Run Bag

When Arturo brought in his run bag it inspired me to write a blog post about what is in my run bag and what should be in every good run bag. Every run bag will be different depending on what position you work on set, but from PA to director, every crew member should have a run bag.

I tend to Camera Assist more than anything else, so my runbag is built around that. Here are some of the most critical things in my run bag:

(from left to right)

Tape leash (with carabiner) - Great for holding multiple rolls of tape, and with the carabiner attached can be easily clipped to a belt or other things (Filmtools sells real tape leashes but I just used an old dog collar.) 

Tape -   This is all the tape I carry on me but many more styles and sizes (paper tape) come in handy

2" Black Gaff - for everything

1" Black Gaff - for everything else

1" White Gaff - great for camera stuff and  the slate

1/2" Colored Strike - for marking actors

Black Sharpies -  Come in handy for everything, especially marking waterbottles 

SD Card Case - Contains multiple SD cards of various sizes

Leatherman (with belt clip) - Swiss army knife x10

Interchangeable Screwdriver -  

Headlamp - Great for working in low light situations or before lights are struck

Flashlight - Various things, especially shining a light on slate when not enough light

Tape Measure - Measuring for focus & mirroring camera shots & detailed camera reports

Airblower - Cleaning lens & blowing dust off camera

Lens pen - Cleaning lens

Belt - Good to clip things on, holds your pouch, and keeps yo pants up

Pancro - Cleaning lens

Lens Tissue - Cleaning lens

Insert slate - Fits in AC pouch, used when a real slate can't fit or MOS shots to save time

Pouch - Keeps various things on your person, much more organized than pockets

Crafty - You WILL get hungry on set, and storing crafty in your run bag will keep you, and more importantly, the DP, satisfied

The rest of my run bag

Scissors, pens, C47s, HDMI, follow focus whip (no idea where that came from), power strip, hammer, pliers, wrench, grip gloves, cardellini clamp, cards, lighters, gum, towel, string/rope, box cutter, extra black t-shirt, phone charger, and many other things I'm forgetting right now. 

The Black and Blue has a great post about what's in his run bag. 

http://www.theblackandblue.com/2011/12/15/camera-assistant-toolkit/

Here's a video of Evan Luzi going through his bag: 

                   

And to finish off the post, the most useful piece of set advice I've received:

If you wear pants to set bring shorts, if you wear shorts to set bring pants.

Handling Pressure and Staying Positive on Set

By the time Arturo gets around to reading this post, I will have been on a set 5 times in the span of 8 days.  Two of those times (both of our group shoots for fiction 2) were for 6 hours, and the other three (for my ICTV show, Prerequisites) should each last a minimum of 4 hours. If I did my math right - and hey, there's a good chance I didn't - then I will have been on set either directing, producing, or script supervising for at least a total of 24 hours in the past week. With so much time spent planning, organizing, and figuring out who does what and when they do it, I've found that's it's pretty easy to lose focus on why you're really there. 

Sets, generally, are pretty stressful places to be, particularly if you're in a high up position and have a lot riding on whatever it is that you're filming. I think that sucks. I can't speak for everyone else in the TVR/Film program here at Park, but I know I'm here because I love making films and television. There's nothing else I'd rather be doing. What I'm slowly learning - mostly from working for ICTV - is that when you spend so much time on writing and shot listing and scheduling and everything else that goes into preproduction, when it comes time to be on set, you can tend to get frustrated when things don't go exactly as you planned. I wanted to find ways to help deal with that pressure, and hopefully make it easier for myself - and anyone else - to stay cool and have fun on set. 

I found an article that I really liked, written by Evan Luzi, that talks about five ways to "handle pressure and perform better on set." Most of his suggestions are for ACs, but I think they can be applied to pretty much any on-set position. Case in point: the first step is to be prepared. Probably the most important thing that I've learned over the past few week/few years is that preparation, as annoying as it can be, is by far the most important thing you can do regarding filming. If you're on set and don't have a shot list, you're screwed. If you don't know where your lights are going to go or how your actors are going to block out a scene, you're screwed. Being prepared is by far the easiest way to save yourself from being frustrated on set, and it will also give you a better overall product in the long run. 

Luzi's next two steps are to be confident and relax. These are way harder than they sound. However, confidence comes with experience and preparation, so as long as you stay on top of everything and have faith in yourself, other people will have faith in you as well. Relaxation, on the other hand, is different for everyone. Whether it means leaving set for five minutes to go get a snack and drink of water or just taking a deep breath in between takes, it's really important to not let the stress get to you. People work better when they're relaxed: I think that's a fact or something. 

Above everything else, though, is perspective. It doesn't matter if you're Steven Spielberg or a PA on the set of a CP2 film: all we're doing is making movies here. The worst thing that can happen to you in this industry is that you get fired. In college, the stakes are even lower. We're not making any big, world-altering decisions here (although some people beg to differ). For the most part, we're making movies (or TV, film, art, whatever you want to call it) for the entertainment of others and for our own self-gratification. It's ok if things aren't perfect. Take a break. Go for a hike. Call your mom. As fun/awful/stressful/amazing as it can be to make things, there will always be things that are more important, both for your well being and the well being of those around you. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go make a shot list. 

The Importance of Slating

After our first weekend of shooting, I am very pleased overall with the footage. Although we did not finish all the shots we were planning, we did a good amount, and I'm happy with how it looks. One thing we definitely need to improve upon for this weekend is using the slate more. In order to keep our editor sane, we really need to use the slate for every take.

I've been reading articles about slating, and it is a very crucial part of filming. Not only does it help organize the shots, it makes it so much easier for the editor to synchronize the audio and video. It will keep an accurate account of which shot is which to go along with our shot sheets, and make editing so much easier and more efficient. It's going to be difficult and time consuming for our editor (sorry Skyler...) to put everything together because we did not slate for every shot. Without the slate, he will have to do trial and error to synch the visuals with the audio. It will be a big waste of time.

A tip for everyone, in case you don't know: the best way to ensure the slate is in frame is to slate on the actor's mark with the slate at eye-level.

Another interesting tip: sometimes there are shots that using a slate before would not be advisable. For example, a shot that requires spontaneous action or a shot that may distract the actor in a very crucial moment. So what should be done in these situations? You use an end slate. Once the shot is recorded, the slate is placed upside-down (to signify an end slate) in front of the camera, the voice slate is said, the clap is made, and the director yells, "Cut!"

And here is a funny article about slating by Evan Luzi: The 10 Commandments of Slating
Another great article about what words to say when slating: Slating the Alphabet from Apple to X-Ray


Here is a behind the scenes look of the clapper/loader, Cameron Matheson, from Van Diemen's Land:

And here is a montage of all the fun slates Geraldine Brezca did on Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds:

4 Ways to Keep You From Saying "Fix it in Post"

In an article found on theblackandblue.com, were some advice geared toward the camera department that I find very convenient. These tips can really save the editor a lot of time in post production. On most sets, saving the editor time is not really on the top of their priorities, but it is something that can make post production occur with less mistakes. The first tip that Evan Luzi gives is to keep a camera report.

A camera report connects what is happening on set back to the editor. It gives the post production visual effects editor information such as the focal length of the lens used, to match its depth of field. It also makes it very convenient if you need to reshoot a shot. You know what focal length lens and f stop was used along with other vital information. 

The second tip given has to do with transferring all production footage to a computer. Just transferring the files is not enough, but always make sure to back them up on one or even two separate hard drives to be safe. Be sure to get every single bit of data on to the various computers and hard drives. Don't ever trust that your computer storage is enough and just wont crash. That is not safe enough. 

Most problems with data management come from human error. With that being said, make sure all memory cards are labeled correctly during production in order for things to go smoothly in post. Also make sure all hard drives are labeled and filed systematically. Name clips accordingly and keep things as organized and simple as possible.

The third tip mentioned to keep post production smooth is to make accurate slating a priority. Editing without slates means playing various clips to see what scene it was. When you have hours of footage and hundreds of clips, it is nearly impossible to edit without slates. All slates must be correctly labeled. Some may even include, frame rates, which special filters are unique to that scene, and lots of other important info. 

The last tip that Evan has for film sets is to work closely with visual effects supervisor during filming. Any information that he or she can get about the shot they are manipulating will be very worth while during the editing process. It may not seem like a priority but it should be. Use tracking markers. Tracking markers are markers that you put with the scene that give the visual effects coordinator a reference point when it is on the computer. These few things may seem unnecessary but they will ensure that post production can go smoothly and flawlessly.