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JamieSilverstein

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Posts posted by JamieSilverstein

  1. Yeah but during a shot, have you ever had to crouch or boom down loaded for bear, unable to hold back.......... erupting in the middle of the take...... It never happened to me, but I have a friend of a friend who recounted a tale .

    Ya know I was on a job where an actor let forth a noisy emission just before the end of a scene. It was during a steadicam shot and shortly after cut, I let the "air clear", walked over to him and told him that he was my hero..............

    AND that's why I generally don't eat much lunch when operating steadicam.

    Its hard enough for me to compose and make great shots sans gas.

  2. I am teaching 2 classes at SVA for a friend of mine on the Steadicam.

    It is pretty much 4 hour intro. during which I give the students who are interested a chance to try on a vest, then the arm, and if I feel safe, my sled.

    The problem is thatI have a Klassen vest so I can only accommodate those students in my size range.

    Does anyone in the NYC vicinity have a back up Masters Vest lying around that I can pick up this weekend and return on Wednesday night or Thursday morning?

    Thanks in advance to any and all

    Jamie

    917 796-4217

  3. What Aaron, Alfeo and Osvaldo are saying is true. If the job is Union and the operator is traveling on his/her own dime out of their Production City, then they are violating union constitution and bylaws regarding residency. This might sound trite to those unfamiliar with these rules but they are there to protect all film workers Union and Non.

     

    The idea is to keep people near to their homes as much as possible working within their own regions and designated Production city, and not to make this an industry of carpet baggers, traveling from one set to another, never having a place to call home, and seeing who can do the job for cheaper by traveling in their old Ford and sleeping on someones couch. If you travel from your home to a distant location, it should be the producer's responsibility to travel you there, put you up and feed you. They are getting those perks, why shouldn't you?

     

    That operator who is traveling to NY is an idiot or very desperate, and the producer isn't a person I'd want to work with again. The next time you did the job, they would find another way to cut your rate or rental. They want you to enter into the race to the bottom.

     

    We work really hard, spend lots of our own money on investing in gear, agreeing to work in often tough conditions and at all times of day and night. The least that that producer could do is honor the technician that is doing his or her best to deliver a product by not trying to pit one operator against another for a couple of bucks.

     

    John if it's a Union show, please contact the local. They won't get you involved, they will inform the production company that what they are doing is a violation, and they will bring the other operator up on charges. I know this because I am an Executive Board member (as are Alfeo and Aaron), and a member of the Local 600 Trial Board Committee.. In short, charges are levied, a plea is entered by the accused, a trial date is set, the member is brought before a trial board and a determination is made regarding guilt or innocence. If guilty, a member can be fined a substantial amount of money, reflecting the severity of the penalty and the total amount of money that the guilty party made.

     

    We all need to stick together to make sure that we protect our wages and conditions. It's that simple.

     

    Sorry for going on so long, but this is important for us all. Union and non-union alike.

     

    Jamie

    • Upvote 1
  4. As a first rig, I would advise that you get most of it used and at a considerable discount. Sure get a pro vest, but remember that many many utterly fantastic shots were conceived using a 3A sled and arm and monitor, or earlier. It's not the kit it's the user. As you grow into the job, you'll find that certain things need to be replaced, others will be just fine. As your work develops, you'll find that it requires certain things of you that you either didn't consider or anticipate which will also require changes.

    If you can afford it, buying new is cool, but if you're just starting out, you might find the investment isn't panning out as hoped or anticipated.

     

    That being said, there are some pretty awesome rigs out there that are for sale, and no I am not selling anything, so I'm not writing this out of personal interest.

     

    Good luck

    Jamie

  5. What ever you do DONOT operate the arm without the cover. If the spring were to suddenly snap (which has happened) you could find a portion of it embedded in your bicep.

    Besides the pain, the blood will really ruin the shot.

    I had the same problem, re-seated the covers, used ACF-50 and it disappeared.

    Good luck.

  6. Shameless election appeal:

    If you are on the East Coast, please consider voting for me as one of the Operator representatives on the National Executive Board. Besides being a long standing member or this forum, I have been on the Local 600 Executive Board for 6 years, served as the Trial Board Chair for the past 2, sat on the Finance Committee for 6 years and care a great deal about our members and the workings of the Union.

    If you are interested in learning more, don't hesitate to ask. You can email me at silverodt@gmail.com

     

    Thank you in advance for your consideration.

    Jamie

  7. Dear folks at Paralinx,

     

    Get to the shop quickly, get to work on making the Tomahawk in mass quantities. Make it as small as possible

    Accept 9-28V, maybe even a circuit to prevent reverse polarity

    Both SDI and HDMI outputs which both work at the same time,

    add some 3/8-16 and 1/4-20 threaded holes on at least 2 sides.

    Then call me with a price so you can get my Address for shipment.

    Thanks,

    Ozzie

    Yeah what Ozzie says.

    • Upvote 1
  8. Crossbow, Tomahawk, Arrow. I'm sensing a theme.

    All kidding aside, if the HDSDI receiver is in the offing, then this becomes a pretty flexible package of transmitters and receivers.

    Now, the proof is in the products. I'd love to see them, out of beta and into market items. I like to put my hands on things, or at least see that they are in production before I buy them.

  9. I'm not sure that you get the point. It's not built for an Alexa, it's designed to work with a Canon 5d/7d or just maybe a 300/500.

    In my opinion, it's a very cool device and despite all of the criticism that has been levied here, is something that we have to carefully look at and possibly embrace.

    Here is the new reality, at least where I sit in the episodic world. Producers want more for less and they want it faster and easier. The 5/7d world is rapidly becoming a stable part of our everyday work load not to mention GoPros.

    I don't necessairly like the evolution of the camera world, but I don't write the rules. Not many of us do.

    I think there is still life left in the world of conventional image making, using large cameras to make a narrative, but I know that the smaller cameras and all of the devices being created to make them do things that the Alexas and Panavisions Golds used to do are the future. Get used to it and start to make it work for you so that you can continue to keep working.

    • Upvote 1
  10. I have used a rubber maid action packer for many years. Very inexpensive and very light weight. They tend to fall apart after about 3 years. I currently have a Pelican, I think its the 1630 (it's on the camera truck right now so I'm not) that holds both my vest and arm. It is NOT light and is pretty cumbersome, but it does protect the investment.

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