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NYC & Backup Systems


cory

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Versa-flex makes custom tripod bags for significantly less than the Reis. Call versa-flex and give them the dimensions. It is a good quality bag made I'm the USA.

http://versa-flex.com/cargotripodstandbags.html

They are a small company you will speak to Larry directly - he's the owner and works with a woman who I believe is his wife. Easy to deal with and great quality

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Several tripod manufacturers make soft cases for their tripods. Search tripod case at B&H for a selection. Also, Reis tripods makes beautiful cases in a few different sizes, although they are expensive: http://www.riestripod.com/products/accessories

 

Robert, the difference is that the bag I have has a shoulder strap with padding at the end that lets the bag hang vertically and comfortably behind my shoulder. Other tripod bags that have shoulder straps may have padding in the middle of the strap, but if you try to hang the bag vertically, you get must webbing and perhaps a buckle or clip digging into your shoulder.

 

For this particular thread (carrying stuff in a subway), I think that's significant.

 

This quick selfie might or might not make this clearer:

 

post-286-0-75194400-1396627520_thumb.jpg

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Cory, I spent 15 years hauling gear around in NYC ( I always leaved in Brooklyn, never manhattan) for me the important part was always to discuss the back up strategy with production before the shooting day, by email, of course. Sometimes they understood the importance of extra gear and I was jumping from taxi to taxi, or my pelican was going on the camera van. Other time they didn't want to deal with the cost, and they agreed to back up just in camera if something went wrong, a Mixpre with a breakaway did the trick them. On the other hand there were times when production would say "we don't care about back up" and I will carry a pelican plus my full rigged petrol on the subway. Those were just miserable days, specially leaving Brooklyn at rush hour.

On my last shoot in NYC, I was doing Uber all the time. Production didn't like the cost of reimbursement but they understood that i wasn't going to deal with a pelican, a boom case, and a petrol rigged with a 664, waiting for yellow cap that look at me like the ET trying to get to JFK under snowing condition. They settle down with reimbursement.   

I miss Brooklyn a lot, but not the subway ride with gear.

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Greg--Yeah, cab prices have gotten pretty nuts... Productions have begun to get weird about them (as if I had anything to do with that, though).

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Rafael, did you ever charge production for any of the different bu options?

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Anybody have a small interview rig that they can bicycle with/ has anyone rigged up a bike for safe travel with gear?

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I use an Antler Camden 20" suitcase on the subway. It's a hard wheelie case, not as sturdy as a Pelican, but much lighter, easy to organize and also fits into the overhead compartment on a plane. It looks like

luggage, not like a case with expensive equipment inside.

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Cory, i own a surly big dummy which is a cargo bike. I can put a decent size kit on it, I've ridden it to few small jobs, but the only jobs i ride to these days are films where my gear is being transported for me.

Surly Big Dummy is an awesome name for a bike. Have you done anything to specialize it for gear travel? (I'm not very familiar with cargo bikes and am not sure what they look like...)

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Greg--Yeah, cab prices have gotten pretty nuts... Productions have begun to get weird about them (as if I had anything to do with that, though).

---

Rafael, did you ever charge production for any of the different bu options?

--

Anybody have a small interview rig that they can bicycle with/ has anyone rigged up a bike for safe travel with gear?

Cory, I just charge them if I use the BU gear. It just happened to me last weekend, a 664 gig and in a moment of total production madness they wanted to split crew in two, for some B camera stuff in a taxi scene.  I was the only sound person. So I rigged  the taxi with my 552, a Cs1e, two lavs for the character and the taxi driver,  pressed record and crossed my fingers while I stayed recording main scene in Central Park.  The sound recorded in taxi was OK, definitely usable, on the other hand  my check was way thicker. And i got to give it some work to my 552 too.

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