Want To Fly In First Class On Your Next Gig?  Here’s How!

I just got back from a whirlwind cross-country trip for a freelance gig I’m working on.  Between me, my field producer and my audio operator, we managed to boil down our equipment complement to six checked bags and three carry-ons. Now prices vary on different airlines, but the way it worked for me was this:

We flew USAirways from Cleveland to Phoenix, changing planes in Charlotte.  When I got online to check us in the night before, I was resigned to paying $60 in checked bag fees for each of us ($25 for the first bag and $35 for the second, all meticulously packed and weighed to be less than 50 pounds.)  However, in the middle of the check-in procedure, a pop-up box asked me if I would like to upgrade my entire party to first class - for $50 each.  On USAirways, this upgrade includes TWO FREE CHECKED BAGS.  (Bonus:  They can then weigh up to 70 pounds.)  In the time it took me to click the “yes” box, I had saved $30 overall and managed to get prime seating for the crew, and moved to the head of the boarding queue to guarantee overhead-compartment space for the two cameras and backpack-full-of-computers-and-iPad we were carrying onboard.  I call that a bargain at twice the price!

Coming home at the end of the shoot from Tucson to Madison, I played the same game on United.  Since both of those flights were on regional jets, first class was not offered, but once again the cost of checking two bags and first-call boarding was less than the cost of checking the bags alone.  While it is easy to imagine scenarios where this technique may not work (e.g., first class is booked full) it is a trick that I will be trying every time I need to check bags from this day forward.

Got any travel tricks of your own you’d like to share?  Let’s hear them!

REVIEW:  Fast Forward Video Sidekick HD Recorder/Monitor

PREFACE:  The ProRes Dilemma

Let’s start this review off by dispelling a long-held rumor.  I’m a PC guy, just always have been, and after reviewing just about every PC NLE at least once, I have settled on Adobe Premiere Pro (and the CS 5.5 suite) as my editor of choice.  Not too long ago, I had a freelance client that absolutely insisted on Apple ProRes files for the output of a project.  Unfortunately, Apple does not allow PCs to write ProRes files, and at the time PC’s couldn’t read them either.

Fast-forward a few months:  Imagine my dismay as I walked the aisles of NAB 2011, looking at all kinds of new recording devices from Aja, Atomos, Sound Devices and others that promised long recording times and transfer speeds – yet the catch was:  Only records in Apple ProRes.

So when I was offered the opportunity to review the Fast Forward Video Sidekick HD combination video recorder and camera-top monitor, I was distressed to think that I could shoot the footage, but couldn’t edit it.  So I put the question to my colleagues on the Vidpro listserv – can PC Premiere Pro play back ProRes?  My pal (and fellow Wisconsinite) Steve Oakley FTP’ed me a few Apple clips that seemed to work, so I went ahead and received the Sidekick HD.  And I can now say with 100% certainty – Adobe Premiere Pro 5.5 can play back Apple ProRes files, even happily combining them on the same timeline with just about any other type of clip you want to add – .AVI, .M2T, Photoshop files, Canon 50Mb, Sony 35Mb, After Effects comps, you name it.  (The theory is that the ProRes playback capability came along with one of the many Quicktime updates Apple shoots out.  Hey, who knew?)

Is TV Broken?

I don’t generally re-post links to articles, but this one from CNN’s Business Insider Matt Rosoff caught my eye.  Give it a read, but the thumbnail is this:

What is so flawed about the television watching experience that Steve Jobs devoted his final months of life to changing it?  It’s a good, quick read.  What do you think?  Is TV broken?

Canon Cinema EOS C300:  A Dissenting View

I know, there have been a million opinions shot over the Internet over the last three days regarding canon’s new Cinema EOS C300 camera.  About half point out it’s great feature set, and about half seem to point out every flaw it has in comparison to RED Epic.  Whatever, all that’s fine.  Me, I’m dissapointed for an entirely different reason:

Where’s the killer Canon camera for the tens - to hundreds-of-thousands of us that actually work in television? When I reviewed the Canon XF305 a year ago, I was very impressed with the package, with a few caveats - chief among them the 1/3” chipset.  If Canon can jam a 35mm CMOS into the D5 mkII, why not the same hardware in a form-factor that a real TV production crew could easily use?  And in a package that can sit on your shoulder?

When I got my invitation to the Canon press event, I was really excited.  I even planned to fly from the Midwest to LA just to see the announcement.  Luckily, I was offered some freelance work before I bought the plane ticket, but I watched for news on my smartphone in every bit of downtime.  And when the news came out…what a letdown.  The EOS C300 does nothing for me… and in fact, doesn’t seem to do much of anything for anybody until you outfit it with tens of thousands of dollars in accessories, including audio and timecode adapters, lenses, rails, grips, you name it.

Maybe I’m missing something here, but I have to figure that there are many more video pros actually making a daily living than there are folks that will ever make money off their films.  If I’m wrong, say so, but that’s the way I see it.  I’ve used - and generally loved - Canon video cameras since the XL1 came out 13 years ago.  Please, Canon, I beg you - put a 35mm chip, a good audio section, swappable lenses, the 50Mb codec, 10-bit HD-SDI out and SMPTE timecode in and out into a $10K shoulder-mount package.  You’ll have a line flowing out the door for miles. 

But in the meantime, I’m dismayed at the EOS C300.  I guess I should be old enough by now not to get my hopes up so easily.

REVIEW:  Litepanels Sola ENG LED Fresnel Light

I’ve gone on record in the past as not being a big fan of camera-top lights.  The last thing an interview subject needs is a glaring “sungun” to impart that “deer-in-the-headlights” look.  Of course, sunguns of the past were crude tools, usually a low-to-medium wattage tungsten lightbulb that – if you were lucky – might be hiding behind a piece of bathroom opal glass.  (If you are one of the six shooters in all the world that ever had an HMI sungun… good for you.)  In almost every setup, the light was mounted directly above the lens, right on axis with the optics – a recipe for flat, unflattering light if ever there was one.  And powering this device almost always required external batteries – anyone that has ever had a battery belt pull your pants down on a shoot, raise your hands now, please.

The Phantom Hum

I do a certain amount of freelance work, mostly for friends that have businesses.  Last weekend I started work on an instructional video for Exerstrider, makers of poles you use while walking that really ramps up the exercise value.  We were plowing through the script at a rapid pace when…

...The Phantom Hum reared it’s ugly head.

Today The GoPro Let Me Down

Regular readers of my mind-spillings might remember the Color-Correction Conundrum of a year ago, where I used the decidedly outdoor-color-balanced GoPro Hero HD as an accent camera for a choral concert in a church.  The lemon-yellow footage of the piano keyboard was brought to heel by help from the readers of this blog, and since I had such success last time, I figured I’d do it again.

Blackmagic Design at NAB 2011 Part 2

The extended death of tape continues.  Blackmagic Designs gives us a look at the Hyperdeck line.  Again, the audio is pretty rough, but the info is good enough to share.

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