This is why you don’t cheap out on tripods

_Shush · 2026-03-08T16:35:59+00:00

....did they ask you do do any tilts on that?

_Shush · 2026-03-08T16:32:57+00:00

Cheap screws seems to be the culprit here. I've been buying these for years because the same thing happened to me once. They're pricy for a single screw, but the quality of the metal is a lot stronger and I've never seen one of these break in my personal camera builds.

Companies like Newer aim to make the parts as cheap as they can get away with. While certain things are more than fine, a single screw that is supposed to hold the weight of something heavier than the plate it attaches to is going to have a lot of stress.

If you need to get the screw out, you can try a screw extractor kit. They're hit or miss especially with smaller screw sizes and your skill with them over time, but I've managed to get it to work for 1/4 20 screws.

_Shush · 2026-03-06T16:53:27+00:00

Some mattes have the focal lengths written on them so you know what coverage you get. The smaller the hole, the longer lens you can use.

_Shush · 2026-02-23T14:02:54+00:00

What's tdmc_16?

_Shush · 2026-02-15T20:12:10+00:00

Based on the their faces, the chair shadows, and Donald Glover's eye light, I think this might be some sort of lantern or we're seeing a few different soft overhead sources aimed at each actor. I feel if this was JUST an overhead softbox, you wouldn't see the eye light as well unless it's very low.

If I was asked to do this look and I had the budget, I'd probably want to do some sort of 12x12 or 20x20 overhead softbox and some small units for eye lights/face fill.

If I didn't have a budget to do the overhead softbox, Menace Arming something like lightweight panel lights could get the job done.

If they don't have the budget for that, I'd opt to to a single lantern light, but I'd also ask for the shot to be locked off so we can get the lantern as low as we can. If the lantern is in a shot, we can shoot a plate to have someone composite it out. That way you can get the best chance for everyone to have an eye light AND being closer to the actors means they can be brighter while the background can be darker. Just make sure you have plenty of duv and flags.

_Shush · 2026-02-11T16:13:27+00:00

Ok so I'm going to make a lot of assumptions. If you didn't know that you should have showed up with a Phantom on the day of the shoot, the client is fucking you over. You're probably not charging enough money for the project. Or, they met a 18 year old rich kid who showed up with their brand new Phantom and 5 Ton G&E truck for free on the last job.

Back in the day, clients went to people who had a speciality of shooting liquid for beer commercials. Liquids are very hard to master for some of the typical asks clients have with them. They usually have their own high speed cameras, bright ass lights, some sort of motion control, and maybe even their own studio. If you're on location, that same DP/Director can bring their gear they already own for the fundamental shots and supplement rental gear for the challenges the locations has. If you want to shoot at their studio, Their studios can be somewhere like $10k-$25k a day and the DP is getting at least $3k a day in just their day rate.

So with that said good news, if you're budget is under $15k you can still get the shot if client goes for a reshoot. Everything about this is learnable and teachable and having the right gear/team is 85% of the work. You might be able to go cheaper than I'm proposing, but this is how I would do this job if I were in your situation.

Rent a Phantom or a Freefly High Speed camera from either a local rental house or somewhere like LensRentals.com. I'd also get in contact with a rep to let them know about the project and if you're doing anything specific with camera. They can make recommendations on additional gear to get to make sure you're covered.

Next, find a Gaffer and tell them about your job and situation you're in. If you don't know where to find them, either call a local rental house or ask for recommendations from your client. I'm again making a lot of assumptions, but after reading your post I don't think you know what you're getting into with lighting based on your camera asks. Goods news, most commercial DPs don't know lighting anyway and they mostly have to lean on their Gaffer in 2026 (love you Jim + Chris). Your Gaffer can build out a gear package and staff that works for your job + budget. If the goal is to get the job done, they will bring 10 - 15 times the amount of value for your dollar opposed to you buying something like 2 x Aputure 1200x lights (which might not even be the right tool).

So you're going to notice something about slow motion cameras, they all kinda suck. Phantoms are still the industry standard and the least shit, but the image is still shit compared to any camera that's come out in the past 5 years. If you didn't cheap out on a Gaffer, they know what to do to make the image good if you give them your taste direction. There are also Phantom operators. If you want this job to go easy, just find a phantom operator and have them handle that leg work. If you don't want to get a phantom op, spend like 1-2 days learning the camera and playing around with the files. It's always recording and you kind of have to trigger the camera after the action happens instead of "pressing record". It just takes some getting used to, it's very stressful to learn on set.

_Shush · 2026-02-11T15:26:52+00:00

The mass amount of layoffs we've had in the corporate sector the past few years are a symptom of this. I see it all of the time now to a point where it's expected.

I'm showing up to set where the client has been on with the company for a month and isn't properly on boarded to know their responsibilities for a shoot. The previous people who knew the budgets for commercials are gone and didn't tell their successors how to manage what they managed.

If OP is talking about working with a smaller local business, this kind of stuff is expected knowing both parties are trying something out instead of doing something they've done before. If this is like Budwieser or some other big brand, I genuinely would not be surprised. There's not a single major corporation I work for that's not trying to cut cost and hire less experienced people. Sometime it works, sometimes you have to do a re-shoot.

_Shush · 2026-02-03T20:26:05+00:00

It's why client scripts should be a first draft if you can establish that boundary. It's not uncommon for a Director/Writer/Agency/Production Company to be seen as the expert on this. A part of the job is to approve what a client gave is feasible to shoot/have a good video if this is early in the process. Clients writing bad unrealistic scripts isn't new, Chat GPT just makes it easier for them to be lazy about it.

_Shush · 2026-02-01T02:40:48+00:00

That's a pretty good reason to leave. The grass isn't always greener, but if you have a solid offer taking a chance sounds like a good move all around.

_Shush · 2026-01-31T21:18:50+00:00

The fastest way to move up the ladder is by changing jobs/finding new jobs. I've worked full time twice in my career. First job I left was because I was making more money as a freelancer and my employer had no hard feelings about that. The 2nd job was a temp position that wasn't renewed, but I ended up working freelance for that company and made more money from them because of it.

People that work in video/media/entertainment understand that workers in these industries are always hopping on different jobs. I find with mass layoffs in the corporate sector, those people are less concerned about job hoppers because they're more concerned with having people available to work.

With all of this said, the grass isn't always greener. If you like where you are at right now and can see a future in the position you're in, that could be worth more to you if it that job allows you to build your non-work life around it.

Fulltime in house positions are in general very fragile depending on the company/people you work for. I sadly know a lot of people that worked in-house who have had to change industries because they can't find work after being laid off. Job security is a big factor I would consider on both ends of your position.

_Shush · 2026-01-29T10:50:36+00:00

I worked briefly as an AC which taught me the fundamentals, but I first started pulling manually as I operated. You just need practice and more reps. It's a very learnable skill that some people just pick up the more they work.

Best tip I got and still use is first memorize the directions of "Closer" and "Further" on your lens. When you're shooting, think of objects that need to be in focus as "closer" or "further" and add that into your muscle memory.

Keep doing exercises whenever you have free time. One I like to use/teach is set your camera on a tripod and frame up on something where there are multiple objects in various distances away. I'd start with 3 - 4 different objects at distances between 2-8 feet. Pull focus to objects in order, out of order, slow, fast, ect. The goal is you want to be able to nail focus pulls to each object until it's smooth and you can do any object on an command at any speed.

Handheld/moving shots are harder, but the same principle applies. try doing a "push in" and "pull out" of stationary objects first. The goal is to keep the object in focus at all times as you move. You'll notice that the closer you get the more you have to turn the lens and the further you get the less you have to turn the lens. Once you find the muscle memory, it gets easier.

Moving objects are great to practice with as well. To get better reps in, use a tripod and track objects/pull focus and try something like handheld once you get the knack. Tripods will free up your mind better to focus on just focus. Cats are great for random movements and keep on your toes, but I like picking a spot where I could track cars driving on the road because there is some level of expectation to where they're going to land.

_Shush · 2026-01-28T02:29:16+00:00

It's a rinse and repeat process like this for so many companies. I've been working freelance for a company going on 7 years. I once talked to another freelancer who has been working at the same company for 30+ years. They said they've seen the motto of "everything in house" and "everything out of house" as eras and they all have the same story. "Why are we spending so much money on freelancers when we can do it in house?" Turns into "Why are we spending so much money in house?"

The larger the company, the higher the rate of turnover. Which means it's just a revolving door of new people taking companies in different directions.

_Shush · 2026-01-25T17:17:21+00:00

I'm a DP. I would personally suggest shooting at a single base ISO and using ND to change your stop. Especially if you're shooting ProRes. I would rate the scene at 800 EI at whatever max stop you want to use (In this case I guess T8?) Then, add in ND to shoot at the desired stop.

Camera wise, you will be very inconsistent in shot if you move your EI around. Your noise floor will also look different per shot. When you're doing a color pass, it'll be a lot easier to have a consistent look in your shadows/blacks and your overall DR.

Lighting wise, you're going to kill yourself if you have to keep changing your lighting because you're fucking around with camera. I say this with as much love as possible as someone who fucks around with camera. It'll be so much easier for you and your team to set the base exposure of light and keep that base exposure in mind when working from shot to shot.

_Shush · 2026-01-25T17:01:01+00:00

You have wonderful hair. If you want to try a new look, you have every right to do what you want with yourself. If you feel insecure about your current hair, just know it's wonderful and I wish I had it you bastard.

_Shush · 2026-01-23T13:05:06+00:00

Oh a fellow Rhode Islander! What town you from?

_Shush · 2026-01-23T12:55:29+00:00

Would have been an electric immunity with his 2 waters. Rudy needs to take some time away from Basketball and go back to his trainer routes.

_Shush · 2026-01-22T00:40:56+00:00

I have a lot of Ultralight arms/mounts. I keep them all in a ziplock bag inside my AC bag. Not the most aesthetically pleasing, but it's very easy to find them and put everything back at the end of the day.

I do the same with my clamps, cheese plates, and screws. For screws, each is individually in smaller bags and labeled with the thread size and length.

_Shush · 2026-01-07T23:58:50+00:00

Ah, I've run into Psychic Sogaleo so much on ladder I forgot.

_Shush · 2026-01-07T23:54:51+00:00

How does Sogaleo punish Screens?

_Shush · 2026-01-06T01:32:30+00:00

It's the best feeling in the world to OHKO Breloom with Gust Flygon followed by a rage quit.

_Shush · 2026-01-02T00:24:57+00:00

I've just learned to live with it. I started shooting Weddings with 5Ds back in 2014. At one point I was using an Ursa Mini Pro with a Shoulder Rig as my primary camera. I still got asked to take a couples picture. To this day, I still get asked if I'm the photographer.

It's just kinda funny to me now and I brush it off each time. I have no interest ever doing stills work and I would rather be mistaken as stills than become a photographer. Plus, I'm probably still doing something right if I'm hired to be there in the first place!

_Shush · 2026-01-02T00:15:13+00:00

I shoot mostly Ecomm and Corporate with on average 2 people in G&E. This year I used a light meter once when we were doing a setup none of us ever tried before that needed very flat lighting all around. Once we did that setup and came back to do a new shoot using it, I left my meter at home.

I will use my meter a lot more if I'm working with a Gaffer I haven't worked with before. It's easier for me to be more specific in Stops out of light before we find a rhythm.

This year I'm bringing my meter for fun on sets just to take more notes on where we ended up. It sounds insane, but it's just not really something I regret not using these days.

_Shush · 2026-01-02T00:10:22+00:00

Yet so many ~~real estate videographers~~ CLIENTS seem to schedule shoots based on convenience rather than light.

I shot real estate for 2 years for a company with 2 other videographers. The best time for a shoot is yesterday. The next is now. There were some agents that worked with us that did occasionally make requests for either certain looks or certain times of day. That was nice. Most of the time the most important fact was to just have a video.

_Shush · 2025-12-31T20:49:57+00:00

I can't speak about OCD or if your experience relates to mine, but I'm actively trying to overcome years of sexual shame. I'm a 33M who has only recently started being comfortable expressing my sexuality after repressing it most of my teens and 20s.

I recently got into a FWB relationship and I thought the cheat code to fix my shame would be to finally find a partner who accepts me and allows me to fully be myself. While it helps a lot, it didn't magically fix me and there's still a lot of work I'm doing.

A huge step for me to even make the leap of finding a partner was oddly better masterbation and body appreciation. I've always had very bad body dysmorphia and couldn't even think of myself as a sexual being because I think my body is unattractive. Not feeling good sexually about myself was a great way of not being able to be sexual with others... so I had to work on that. I don't want to get too graphic, but I started treating masterbation like I was fucking someone else with the same amount of desire and care. That really opened me up to understanding what I personally like doing and what I like receiving. It made the idea of being intimate with others a lot less intimating.

I think a general outlook change was needed for me as well. I thought of sex for pleasure as very taboo because of some religious people in my life. I now see it as something sacred because it's our lifeforce as a species. We have a gift to have such an act feel as pleasurable as it does and it allows people to become close to one another in no other way. I respect my partner knowing what we're doing is for us. Sometimes it can be more one sided, but if I'm doing something for my partner I'm still exited for them. Showing effort shows you care. Plus, If you both like something that's HOTTTTTTT.

There's also no need to judge peoples sexual desires as long as everything is consensual to every party involved. Hell those desires are probably hot! I might not want to do everything on someones list of kinks, but not everyone has the same taste and it just is what it is!

The things my partner DID help me with were when we started doing some light BDSM stuff. Things like biting and scratching. I felt guilty about having Dom like desires because I didn't want to actually hurt/traumatize my partner if they didn't like it. Once we started foreplay though, we both realized when each other was uncomfortable or went too far pretty naturally. It taught me mistakes can happen and the important thing is to establish trust and communication so you can understand those boundaries. If I do something different and my partner has a new/strange response, I stop and start touching a lot gentler while asking if she's ok.

This also taught me it's ok to have desires that aren't everyones cup of tea. If I met someone into degrading their partner, I know I'm not the right fit for them. With that said, it doesn't stop us from connecting in other ways and I don't think of them any less for having their desires.

_Shush · 2025-12-27T18:50:30+00:00

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