Brad Grimmett

It made my fingers itch though. Weird...

I'll squirt my Lisigav on you any time Ron. Now BJ, he doesn't need any Lisigav....he's permanently lubed. By the way, I inadvertently brought your Lisigav home with me Ron. I used about half the tube on a new "friend" I met last night on Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood, but I'll be sure to get the rest back to you ASAP. Oh, and those pictures are brilliant!

Happy birthday Erwin!

I believe it was Greg Bubb that was in the episode. The credits listed Dan Kneece as the steadicam operator for the episode.

Jim Bartell, standing in a bar, holding a beer? Man, Hollywood can REALLY twist reality! Shocking! Congrats Jim, I'll set my DVR so that I can make fun of you later.

Dan, Give me a ring if you haven't found a weight plate yet. I've got one you can borrow. 310-562-5652

Alec, I was just trying to share my experience with the Tiered contracts since I've worked on a few. I wasn't agreeing or disagreeing, although I tend to agree that it's better that the jobs are union. Whether it's a good thing for the union in the long run or not is a different discussion I think. Dan, I'm in the same situation as you. I barely missed getting my benefits for the first time just recently. I missed by about 50 hours. Honestly, if a tier 1 job had come along I would have jumped on it, and it would have saved me a few thousand bucks a year in health insurance. Luckily, I don't have a family, so my insurance is pretty cheap. In that situation it becomes a trade off, but if I had my hours already or knew I wasn't going to make it, my decision may have been different. The money may stink, but at least something good can come from it. Many times I've heard people say, "If you're going to do a job for a lower rate you should be getting something else out of it". The truth is, the movies we're talking about are very low budget. You can't get blood from a stone. So you either take it or not, but we're not talking about a situation where the producer is offering 50% less than what they can afford. They may have a few more bucks, but it's probably not much.

Strange. I guess the contract is just different on the east coast than it is on the west coast.

I thought that was gum hanging out of the back of them.....

Jeff Haley and Andy Shuttleworth did season one. It's shot in LA. Last season they did the pilot and 2 weeks in Miami, this year we won't be going though. It's a F900 show and we get them from Panavision. Tons of fun to shoot with a great crew and a great DP. I covered Andy for a day last season. I don't believe they had a 6-27 last year. I had the Canon modified ENG zoom from Panavision. Definately a nice show to work on. Enjoy Eric!

But scale doesn't exist for operators in the tier 1 contract, so in my experience they just add $1 to the 1st A.C.'s rate and offer that. It's hard to negotiate with them since you know someone else will do the job. My problem with the tier contracts is that I think some companies are spending more money then they've stated in the contract. Sometimes things just don't add up. When you're on a job with 5 camera bodies full time (6 week shoot), 3 full time operators, 500 extras, shooting 35mm, etc.... it becomes very suspicious. I'm not sure what action to take in this situation since the union only audits a few films a year. What is keeping the producers from simply lying about their budget? They lie about plenty of other things....

I'm confused. Did you have problems with the rig, or were you just not familiar with it?

Oh man, that's bad! On the bright side, I think we figured out who stole BJ's shorts!

Aren't you trying to maintain perfect headroom and horizons all the time? I'm not trying to be argumentative, but that's operating 101, is it not? Not that every shot will always be perfect, but we're always trying to make them all perfect. Maybe I'm misreading the post. My apologies if I am.

Here's one from "End Game".

It's good that you asked. I think you've found your answer. The simple fact that you have no experience operating steadicam should be enough for the client to realize that this isn't the right way to do the shot. The risks involved should be the icing on the cake.

I've used Victory since the change and they were fine. The prices did go up, but they did a fine job and did it quickly.

True. And he's not much of guitar player either.

This was sent to me today and it's perfect for this muppet forum. Click on Kermit to see the video. Sad Kermit

Aw, man! You guys are headed out?! I'm in the AC duct on my way in. I brought booze and $14 in quarters...that should do it right? I think I hear a Poison song....I must be getting close. posted 4 days ago via Commodore 64 with long extension cord

All I see is Oscar now Dan.

Incredible! Unfortunately, it won't play from steadishots.

I suggest Jumbo's Clown room, since Ron and BJ will already be there.

OK, if no one else wants Big Bird, I'll take him!

Ha! I knew someone would say that!