Jess Haas SOC

I am trying to get an afternoon poker game together for tomorrow(Tuesday). Probably start around 3pm in Santa Monica. Will be a friendly game where you can buy in for as little as $5. If you haven't played before I have no problem teaching. Anyone interested? ~Jess

Im a fan of quicktime myself. Quicktime pro includes a nice little feature where it will output a reference quicktime that links to 3 different quicktime files of different quality allowing iphones to automatically get a special iphone version. Even gives you reference code to embed the player in your page. Just about everyone has quicktime on there computer these days so compatiblity isn't really an issue. I have an old operator reel up at http://JessHaas.com using this method. Also have a higher quality downloadable version up for the hell of it although that could confuse some people. ~Jess

For 10k I will buy Petes and hand deliver it to you. Cash up front of course. I win right? ~Jess

You will need an inverter in order to plug your charger into them. The main problem with most inverters is that they have an auto cutoff built in to keep you from draining a car battery below where it will start. This keeps you from getting full use out of the battery. Never tried to source one without that feature but I am sure it is possible. There is also a company that makes a nice battery pack on wheels with a built in inverter. I believe they sell them at frys. They make all different sizes and the price isn't too bad if I remember correctly. Unfortunately I don't think anton bauer makes a 12v charger but im not sure about IDX, etc... ~Jess

I have mounted my modulus to the handle of the HVX many times. On one shoot I noticed that with lower channels such as 15 the onboard mic would pic up some interference. Switched the channel to one in the 30s and the problem went away. Also moved the transmitter under my weight plate as an extra precaution. Never had that particular problem described. ~Jess

I am glad we got through. Now what about a digital level? I know its not nearly as simple but it would put you in a while nother class when it comes to steadicam monitors. ~Jess

Actually I have a selection of daylight balanced CFLs that work wonders in those situations. I think the brand is BlueMax. Not dimmable but good color rendition without a noticable green cast and they come in rather bright versions. Its not the $10 I mentioned but for a hundred bucks or so you can put together a nice little lighting package with a selection of fixtures and bulbs. ~Jess

Bernie, any chance of adding adjustable framelines and image flip functions to your monitor in the near future? Those are the two big things making it less than ideal for steadicam use. ~Jess

Natural light is a great tool in the hands of a DP and gaffer who know what they are doing with it. If you choose locations and time of day appropriatly you can often get by with a small grip/electric package and have truly beautiful results. Sadly when most inexperienced filmmakers say natural light they mean they are going to shoot wherever and whenever they want and make no attempt to make it look good. This is unfortunate since a little planning and a few carefully placed flags and lights can turn a film that is difficult to watch into a truly beautiful one. I think I am getting a bit off topic here but I have to agree with others sentimants. Screw steadicam and screw the red. Get a nice little one ton grip/electric package and someone who knows how to use it and shoot on HDV if you can't scrounge up a decent red package for cheap (Which you probably can). Also there is nothing wrong with "low budget lights" if used correctly. I have been on shoots where we had four 40+ft trailers full of grip/electric gear yet the right tool for the job was a china ball and bulb or even a clamp light that you could get for less than $10. If you decide to shoot outside during the day on digital so that you don't need lights you are still going to want a grip package with some bounce boards, shiny boards and overheads. ~Jess

I don't really disagree with you on that. In one case an AC was being kind of rought and a cable got pulled on causing one of the pins in the connector to be pulled out by the cable it was connected to. If it had been a solder connection I don't think the tug would have been strong enough to break anything but if it was stronger the case could be made that pulling out is a better outcome than the wire or solder joint breaking. With the motor I am not sure how it happened. Since the connector is keyed and it is two of the 5 pins I don't really think misaligning and forcing it was the case but it could have been the result of bent or misaligned pins on the connector that was pluged in to it. I am not that rough on my equipment and my cables are in good shape but I did just recieve the motor back from being serviced where it is concievably possible that they plugged a cable into it that had bent or misalligned pins. ~Jess

Well in my 5 or so years of dealing with them I have had it happen twice. With the solder style connectors the pins are built into the connector itself and it can't really happen. With the crimp style the pins crimp onto the wire and are then inserted into the connector. They have prongs to keep them in place but sometimes for some reason they come loose and can be pushed back into the housing. ~Jess

So pushing the wires in from the inside caused the connectors to click back in place and all is good. I am not a big fan of the crimp style lemo connectors for this very reason. Had the exact same thing happen to me once before with a cable. Of course I am sure those connectors are a whole lot easier to put together than the solder style. I did run into another problem momentarily but I figured out the problem. If I moved the focus knob quickly one direction then back the other the motor would start twitching. I noticed that the status light on the receiver was also changing colors momentarily as I moved the motor and it turns out the power supply I was using was only rated for 2.5amps. Switched to a battery and the problem went away. Interestingly It was only happening with my right angle motor cable so I am guessing that it has slightly more resistance in it. With the battery I couldn't reproduce it with either cable. ~Jess

Makes sense. If I were to use locktite it would be the break away kind and not the permanent. Never noticed a lock washer on my hand unit but it most likely got lost when it fell off. Got any pictures of that butterfly bracket btw? And it looks like Todd Ferguson is the winner. Looking at my motor it looks like two of the connections on the connector got pushed in just enough to cause an intermitant problem. Opening it up right now to try to fix it. ~Jess

I was planning on putting some locktight on there myself. Jim, maybe you should do that with new ones as well? Looks like I am not the only one to have the problem. Still haven't gotten around to diagnosing the problem. Been busy with that non film related real life excitting stuff like cleaning the bathroom. ~Jess

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_iron_phosphate_battery

While shooting today my BFD stopped working a couple of times. The unit itself seemed to have a connection and start/stop worked fine but turning the knob did not turn the motor. When this happened the first time I disconnected the motor from the lens and it was again working fine. The second time a tap on the side of the motor returned it to functioning normally. Sounds like a bad connection either in the cable or the motor to me but there could always be some other gremlins involved. The motor just returned from being serviced by Heden where they replaced the motor(the one inside the motor) with a new one so a bad solder connection there is a possibility(or even worse, a bad motor). I have another cable but wasn't able to switch it out on set because it was back at basecamp and we were a ways away. I am going to swap the cable and if that doesn't work open up the motor and check things out in the morning, but I just wanted to see if anyone had any other thoughts. I am hoping I can actually reproduce the problem at home, this is the type of thing that only seems to come up when you least want it to. The handset itself was recently dropped onset when somehow the metal piece that the neckstrap connects to came unscrewed. Seemed to still work fine at the time and for a few shoots since so I don't think it is the culprit, but you never know. Thoughts? ~Jess

Why mounting miniguns of course!

Don't do it. It's a trick! They will have you all relaxed listening to live music and sipping margaritas before you know it. Of course right now you better find someplace inside because lately 100+ temperatures have been the norm. ~Jess

I still have one of these strange devices called a cell phone. It has these things called buttons on it and it makes phone calls. Of course I have been thinking about getting rid of it because I really think the phone booth is going to make a big comeback. ~Jess

Eric, What I really want to know is what you did to get that cop after you.

What gauge is the wire now? What was it before? ~Jess

Thanks guys for the great food and free drinks. Seemed like a fun time was had by all and I think there was even a rig with some shiny new plugs on it labeled HD-SDI. ~Jess

Sounds like there might be some vibration caused by some play or something loose. Make sure that everything on your sled and the camera is locked down tight. There might be something that needs a little extra support. ~Jess

The Transvideo was a great monitor and I also would love to have one. That being said I was somewhat disappointed to see that it didn't perform quite as well in direct sunlight as some of the other monitors there such as the less expensive Marshall and Nebtek monitors. That being said if the prices were closer I would still probably go for the Transvideo because of the much more professional build quality and extra features that are available. If it performed as well I would go for the Transvideo in an instant, but seeing as how the Marshall and Nebtek had a slight edge in viewability and were significantly cheaper they seem like very appealing options to me. All that being said the difference in daylight viewability between most of the LCD monitors was very minor. Going in to the whole thing I was kind of hoping for a monitor that would be a clear winner but it doesn't seem to exist as of yet. Which monitor an operator picks is really going to depend on what you hope to get out of it. Marianne- Any plans on updating your monitor to get even better daylight viewability? Either making it transflective(like the Marshall or I think the Hummingbird) or uping the brightness of the backlight? Or anything else that works for that matter. ~Jess

See if the rental house has an XLR to AB plate. It allows you to power the camera from XLR while still being able to use the p-tap. ~Jess