RPSharman

So I find my over the shoulder rig growing, unfortunately. The jobs have been good, and I still don't have a "real" ENG rig with wireless hops and such, but I find I might want to have some powering options for my 302/744T combo. I do not want to invest in an NP-1 system. There's a PSC mixer that claims it takes an NP-1 or 10xAA batteries. Does something exist where I can load 8 or 10 rechargeable AA batteries into a sled with 1 or 2 4-pin Hirose pigtails for power? A hollow NP-1 which takes AA's and a NP-1 cap with Hirose? Robert

I have a dozen PR72b and bought some mono 1/8" jacks to repair some of my mono headphones (don't want to contribute them to landfills and use energy and more plastic to make more headphones). They are too small and do not make a good connection. Never occurred to me why. Now I know, and feel like a bit of a moron. Regarding receiving with a 3.5mm-XRL config to reference audio... I have not heard of great success with this to HD cameras. They give off a lot of RF, and the basic Comtek receiver seems to have trouble. On a previous job the "free" bad audio was offered and accepted. The NOT free IBF or "real" receiver option was rejected. Nobody seemed bothered by the hiss, etc. from the Comtek, since they knew we were recording quality audio on our decks.

You're missing that this was over 2 years ago. There were no 8GB and 4GB were about $300 at the time, if I recall.

Just found January 2006 BUY.com receipt for 2GB Compact Flash card from Kingston. Price was $109.99 each. Such a good deal, I bought two! Robert

Me neither.

DVD-RAM - @ $5.00 each - 9v Batteries - @ $1.50 - 9v Lithium Batteries - @ $6.00 - AA Batteries - @ $0.50 - AA Lithium Batteries - @ $3.00 - AAA Batteries - @ $0.50 - Reports, Tape, Foot Foam, Moleskin, Misc. Expendables - @ $25.00/day - I typically include this list on all my invoices, regardless of how much I charge or whether I charge for expendables on that particular job or not. If I am offering a discount, I still list these prices for reference and offer a percentage off on the total. I've done a couple of commercials where I have charged around double for batteries ($10 - $20/DVD-RAM). It's what they expect, and seems to be part of the added fee for short jobs. Since I almost exclusively use rechargeable batteries and get a good deal on my DVD-RAM stock on line, I find this mark-up and my misc. daily charge enough to cover my time and other cheap bits for which I don't like to charge L & D (like Comtek headphones). Sony, however, refuses to buy expendables from mixers. So this next movie will be an experiment for me, since their budget for expendables is low. On my other lower budget movies I usually buy and bill. On TV 2nd units I usually get what I need from first unit and bill for things they don't have. On 2nd units more than a couple of days, I usually put in an order with the office. Robert

My upcoming movie has a budget for expendables at $200/wk - I will have them provide them for me, and we'll see how far they get.

Yes, but mine goes to 11. It's in color.

I guess I've parked near your house, Crew, in the SE under the black line and subsequently bussed to location. I've worked under the black line in NNW Castaic (nice for me), parked under the black line in NW Moorpark and NNE Acton (although on this map it looks past it) and bussed, grazed the black line in the W Malibu, driven to the line past E Azusa and bussed, and reached as far as possible to the south - even shooting on boats in Los Angeles Harbor. And then there were the back to back projects in Brea and La Habra (a.k.a. you can't get there from here). But next month, I will have the luxury of my first job at the edge of the NE part of the zone in the Angeles National Forest. It's the "unexplored" quadrant past Mt. Washington. But since there is nothing there, they're building it. Travel to "exotic" places, wreak havoc on neighborhoods, and make movies/TV/commercials/etc. Is this why film crews are somehow lumped in with the Hollywood elite? Okay, so I am totally elitist, whatever! Good thing we really do have great jobs. Robert

I was looking it up today, and thought others might like the link I found. https://www.madisonlocations.com/Tutorials/studio_zone_map.aspx Robert

My experience as a boom op and a mixer in this budget range is about $200-$250 for boom, $250 for mixer, $250 for gear. The Tier 1 union contract ($1m-$4m) is in this range for rate, but usually pays a little better for gear. Many producers have asked for $450/day for the department in this budget range, but since I turn those down, I'm not sure if they easily find someone for that. Robert

Hello all, Hope you can help me out, and at the same time help out someone you might know. I have a Tier 1 movie coming up in March. For those unfamiliar, the boom rate is $18.53 and the utility rate is $16.55. My regular boom guy is starting a movie now that runs right through to my movie's last day. I have another good guy lined up, but I need to fill the last spot with a reliable person. Or maybe both jobs if he get a better deal before the job starts. The job should be easy, except for the drive and the hours and the rate and the food - etc., etc., etc. What I am really hoping to find is an eager person, new to the union perhaps (must be on roster already) and/or someone who might need hours for benefits. A person who might not be connected enough yet to get offers and jump ship for more money. I don't want a person who doesn't get calls because they are unpleasant to work with. That I can find on my own! I need someone who will accept the pay and then not gripe about it for 4 weeks. Plenty of griping will be heard from everyone else, I'm sure. As I said, the project does not appear to be too challenging from a sound standpoint, so I really want someone with a good attitude, who appears knowledgeable even if they aren't, and is more than anything RELIABLE and punctual. It'll be fun, I promise! Okay, maybe FUN is a bit strong, but mostly enjoyable. Please don't have anyone contact me directly, but if you have some ideas, let me know. Robert

I run one master output channel to my 744T burning a DVD-RAM as my master and for dailies. As many folks here have said, and I agree, we are paid for our mix so that's all I give them. I have yet to get "the phone call" regarding a bad piece of media, but I'm sure it'll come some day. The 744T/DVD-RAM is Velcroed all together, so I can pull it off for my car/table-top rig. I have all the cables in both places, so I don't re-patch anything. I run SPDIF out of the 744T to my FF800 and Boom Recorder for the channel one master mix, and all my direct outs go to the other inputs. I used to send the other master output from the board to channel one, but I like the idea of monitoring the 744T and sending the digital out as the master to Boom Recorder channel one. I no longer turn in this back-up daily on a longer job (hate waiting while burning a DVD). I give them a HD at the end. No complaints so far. During production, I did have one editor ask if I had an ISO for one off screen line so he could play with it for the temp, so I emailed the file. Robert

I carry a small shot bag with me to throw under whichever wheel wants to move at the time. Haven't had too many problems with that combined with the poor braking capabilities of these types of wheels. The only problem is keeping G&E's hands off my bag, even though it's labeled.

Wow - I doubt stability will be a problem here. I just modified my follow cart, but it's in the trailer. Starting a job in a few weeks (hoping to have some work before then too), I'll include some pics. Anyone else make some cool stuff during the strike/slower months? Robert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB2e7pfZmGA Funny Reminds me of Woody Allen's brilliant "What's Up Tiger Lily?"

I got mine yesterday - PAX, AVALON, and AXIUM - I think it's everything, but I haven't tackled my pile of horribly disorganized records from 2007, so I'm not sure. This new and hopefully final W-2 might now force me into action. Crap! Robert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB2e7pfZmGA Funny Reminds me of Woody Allen's brilliant "What's Up Tiger Lily?"

Good times all around! I think this is why most camera folks say they wish they were sound guys. Mind you, I've seen some CRAZY reality bag rigs which would be unpleasant to carry around all day. I'm miserable when I have to put my 744T in a bag all by itself.

The Modulus and other video transmitters always has been, and still is, illegal to sell/buy/use in the United Sates. Anyone every seen the FCC stop by to halt their use, or arrest any video or camera guys or rental houses for buying and renting and using these units? I'd expect your Block 27/28 systems to become harder to use, but I wouldn't worry too much about FCC fines or a week of picking up trash on the side of the freeway. And as the others have said, if you're close enough to a TV frequency to interfere with its reception, then your channel is useless to you anyway.

Boom and a wire would be my vote too. I did something similar very recently, and wired the main subject a little "looser" as to better match the boomed folks. Mine was an infomercial, so the responses were unscripted and unpredictable and a bit hard to blend with the wire. Worked out very well. I sent each track to each of three cameras. I also monitored the audio alternating (L)® and summed. If they are unable to take the time to mix their two tracks, the summed track was pretty good too.

FYI - Lectro used to have simple functions posted as audio files on their website. You can play them back through your boob op's headphones as he/she holds them up to the mic.

That's great, Mick. There are some nice folks out there, and we do forget. Thanks for letting us know, and making my day along with Paul's. If I'd known about the gift, I would have tried to bleed Josh Mantlo out of a few more bucks at a little poker game the other night. He's a neighbor here in Valencia, and was my boom guy on Boogeyman 2 this time last year, as you may know. It was released on DVD recently with not a single looped line. Your CSI DP was the DP on it, and he'll tell you that it was not easy task for Josh with 2 hand-held F900 with zoom lenses all over the place. Hope we are all back to work soon, Robert

I see you have the goatee/facial hair. That's a very important accessory!

I think that a 416 in the kit is always wise. Anyone here had any environment problems with them other than poor placement by an over eager boom person?