Pulling Focus

Back from my week in Maine at the International FIlm and Video Workshops where I took the FIlm and HD Camera Assistants course. It was very good to get away and to be immersed in the world of pulling focus, loading magazines, checking the gate and camera reports. There was a great group of people, some of whom I hope to stay in touch with for a long time.
I tried to speak very little of my independent filmmaking activity in order to focus on what I'm hoping is to become my new day job. It was nice to take a break from Dangerous Writing, though not easy to do nine days ago. It was new to to sit back and hear various camera department veterans speak of directors without letting on I was a director. Doug Hart, the primary instructor, has worked with some greats, Woody Allen most notably.
Sometimes the stories and the lectures seemed to get in the way of the hands-on work we all craved for more of than we we were able to do. In the end, I think this is going to be one of those experiences that I continue to draw from for many years. There was so much information put out to us from early morning until late at night every day. We broke for an hour for both lunch and dinner, other than that we were working. Even reading American Cinematographer on the plane ride home I noticed how much more deeply I understood many articles. Such and such production used the Panavision Genesis, a Panny Platinum and an Arri 235. Well in the last week, I broke down and rebuilt each of those cameras, threaded them, loaded mags, or processor in the case of the Genesis, for them and operated the Platinum and the 235 on my shoulder. I did not have such intimate knowledge of any of those cameras ten days prior. There's an ad for the new Arri 416. I spent two and half hours with that camera with an Arri tech. What do you want to know about it? Frame rates? 1-75fps. Shutter angle? Manual 45-180. Is it quiet? Less than 20db. Magazine? Coaxial design "borrowed" from Aaton. Take up side on the inside (reversed from SR3 mags) and deeper throat for quieter operation. I could go on, but I'm sure it's all too geeky to be of interest.
It was a fun week. I need to pull focus back to directing. It's tempting to be scared by the transistion, tempting to want things to be one way or the other, but it's also quite a privilege to have two such challenging and fulfilling facets to my working life.

I'm back,
Signore Direttore