such an awful, and pointless, accident. The tiny degrees of separation in this industry are frightening. Be careful man, and remember that as a first you have a lot of power (and responsibility) to stop people doing stupid things! Use that power liberally and don't be afraid to piss off production if it's for safety. It's just a movie, a movie is never worth getting killed, or even injured, over. Let people know that they can always come to you if they're not confident (sometimes people are just too scared for their jobs to say something when production crosses a line!). Good luck!

# ¿ Feb 21, 2014 12:39

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

Just a little update from what I've been hearing from friends and colleagues on the death of Sarah Jones on the set of "Midnight Rider" (some of it first-hand). It is starting to look like it's gone way beyond an accident on the part of production. They were not supposed to be on the track at all and, so I'm told, production labeled the shot as a "camera test" (probably to get out of paying insurance). This also adds fraud into the mix. There was no EMT on set either. This is absolutely outrageous and insane. Everything about this incident could've been avoided and that breaks my heart. Very likely the crew was given all kinds of lies and assurances that production had taken care of everything, I strongly doubt anyone would've agreed to do this shot otherwise. Having said that, please remember that it is your responsibility, and even obligation, as a crew member to watch out for unsafe situations and that you really do have the right to say no! If you feel you're too low on the ladder to have a voice then rest assured, you are not. Talk to your heads and go to the 1st and let them know what's up (the 1st should always be on your side when it comes to safety, if he's not then walk away!), we have to watch out for ourselves and each other. I can guarantee you that it's better to be fired than killed so don't get bullied into crap like this.

Sorry if I come off as ranting but I am so pissed off at this, this job is not worth getting killed over and productions are trying to pull off poo poo like this more and more for the sake of saving some money.

# ¿ Feb 22, 2014 11:37

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

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My favorite moment with a BTS crew was last year when we were rolling and I saw the BTS operator standing right on the edge of my frame filming me. I thought to myself "no way he's this stupid!" but sure enough, he began inching his way right into my frame. It was surreal, like he didn't even notice the fact that my lens was pointing his way (the old saying that if you can see the lens, it can see you apparently didn't apply to him). And boom, right in the middle of a hugely dramatic scene this guy is just standing right next to the actor in the frame. I genuinely was speechless. The 1st, however, was not nearly as speechless when he came thundering onto the set to kick the poor guy out. Never saw him again. I will never know what went through the guy's mind at the time, it wasn't like he hadn't seen the rehearsals or anything, his lens was right up my rear end for most of the blocking. My mind was thoroughly blown that day.

Other than that I usually don't mind them as long as they're unobtrusive but that's becoming more rare, some are starting to think of themselves as more important than the main crew, or so it feels. Fortunately I've always been able to avoid being interviewed, despite the frequent requests, by constantly being called away. We set up a secret signal just for that purpose, whenever that signal is given you will be called away immediately by someone for something important somewhere else. I recommend this technique for everyone, works a treat!

# ¿ Mar 5, 2014 01:39

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

Sagacity posted:

I'm sorry, can you come over here real quick? It's urgent.

Of course. Sorry thread, I'll get back to you as soon as I can, just gotta deal with this first.

# ¿ Mar 5, 2014 19:48

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

Crossposting from ye olde Cinematography thread because I'm so excited! I made an app! Figured this was a nice place to share it too, so far the response has been overwhelming (it got released a few hours ago). It's called "Shot Assistant" and it's basically the app I always wanted as an operator. It's like a multitool for people who work with cameras, at its most basic it shows you level/pan/tilt but it has a few extra features that I think make it pretty unique and useful for on-set use. For one thing it does ranging, basically you store whatever angle your shot is currently at and the app will guide you back there with a bunch of visual cues including colors (useful for peripheral ranging). Also it has a seismograph which can be used to hunt down vibrations in shot. Finally it's made to be used with multi touch, the whole screen is a button and the functions change depending on how many fingers you use to touch it! This allows you to set it and store ranges without even looking at your device . Already have a bunch of stuff planned for the next version too but first I'm taking a few days off because the last month has been insane

So yeah, I'm pretty proud of it and I'm sharing it all over the place! Hope some of you find a use for it too

Have a link:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id961651001

Steadiman fucked around with this message at 16:08 on Feb 4, 2015

# ¿ Feb 4, 2015 13:16

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 03:10

Steadiman: Jan 31, 2006; Hey...what kind of party is this? there's no booze and only one hooker!

_{silly sevens}

EnsGDT posted:

Very cool dude. Let me know when it's on Android

Hopefully that will be up in a week or two! Along with some major updates. bear with me as I stumble through this, it's a side gig and I'm still figuring all this out!

# ¿ Feb 5, 2015 07:16

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