Phil Rhodes

Hi, > So how exactly do these films qualify as having "poured cash back into the U.S. Industry?" Same way anything does - financed, owned, and therefore providing profit to US companies. I'm sorry, is there some strange reason this isn't hopelessly obvious? Phil

Hi, > Why is it that your here again??? To correct your punctuation - there's an apostrophe in there somewhere... Phil

Hi, Actually, it would be trivially easy for anyone to masquerade as Mr. Jarnagin. However, I'd consider it only polite to list full details. People seem to forget common courtesy on the internet. Phil

Fletcher - read, if you know how: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0159365/fullcredits I admit I'm going by etymology of names, but it looks like a lot of imports to me. Almost entirely, in fact. If people are going to hotly contradict me without even having bothered to check, I can't really apologise for being repetitive. Anyway, that's not the point: any production which puts money into the local industry, irrespective of where it's made, is better than no production at all. Phil

Hi, > Phil, you could move out of your parents basement with the money you could save on the this rig! See, where he comes from, you can actually buy a house for the price of a Steadicam setup. Or four. Phil

Hi, Alec, the alternative is the system we have here, where nobody has any money to make productions ANYWHERE, let alone locally. With Miramax on your doorstep there's at least some chance that some of that cash will find its way back into local production. Even if you suppose that "Cold Mountain" was shot using entirely Romanian crews, and I think it's much more likely that they shipped over truckloads of Americans, the result is a boost for the US economy, the US film industry, and Miramax in particular; the net result is that there is money to be spent no matter how great the ideas or noble the intentions. Given the choice between no production, and some local production with some overseas production, I'll take the latter. Unfortunately I'm not lucky enough to have that choice. Phil

Hi, Sorry, still not feeling fluffy about this. Allow me to list the films currently showing at the local multiplex: Big Fish Brother Bear Cheaper by the dozen Some "Looney Tunes" thing Lord of the Rings Lost in Translation Peter Pan Scary Movie 3 School of Rock Something's Gotta Give The Last Samurai Tooth I'm sure it's unnecessary for me to point out that every single one of those movies was US financed and poured cash back into the US industry, with the exception of "Tooth." The first IMDB comment for "Tooth" begins: "This kind of kids film should be left to Hollywood. They know how to do them properly, and are willing to cough up an adequate budget." The rest of the comment makes quite interesting reading, and no, I didn't write it. You people own the world, and you're griping about it. Phil

Hi, Tried 'em; situation's just as bad. Phil

Hi, I've never quite understood the Ultra idea. I mean, it weighs a ton, and that four stage post is hardly a daily use item. I think you're going to end up carrying a lot of stuff around you hardly ever use. Phil

Hi, Unfortunately, I'm putting something together for a job just before NAB, so I'll need to get them ahead of time. Foam tip is useful, but I'm going to get the type with the panel frame for mounting equipment permanently. Phil

Hi, It wasn't so much that I'm keen to import them on the basis it's going to save me a tenner, it's just that I'm slightly aghast that they should be so enormously more expensive here anyway. Feh. Phil

Hi, Yah well, that's Canford. But $75 is about £40; I'm going to call Pelican in California when they wake up and find out what gives. Phil

Hi, I need to buy one or possibly two Pelican 1500 cases. Peli Products in the UK quoted me £75.71 apiece, which is nuts, since from casesbypelican.com they can be bought for $74.33, no foam. Apparently this is to do with the UK operation having to buy cases in euros from their Barcelona office, but frankly I couldn't care less about their labyrinthine internal corporate meanderings - is there anywhere in the UK who will give me a sensible price on a 1500 peli case, or do I just bite the bullet and import them direct? Thanks, Phil

Hi, I would beg to differ on the "old employers" thing. Old employers who book you one day before a job, swear at you, don't feed you, work you eighteen hours then don't pay you can be told where to get off. Unfortunately this entirely describes the Steadicam experience if you're not Erwin Landau! Phil

Hi, I'll reiterate Mr. McNally's earlier question in the hope that Mr. Thwaites will notice - is it possible to use 12V Master-style batteries on an Ultra in a 12V situation? I guess this would require a lot of flexibility from the inverter. Phil

Hi, > It is a true Ass Chapper to find out the actor is getting 15 million to do a show > and the producer is beating you up over $200 a week more for your Kit It is a true "Ass Chapper" to find out that the fourteen terrible American movies that are showing at all of London's cinemas make loads of money. It is a true "Ass Chapper" to discover that the people who make them are generally hugely overpaid, I agree. But most of all, it is a true "Ass Chapper" to be reminded that Eric Fletcher exists, and shows every sign of continuing to do so. Phil

Hi, Depends what kind of work you're doing. If you're only running a camera (without recorder) with an LCD monitor, a couple of amps might be realistic. Not for much though... Phil

Hi, I'm not attacking anybody, I just find it notably ironic that the people working in the world centre for this kind of work, making the most money in the most advantageous circumstances, and being fed the nicest cinnamon danish during tea breaks, are the most vocal in bitching about it. Phil

Hi, > What makes you think that there's nothing special or difficult about the design of > a reliable and accurate wireless focus system? I would like to point out here that I think it can be really stupid to try and figure out the worth of something based on how difficult you think it is to make, but since I've been asked, that's exactly what I'm about to do. To answer the question: Because the bit that makes it clever, and attractive over its competitors (auto setup, range stretch, etc) is just software, and software is free to replicate. I have no idea which microcontroller Mr. Bartell uses in the BFD, but if it was me, it'd be something like Atmel's AT90 series. The most expensive of those is about £15, and I'm confident I could develop version-one software for it in a lazy week (Give or take tweaking once it's done.) I appreciate that this isn't really the point, it's the big dial you've got to have made which will cost way more than the rest of it, but that's the bit that increases the length of bullet points on the spec sheet. Not that it's any of my business but I think Mr. Bartell's pricing is entirely fair for the BFD controller. Silent, high-power servos are always going to be a bit tricky, though I'd point out that Jimmy Jib operators have been using modified radio control model gear for ages with no major issues (nudge, wink.) Phil

Hi, Mr. Bartell said: > The feeling I got from them was "Hey, if you don't gouge everyone too they > might figure out how badly we are ripping them off". It would be highly impolitic of me to point out just how long I've been saying this, so I won't... Phil

Hi, > You really are a moron, aren't you? Ah, well. It's nice to know that my negative opinion of overpaid, arrogant, pseudosocialistic right-wing Americans has been so horribly misconstrued this whole time. > I don't have room to list the numerous foreign films that have been SMASH hits > in the U.S. from a box office AND critical perspective. Sure. But then, you really haven't looked at a movie magazine in the UK for a while, have you? It is not unusual for a cinema her to show NOTHING BUT American film. For months. And months. And months. Not one single local product. Now I don't have a particular problem with this on some levels. British films get no money spent on them, and almost universally suck eggs, or are hopeless remakes of the one idea that Working Title seem to have. I wouldn't expect people to want to see these films. But here's the kicker: American film has much the same problem, for the most part, and yet they do well in the US simply because people like to fly the flag. But this is all an aside. For whatever reason, Americans will not watch British film, certainly not at anything like the rate the reverse happens. As I say there are mitigating factors here, but frankly, it's affecting my ability to get a mortgage, and I find that inconvenient. Phil

Hi, For what it's worth, I've always tended towards long since I find excess pendulosity way more of a problem than level horizons - and it isn't like fast drops automatically solve all horizon problems anyway, so... Phil

Hi, Personally I preferred the old one, but if it was causing Mr. Tyler administrative difficulties (Old hardware, etc) I can understand his interest in upgrading. And really, we're not in a position to complain. Gift horse, mouth? Phil

Hi, > So one charger is usually enough, 2 is better for your personal sanity and peace > of mind. My thoughts exactly, it was just... Ultra sled, thirty grand, one charger? Eesh. Phil

Hi, If I understand this right, the three-motor Preston system costs around $15,000. Considering that there is nothing even remotely specialised or clever about a radio-controlled focus system, with the possible exception of the motors, I'd say you're being fleeced like a well-shorn sheep. I believe it was Mr. Papert who once told me that steadicam equipment companies weren't just trying for a piece of the well-paid-operator action, but crikey! Phil