paul magee

You need to negotiate for payment on shoot day, campaigns are a sprint for those involved in them and lots of details fall through the cracks as they plough along through the fall. After election day everyone disappears for at least a month as they're all exhausted. If they can't send you a COI beforehand and guarantee a check on shoot day you're taking a big chance that you'll fall through those cracks. I've shoot a few hundred of these over the years and my experience is the budgets are lean, preproduction is usually lacking and the days tend to be disorganized unless you're working with high end Media Consultants. Political spots are not for everyone. We all have political leanings and sometimes you find yourself in direct opposition to the message you're producing. It's hard to be professional in that situation so make sure you agree with the message or at least respect that candidate's right to express the message so you don't create a moral dilemma for yourself. Paul Magee, soc

I'm still looking for the perfect monitor arm but these quick release mounts from 16x9 might be helpful to you. They're a bit expensive but they provide a solid mount and they do save a lot of time wasted twisting a monitor onto an arm. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=571960&gclid=CMe6s5jE8c0CFUc2gQod0kIN2g&is=REG&ap=y&m=Y&c3api=1876%2C92051677682%2C&A=details&Q=

Not bright enough and the touch screen is to reflective.

I've been using mine as an on-camera monitor. The waveform and other testing modes are dead on. Took a little while to get used to OLED black but other than that it's been great. I've used the on board record function twice, once in ProRez and the other using the Sony FS 700 codec both went perfectly. They promise more functionality with future downloads. There are a few video tutorials on their website. Here's a demo with the 7Q in Multi stream mode with two Bolt receivers wired up to it. It's not a Steadicam monitor but as a production tool I've been happy with the purchase. Paul Magee soc Philadelphia, PA

I'm on the waiting list for a Odyssey 7Q with Abel right now. I made the decision to purchase based on it's recording ability. It's made by Convergent the same people who make the nano-flash and Gemini recorders. Out of the box it will record DNxHD format. Depending on what model you purchase you can rent other types of codec recording capabilities on a per day basis. Sony S-log, Arri Raw etc... The 7Q will allow you to quad split and view 4 inputs at a the same time which is handy in some multi camera setups. It has a nice picture, parade waveform, vector-scope and other test functions. I don't think it could stands up to the rigors of Steadicam operation on a full time basis. I'm buying it as great AC's monitor that can double as a back up recorder in the event of disaster when I'm far from production resources. You can get more info WWW.convergent-design.com Paul Magee soc Philadelphia, PA

bump after a few misfires these things are still around taking up shelf space. If your still using this type of battery and need 3 carcasses for recell along with a pag charger and cables make me an offer. Paul Magee

I was removing items from the fridge in my equipment room that I'm moving out because I don't store film any more (Deeply depressing). I was opening up one of the crispers and found four Proformer batteries that I had bought in January of 2009. These were part of a special last run that Anton Bauer built in 08. They have been stored in the fridge since they arrived and I forgot all about them. $320 takes them all with shipping via priority mail. Paul S. Magee soc Philadelphia, PA

This was a quick read about film theory that might be relevant to where this tread is going. http://articles.latimes.com/print/2003/jul/13/magazine/tm-filmschool28 Paul Magee, soc Philadelpha, PA

Sold! Paul Magee SOC

It's the Analog version. Bought 5/06 Paul Magee SOC Philadelphia, PA

Selling a very lightly used M-One follow focus motor kit. Complete with Motor, 6 gears, power cable and all mounting brackets that came with the original kit along with it's own Pelican case. This motor was just serviced by Don Wetzil at Palomor last week. Asking $ 1,700.00 Paul Magee, SOC Philadelphia, PA

I switched out battery systems a while ago and would like to get these out of the equipment room. Three 12 volt Master series batteries -Model# 250-7300 all need to be recelled. A 12 - 30 volt PAG Charger Model # 9725 with power cord and cords to charge Master Batteries. Make an offer. Buyer pays shipping Paul S. Magee, soc Philadelphia, PA

Hey Kiril, It is the AC's duties to pull focus but before he gets thrown under the bus you have to ask yourself if you did everything in your power to allow the AC to do a good job. Did you have time to put down marks? Was there a rehearsal? Were you shooting wide open? How experienced was this AC? Does he know how to use the Wireless FF? Was the Wireless FF working properly? Who else was watching the shot? Did it seem soft to you off the green screen? Did anyone ask for a safety take? Did you ask the AC after the take if he had any issues that needed work? Was the AC confident that the take was good? Did you confirm a good take to the DP? is it soft due to a focus pull or is it a camera problem? Was there a prep day to catch a camera problem? I don't know all the particulars of your situation but DPs, Operators ACs, dolly grips all belong to the camera department and we have to fight for the time to allow all of our people to do a good job. We also need to create and environment where we have each others backs. Maybe this AC's a bum and needs to be fired or maybe he's a kid having a bad day but consider.... this AC might wind up being a big DP someday... so tread lightly. Paul Magee, soc

Hey Phil, Abel Cine Tech in NYC has the Transvideo matte box prompter for rent. I recall I had to cut my spare 15 mm rods to get it to fit properly on the camera package so a little prep would be helpful. My job was indoors and the talent had no problems- can't say how good it would be outside. Unless your prompter op has a wireless solution you will need to drag a cable. Paul Magee

You might want to visit the Harbortronics website to get some insights on long term time lapse projects. www.Harbortronics.com I think they are a bit pricey for your project but you might be able to get a few ideas for what you're trying to do. The problem with long term installs of time lapse equipment is the camera control programs and the upkeep of gear. You don't want to shoot at night and on weekends, someone has to charge the batteries and swap out the cards and the gear needs to be kept out of the elements. http://digital-photography-school.com has a few pages on cheap time lapse projects that might help out. If you have a nikon DSLR you could use a tethered laptop program like Sofortbild to set up interval shooting. The P-cam app has a nice little time lapse calculator for estimating frame rates. Good luck Paul Magee