Jess Haas SOC

That shot was intentionally off kilter but I see how it could look bad. I was thinking that I would also have a reel consisting of a number of steadicam oners once I actually get copies of a bit more footage. This would show off steadicam skill a bit more for people interested in just that. ~Jess

I am staying in Brooklyn and Jersey until the 2nd. Any events I should go to? Anyone want to meet up for coffee or a drink? ~Jess

A rough cut of my new reel is up at http://JessHaas.com This is a camera op reel so in addition to steadicam it includes some underwater and traditional operating. The website isn't up yet but there is a page with the reel. Check it out and let me know what you think. If there is anything I should lose or change let me know. In addition to this I want to put a number of good long steadicam shots up on the site but I am still waiting to get copies of a lot of things so it won't go up all at once. I definitely need to get better at getting copies of footage immediatly after the shoot when possible as rounding stuff up has been a pain. ~Jess

I haven't had it on set yet but so far the Axion monitor looks to be exactly what I need. It does have a setting for 4:3 as well as 16:9 and even has a zoom function which will punch in on a letterboxed 16:9 image. The tuner seems to get rather good reception all considering. I still need to make up some battery packs for it as 90 minutes isn't going to be quite enough. I will let yall know how it fares when I get it on set. ~Jess

I had actually heard that things are rather slow in NY right now. I will be up there for the holidays and do have a place to stay there anytime I want so I plan on trying to drum up some future work while I am there. I would also love to meet up with some NY steadicam operators. ~Jess

Your mistaken. They aren't looking for a Steadicam operator they are looking for a Steadycam operator. I think that's one of those crazy contraptions made out of bungycords and used bike parts that you strap to your head. $175 is a great rate for that as normally you have to pay people to let you walk around set and look cool with it. ~Jess

You were working as his employee therefore he is responsible for your actions. If you were working as an independent contractor and had rented the camera yourself then he might have some legal ground for pulling that shit but it still wouldn't be right. Assuming you never signed an agreement saying you were solely responsible for the camera then he has no legal right to demand the things he was demanding. I am not a lawyer and I hope I never play one on TV. As such I probably have no clue what im talking about. ~Jess

Main reason I would think about a spotter for this is because it is Don Juan. Shooting behind me and running forward I find that I can't do as nearly as good of a job at looking where I am going. The spotter would be as a guide to make sure I don't run head on into a tree or something like that :-) In this particular instance I would think about mounting the camera backwards so that the monitor can still be out front while shooting Don Juan. ~Jess

Plan your path and clear it of anything you could trip on. I saw and shovel might come in handy. Have a really good spotter and wear knee pads. ~Jess

Looks like they cut some corners. Looks like the bones are simply bent metal instead of the honeycomb design Tiffen is using. Looks like its probably made of steel. I bet they cheaped out on a lot of the materials So it probably has enough steel to be heavier and enough weaker materials to break at a very inconvenient time if you are flying heavy cameras with it. ~Jess

Thanks for the advice. I am not union yet although I would really like to be. I don't expect to be working on the big shows in LA but I am hoping for things like commercials, music videos and indie features. I would like to become union and do bigger features and TV shows but I realize that will take some time to develop. I currently am willing to work just about anywhere and I don't really expect that to change. I expect that when things pick up I will get some job offers in Texas and if any of them are worthwhile and I don't have enough going on in LA I am leaving a car in Austin and have plenty of couches to sleep on. Working in Vegas is also something I would really like to do and I have been hitting up the one film person I know there for work. I am spending the holidays in NYC and am also going to be attempting to drum up any work I can there. Through a friend of a friend it looks like we have a cheap sublet in the venice beach area from February through mid May. I would prefer to go a little later to give time for SAG to get their act together and work to pick up but my girlfriend is a little more gung ho about the whole thing and this sublet seems like a good opportunity. Our main goal for going to LA is really to make more work connections so being there while things are slow might not be the worst thing in the world since it should be a good time to meet people. As far as going to Louisiana or New Mexico goes they are already losing work to Michigan so that may be drying up a bit too. This whole incentive game is a bit ridiculous and I really don't feel like chasing around the lateast incentives by jumping from one small pond to another is going to be worthwhile. The truth of the matter is that almost all of these films hire people they know from LA to fill the good positions anyway. My main goal for working in LA is actually to find enough connections that I can also get hired on projects elsewhere. I am really not looking to just do steadicam. I also know how to do things like operate a camera on sticks or my shoulder and even underwater. I also DP stuff from time to time although I wouldn't expect making it as a DP to be any easier than as a camera op. If I have to I can always go back to doing grip/electric work to make some money I just want to try to avoid getting pigeon holed as a grip/electric guy because what I really want to be doing is camera oping. That being said I have done a lot of it including juicing on union features and gaffing indie features. I am also a scuba instructor so could probably be a dive bum for a while if work is really bad. Unfortunately that doesn't pay the bills but it is fun :-) ~Jess

Looks like I will be moving to LA in February. I have a decent amount of contacts there but if SAG doesn't get things sorted out it could be rough for a little bit. On the plus side that leaves lots of time for hanging out, drinking and practicing(preferably not all at the same time). So anyone want to get together for drinks, coffee or some steadicam practice when I get there? Any advice for someone new to town? Anyone want to try to talk me out of it? Unfortunately New Mexico and Louisiana have effectively killed the film market in Texas so you probably won't succeed. I still get plenty of calls for work here but since nothing is coming in it is all peoples personal projects which have no money. I will be keeping busy the next few months doing friends favors but that doesn't really pay the bills. Enough complaining, its time to move on to bigger and better things. ~Jess

While they aren't great I have noticed some variance in them. Atleast one that I have used had usable off-axis viewing which was a pleasant surprise since we didn't have a down converter (don't get me started). Another one I looked at was much worse. ~Jess

Do you have any experience with using those monitors? ~Jess

Why ya looking to switch from the pro in the first place? ~Jess

I also doubt it will pass, which will probably help to end things in its own way. Hopefully this mess will be over soon either way. ~Jess

Actually I lost a lot of work because of the writer's strike. I haven't looked at the recent contract possibilities so if someone wants to show me some examples of how SAG is being unreasonable I will gladly listen. From what I have heard the whole reason that they are asking for a strike authorization is that AMPTP is refusing to even meet with SAG to discuss the contract further. Hopefully a strike authorization will get them to agree to meet again so they can decide on a new contract. The fact that people keep acting like the AMPTP is always in the right and that the unions are always being unreasonable bugs me, especially when they are union members. What did those large corporations ever do to gain so much trust? ~Jess

I just want to clear one thing up. The current vote is not a vote to strike it is a vote to give SAG leadership the ability to strike if it comes to that. The idea is that once that is on the table they will have a lot more negotiating power which hopefully will help to clear up this mess. ~Jess

Well to be honest I haven't seen any reason for them to as I haven't seen a whole lot of support from us. This idea that we shouldn't support them because they wouldn't support us is extremely counterproductive. Weakening any of the unions strengthens the postion of the AMPTP and as a result weakens all of the unions ours included. Give a little support and you might be surprised at how much we get back when we need it. There were a number of actors showing support for the writers during their strike and honestly i would expect the same if IATSE were to strike. If everyone sits around saying Im not going to suport them because they wouldn't support me nothing will change. If we start supporting each other regardless things could be very different. All of the bickering and lack of support between the unions just gives the AMPTP the strength the make rediculous demands and stretch out these battles like they have been. With some unity and support things could be resolved much quicker. ~Jess

Personally I hope they get a contract figured out with this whole mess. The looming possibility of a strike has been almost as bad as there being a strike. Atleast if they strike it will hopefullt lead to a resolution of this whole mess. I doubt the producers will let it go as long as the writers strike did although since there isn't a whole lot going on there will be less pressure for them to resolve it. ~Jess

I understand why them striking is problematic, but aren't there some good reasons why they want to strike? If they decide to strike wouldn't supporting them be more likely to end things quicker then if we weeken their position? ~Jess

I know some people don't really like talking about actual numbers on the forum but I personally feel it can help more than hurt. As far as minimums go for a real rate $1200/day seems about right. That is $600 for gear and $600 for the operator. Again that is minimum as many operators make more just as they should. Also if you have all the latest and greatest toys charging more than that for gear is definitely justifiable. As far as overtime goes are peoples hourly rates normally based off of the whole rate or the rate without the gear portion? ~Jess

I just ordered the Axion one. The princess one was very tempting but I like the built in battery on the Axion one even though it doesn't last very long. I will let yall know what I think. Its $140 shipped from newegg.com with the $10 off coupon code EMCBBBJAH which expires 11/24. ~Jess

I just found the perfect directors monitor. Check this out: http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Hanns...17/product.html :-) ~Jess

Which model? How is the reception and tuner? What are you doing for power? ~Jess