Ask David Mullen ANYTHING

[David Mullen ASC]

How does one "make it" as a DP? I have a good reel, but I am still finding it hard to get hired on projects, outside of no-budget student short films. What do you suggest to do to kickstart a career?

If I knew the answer to that, maybe it wouldn't have taken me a decade to break into the industry and another decade to get where I am today.

It was all a one-job-at-a-time snowball effect -- my career happened in extreme slow-motion. I couldn't figure out how to kickstart it, make it go faster.

Basically I spent a decade shooting my own stuff since I was 16, went to film school when I was 26, shot a lot for other students, then after graduation, started shooting for fellow graduates, one low-budget feature at a time. Some years I'd be lucky to make $6000 or $10000 total. I just kept at it, supported by my understanding wife. It helped being in Los Angeles around a lot of non-union low-budget feature filmmaking. But the pay was terrible, not really something that could support me for a long time.

I got out of film school in 1991. By 1998, I had shot a dozen low-budget features. I then shot "Twin Falls Idaho" for the Polish Brothers, 1/2-mil 35mm feature made in 17 days. It got into Sundance, it got me an Independent Spirit Award nomination, and it got me an agent. It also was the first film I shot to get a theatrical release. In 2002, I shot "Northfork" for them (my 23th feature I think, my third with the Polish Brothers) and that got me another Spirit Award nomination, and it paved the way for me to get invited to join the ASC. It also became time to join the union because now I was interviewing for 3-mil union features instead of under 1-mil non-union features.

So basically after a decade of shooting low-budget features, I got into the union and started shooting medium-budget studio features. That and the union rates made a big difference in my income, up to something respectable.

 

[Policar]

You're getting into Gaffer territory here, I'm not really qualified to discuss individual models of bulbs types. But keep in mind that PAR64 globes are tungsten, there is no HMI PAR64 -- there's a 1200w PAR 64 "firestarter" that is tungsten and there is a 1200w HMI PAR, but it's not a PAR 64.

Of course, I could be wrong. I've just never heard of an HMI described as a PAR 64.

A multi-bank PAR64 unit like a Maxibrute could be globed with dichroics for a daylight-balance -- it would put out a lot more heat and be less power efficient than an HMI, but with spot globes, you can get a good shaft of light effect. Dichroics tend to fade over time, so the look gets warmer compared to an HMI.

As far as making a fogger behave like a hazer, I guess a little fan wouldn't hurt but the fogger still spits out fog in bursts or squirts, clumps, not leaks it out as an even haze. Plus it makes noise when it spits, so you can't just let it run during a sound take, though you tend to turn off hazers too for sound reasons, though if it's far enough away, you can leave it hazing most of the day. But certainly I used to do a lot of movies with foggers and just dealt with it, spending most of the day wafting smoke with a flag to even it out.

You really should make friends with a lighting rental house and just go over there and turn on some PAR's, take some light measurements, etc.

I think the older (much older) 1.2kw HMI pars used PAR64 light bodies with G38 bases rather than a single-ended G38 bulb in a reflector. Not sure what the terminology is, but I've used some like this: http://www.donsbulbs.com/cgi-bin/r/b.pl/hmi|1200w|par64.html

I guess a much simpler question is how bright is the firestarter compared with a spotted 1.2kw par? I just need a point of comparison and our grip house doesn't rent par cans; in fact, I'm buying them myself as they're not in our budget otherwise. Sorry for the verbose question that ultimately boiled down to this. That's exactly what we'll do with the fog machine.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

I guess a much simpler question is how bright is the firestarter compared with a spotted 1.2kw par? .

A firestarter is a 1.2k PAR so I'm not sure I understand the question. What do you mean by a spotted PAR? A firestarter is a 1.2k VSNP PAR64 globe, so what are you comparing it to? It's the brightest tungsten PAR64 there is.

Unless you mean compared to an 1200w HMI PAR with a spot lens -- which would be brighter, since HMI's tend to be twice as power efficient than a tungsten of the same wattage.

I don't know if there are any dichroic 1.2k VSPN PAR64 globes.

I'm not a gaffer or electrician, nor do I own any lights, and I don't have to order these things to that degree of precision... so I may not have all my details right.

 

[Policar]

That's still helpful. Sorry for the inappropriate question; I'll won't waste your time in the future with technical minutiae (particularly as poorly-phrased as what I wrote). I'm just stressed out over this, but I should have thought it through myself. I meant HMI vs. tungsten. I've never used par cans. I'll order a few firestarters, I guess.

 

[Jerrod Cordell]

Hah, I had a dream last night that me and a bunch of other Redusers and Scarletusers were at the Oscars and you won Best Cinematography. Then me and all of the Redusers excitedly came up to congratulate you and in our excitement we broke the steps leading up to the stage.

I think I'm on these forums too much. lol.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

Nice dream... as long as you didn't get hurt in it.

 

[Craig Ryan]

Seeing how this thread has reached over 200 pages now, all of which contain highly valuable and detailed posts from David, are there any plans to organize this somehow? A book of sorts? If I had any skills in this I'd do it myself but unfortunately I have trouble organizing my own desk as it is. Any ideas?

 

[David Kruta]

If I knew the answer to that, maybe it wouldn't have taken me a decade to break into the industry and another decade to get where I am today.

It was all a one-job-at-a-time snowball effect -- my career happened in extreme slow-motion. I couldn't figure out how to kickstart it, make it go faster.

Basically I spent a decade shooting my own stuff since I was 16, went to film school when I was 26, shot a lot for other students, then after graduation, started shooting for fellow graduates, one low-budget feature at a time. Some years I'd be lucky to make $6000 or $10000 total. I just kept at it, supported by my understanding wife. It helped being in Los Angeles around a lot of non-union low-budget feature filmmaking. But the pay was terrible, not really something that could support me for a long time.

I got out of film school in 1991. By 1998, I had shot a dozen low-budget features. I then shot "Twin Falls Idaho" for the Polish Brothers, 1/2-mil 35mm feature made in 17 days. It got into Sundance, it got me an Independent Spirit Award nomination, and it got me an agent. It also was the first film I shot to get a theatrical release. In 2002, I shot "Northfork" for them (my 23th feature I think, my third with the Polish Brothers) and that got me another Spirit Award nomination, and it paved the way for me to get invited to join the ASC. It also became time to join the union because now I was interviewing for 3-mil union features instead of under 1-mil non-union features.

So basically after a decade of shooting low-budget features, I got into the union and started shooting medium-budget studio features. That and the union rates made a big difference in my income, up to something respectable.

Thanks, David. There are no shortcuts to success, so I guess I'll be living on Ramen for the next decade. Worth it!

 

[Ryan E. Walters]

Mr. Mullen,

In regards to contracts for the projects you work on- what is the common practice in regards to pre-production, production, and post production for feature film work? Are you paid rates based on daily, weekly, or monthly contracts? Or does it depend on the stage of the production?

 

[David Mullen ASC]

Usually I'm offered a weekly rate, though Accounting turns it into an hourly rate for payroll reasons. I turn in a time sheet at the end of the week.

Prep is usually a guarantee of "x" number of paid weeks, even though I may actually work sporadically early on.

Post is generally not paid, though sometimes I get paid for time spent doing color-correction.

 

[Ryan E. Walters]

Usually I'm offered a weekly rate, though Accounting turns it into an hourly rate for payroll reasons. I turn in a time sheet at the end of the week.

Prep is usually a guarantee of "x" number of paid weeks, even though I may actually work sporadically early on.

Post is generally not paid, though sometimes I get paid for time spent doing color-correction.

Thanks for the response- very helpful.

In regards to post work, from what I've read and heard post work (Color correction) is usually not paid but it seems as though people are working to get that changed. Do you have any recommendations or thoughts along those lines? Should it be an issue that is pushed when negotiating rates and contracts? Color correction is so important, especially in a digital workflow like the Red- it seems as though the final image could be taken in many other ways then what you had originally intended.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

Every DP should ask to be paid for post time because the more DP's that get it, the less producers and studios can claim that there is no precedent for it.

I can spend almost a month on post work for a feature, and I sit in color-correction suites with people getting paid to be there: the director, the editor, the post supervisor, the colorist.

But it's an uphill climb. I don't turn down a job just because they won't throw it into the deal.

 

[Ryan E. Walters]

Every DP should ask to be paid for post time because the more DP's that get it, the less producers and studios can claim that there is no precedent for it.

I can spend almost a month on post work for a feature, and I sit in color-correction suites with people getting paid to be there: the director, the editor, the post supervisor, the colorist.

But it's an uphill climb. I don't turn down a job just because they won't throw it into the deal.

Thanks- great advice! It makes a lot of sense - I'll continue to push for that. (I have yet to get it for any of my projects.)

 

[David Mullen ASC]

That's where an agent comes in handy... pushing your producer friends and whatnot for a pay raise or money for post, etc. Keeps you personally out of the money negotiation side of things, if that's not your interest (it's not mine!) And you and your agent can play good cop-bad cop with the producers...

 

[Ryan E. Walters]

That's where an agent comes in handy... pushing your producer friends and whatnot for a pay raise or money for post, etc. Keeps you personally out of the money negotiation side of things, if that's not your interest (it's not mine!) And you and your agent can play good cop-bad cop with the producers...

Yeah, that has always been tricky for me- and I do not like walking that line myself. Do you have any tips or thoughts on going about getting a good agent? Or on joining the union? (I may have to finally join up for this next project I'm working on.)

 

[David Mullen ASC]

Agents tend to come to you when the time is right -- it's always better that way because they see a need to sign you up. It may be after you've beaten one of their clients for a job or after a screening at a film festival when some agent goes "wow... who is this guy? Is he being repped by anyone?"

It's expensive to join the union as a DP, so you do it when the timing is right and you are getting jobs where the higher rates will help pay off the costs.

Otherwise, it's just about getting the paperwork together and taking it over to Contract Services, run by the AMPTP (the unions actually don't decide who qualifies and gets to join or not, it's the producers oddly enough). For Local 600, you have to prove 100 days of paid work in your category, over a three year period backdated from the time of application, for work done in the U.S. or its territories. The best way to prove it is to have the payroll company that handled your paychecks to send a letter to Contract Services. But have them send a copy to you and keep it, because Contract Services is notorious for losing documentation. Sorry to say, they are a bit like dealing with the DMV...

 

[Ryan E. Walters]

Agents tend to come to you when the time is right -- it's always better that way because they see a need to sign you up. It may be after you've beaten one of their clients for a job or after a screening at a film festival when some agent goes "wow... who is this guy? Is he being repped by anyone?"

It's expensive to join the union as a DP, so you do it when the timing is right and you are getting jobs where the higher rates will help pay off the costs.

Otherwise, it's just about getting the paperwork together and taking it over to Contract Services, run by the AMPTP (the unions actually don't decide who qualifies and gets to join or not, it's the producers oddly enough). For Local 600, you have to prove 100 days of paid work in your category, over a three year period backdated from the time of application, for work done in the U.S. or its territories. The best way to prove it is to have the payroll company that handled your paychecks to send a letter to Contract Services. But have them send a copy to you and keep it, because Contract Services is notorious for losing documentation. Sorry to say, they are a bit like dealing with the DMV...

Brilliant - thanks for the guidance - it is greatly appreciated.

 

[Bmoreshaun]

Black Screen

Black Screen

Ok....I'm on set right now, we just got done switching from the RED Drive to CF cards. The RED Drive can be displayed no problem on my macbook pro, but the cf cards show the full time of their takes, but it only shows a black screen when I try to view them in Redcine or look at the quicktime proxies. When I put the CF card back in the camera it plays back no problem so I know the files still have to be there. It's only when I try to view it on my macbook(or anyone else's) that it's black....Again the clips play the actual length of the clip, but turns out black on the screen. Anyone???

BTW: the producer in Sh!*ing himself right now....

 

[Deanan]

Ok....I'm on set right now, we just got done switching from the RED Drive to CF cards. The RED Drive can be displayed no problem on my macbook pro, but the cf cards show the full time of their takes, but it only shows a black screen when I try to view them in Redcine or look at the quicktime proxies. When I put the CF card back in the camera it plays back no problem so I know the files still have to be there. It's only when I try to view it on my macbook(or anyone else's) that it's black....Again the clips play the actual length of the clip, but turns out black on the screen. Anyone???

BTW: the producer in Sh!*ing himself right now....

Try resetting the metadata in RA or RC.

 

[Bmoreshaun]

RA or RC

RA or RC

Scratch that...worked great...thanks so much for a quick reply...you rock!!!