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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

SET ETIQUETTE

JanneJansson said:
I was shooting for a european car company a few years back and my car then was very crappy toyota corolla, and it also got me into trouble when I drove in to a closed proving ground. When people are stressed the smallest reason can start a meltdown. Just SOP, standard operating procedure.
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I kinda had the same thing happen for a local Toyota dealer. Had my Dodge truck pulling my grip trailer and the dealership owner (he's a friend) started giving me a hard time about not having a Tundra. I told him when he could sell me a Tundra for $6,000 with 20,000 miles (bought it off my grandfather when he could no longer drive), I would gladly buy a Tundra! But I also reminded him that my minivan was a Sienna and when the Toyota designers actually design a Tundra that fits someone over 5'4, I would be more interested. He gave me a big laugh.
 
I've seen capable, likeable and diligent editing assistants sacked on the spot because the agency art director "didn't like them". This is just the kind of sycophantic BS the whole advertising business spawns. So much money, so many egos and so much insecurity.

You're a freelance contractor. If your Redbull ain't in shot, it's none of their goddam business. But I guess that's easy for me to say. I refuse to work on ads due to the frequent feeling of wanting to punch someone over crap like the above. I'd be way wealthier if I could deal with it but...
 
I guess that's how most people are these days... really huge ego and total jerks :c
 
I shot an Adidas spot last year with a Chelsea-sponsored soccer team. When I sent them the edit, they were furious that I didn't edit out the players that were wearing Nike cleats. I had to go back through frame by frame and make sure there wasn't a swoosh in sight.

Lesson learned...
 
I turned up to shoot a S*ny 'CORPORATE' video with my Canon 5D and was asked why I wasn't using a S*ny product. I said that they didn't have anything I regarded as comparable to the 5D.... politely. This jumped up little twerp then asked his boss not to use me again right in front of me. Like you I was shocked. It's okay, I decided they weren't worth worrying about. Such pathetic lives these people live.
 
the set is my workplace and i expect to be treated with respect in my workplace.
as long as what i drink is non alcoholic it is nobodies business what i drink.
if any body talked to me in that manner i would take them outside and in private tell
them to go f*#ck them selves, pack my gear and leave.

i treat everybody on set with respect (whether they deserve it or not) and expect the same in return. what i eat or drink and the gear i use is nobody elses concern.

in private the producers can say what they like, they have paid for that priveledge but nobody gets to yell or abuse me on set, period.
 
Considering all this, I definitely want to shoot a Porsche commercial ;)
 
Having worked enough commercial jobs as a crew member and now as a cinematographer, I feel there's a certain courtesy you have to provide the people that hire you. My early set experience was working for very experienced (errr... old) commercial gaffers and grips who instilled in me a sense that I'm there to make those in higher positions look good. Why? In part because that's a good work ethic and because they're the ones who will hire you again. When you're on set and a hire from the production company, you too represent the company - it's not about you.

If they were abusive, then yes that's not right, period. If he wasn't informed, than that was regrettable. Yet, I've seen what happened to the original poster several times on sets I've been on as crew. But playing devil's advocate, the producers, creatives, account executives and production companies are under huge pressure to keep their clients happy especially these days. And let's not forget, it's their clients who are paying our check. The gaffers, key grips and even DoPs I worked under often called the crew to advise them who the client was so that we planned accordingly. Those who came to set with an "I don't care, I'll do what I want" never came back for a second job.

I have to echo what a few others have already replied, that while it's unfortunate what happened to Zakaree, it serves as a useful reminder to other.
 
David Baumber said:
I turned up to shoot a S*ny 'CORPORATE' video with my Canon 5D and was asked why I wasn't using a S*ny product. I said that they didn't have anything I regarded as comparable to the 5D.... politely. This jumped up little twerp then asked his boss not to use me again right in front of me. Like you I was shocked. It's okay, I decided they weren't worth worrying about. Such pathetic lives these people live.
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Ha!

I once showed up to shoot something for Panasonic using a 7D.

Now its important to understand the production company didn't share with me that I would be shooting for Panasonic - they wanted to keep the client secret. They also really lowballed the project.

Some production guy got in my face about me using a Canon.

I told the guy that if they wanted a specific camera, they should have asked and I would be very happy to make rental arrangements for any camera they were willing to pay for. However since I had received neither a rental request, nor any budget to secure rentals with, that my 7D was being made available to them as a courtesy for free.

The Panasonic rep, stepped up and said Panasonic didn't care about the equipment, but if the issue had been brought up ahead of time that he had a demo of every currently manufactured Panasonic camera available. He then thanked me for making up for the agency's mistake, and insisted on paying me rental for my camera.

Since then Panasonic asked their new production company to hire me specifically, and provided an HPX3700 to shoot with. (Which is one of the best cameras out there for this particular task at any price.)

Not everyone in this business is an egomaniac. I know there are a lot of bad stories out there ... I've lived a few, but there are good ones too.
 
2 anecdotal stories that have happened to people I know or friends of friends:

- A certain shoe company marketing exec once demanded a creative be fired for wearing a competitor's shoes to a pitch.

- A catering company brought ice cream from the ad's competitor and was instructed to throw it all out and not serve it to any of the crew.

So no I wouldn't be surprised although those are certainly the exceptions not the rule and are few and far between. Personally I've seen plenty of iPhones on T-Mobile shoots without any complaints.
 
A little off topic...

My DIT friend was recently punched in the face by the 1st AD for disagreeing about where to put his cart on the truck! It was a terriblly low budget hotel promotional video, and not a prefessional shoot from the get go. Needless, to say the camera rental company pulled all of their gear and their DIT from the set immediately. My buddy somehow managed to not retaliate in the heat of the moment. That made all the difference in the world, because it was easy to see who was at fault. Nobody could say anything when the new truck pulled up and the camera was being loaded out of there. The producer apologized a million times, but still... crazy, right? My friend said later that he kept thinking that he was working, and he represented the company he worked for, so fighting is not an option. Now that is discipline! Cool dude and best DIT in Turkey too :) Kudos to the rental company for standing by their guys.
 
If it's a shoot and the production company is buying "stuff" for the shoot in particular (ice cream incident as an example). Then buy the products your shooting for. If it's crew and their privately owned gear then there's no true reason to demand that they should buy equipment for that particular spot (unless given money to do so). Simple. When confronted don't argue that the product you're shooting for is crap and not equivalent to what you have. Kindly let them know that is what you own and that you gladly would have their product if you could have afforded it - or if you would have known about it - but wait a minute is that why you're doing the commercial - so people will know about it LOL.

I was once punched in the face by a drunk director in a bar when I made a joke about the product we were shooting for. It came out of the blue without warning - after the fact that he and the producer had made jokes about it themselves. let's say the atmosphere seemed to be "guys night out talk" and that we all knew it was a shitty commercial we were doing. Only reason why I didn't punch back (which is good). Is that I didn't really notice it LOL. I turned to the production manager asking "did he just punch me in the face" the prod man nodded with very big surprised eyes. After all he had given it his best shot. Later I called my agent, who said that I could pull out if I wanted to. Or stay and be the strong person about this and earn brownie points with the production company (not the director). It was a month fully paid commercial shoot so I stayed LOL. Money talks bullshit walks - lets say I didn't do my absolute best as I couldn't care less after that. I still ended up doing quite a few commercials with the company. Needless to say I didn't work with the director again.
 
Wow ... sorry, I can't go quite that far guys. Have some self respect.

If someone actually assaults me or any of my people, then all bets are off. If someone assaults me or anyone on my crew, they'll go to jail. Fredrik's director and Clint's 1AD ... in jail.

I'll also use all available means to see that they get a criminal record, and ideally some prison time for assault as well.

If they are smart and lucky that's all that will happen, because I will use appropriate force to ensure my security and that of my people.

If the production company reacts in any other way than firing the attacker for cause I'll sue them for complicity in the assault and anything else my lawyers can think of.

And yeah, I'll happily trade a career photographing sugar water and shoes for the safety of those I am responsible for.

Sorry, that's not negotiable. I will not accept actual criminal conduct.

Neither should you.
 
Alexander Ibrahim said:
Wow ... sorry, I can't go quite that far guys. Have some self respect.

If someone actually assaults me or any of my people, then all bets are off. If someone assaults me or anyone on my crew, they'll go to jail. Fredrik's director and Clint's 1AD ... in jail.

I'll also use all available means to see that they get a criminal record, and ideally some prison time for assault as well.

If they are smart and lucky that's all that will happen, because I will use appropriate force to ensure my security and that of my people.

If the production company reacts in any other way than firing the attacker for cause I'll sue them for complicity in the assault and anything else my lawyers can think of.

And yeah, I'll happily trade a career photographing sugar water and shoes for the safety of those I am responsible for.

Sorry, that's not negotiable. I will not accept actual criminal conduct.

Neither should you.
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When I was a film editor I tied-up a (quite famous) director and locked him in an unused edit suite because he was acting like a dick. I suppose I should be done for kidnap, but it was worth it and he learned a good lesson that day:)
 
I feel you Alexander. Trust me, if I had been there I would not have be able to show the same restraint my buddy displayed. The AD was fired, but as for jail and lawyers... not really gonna happen here in Turkey. Plus, the whole crew was friends with this jerk. Best option was to leave.
 
Oh, and my DIT friend took all the footage with him... just in case :)
 
Liam Hall said:
When I was a film editor I tied-up a (quite famous) director and locked him in an unused edit suite because he was acting like a dick. I suppose I should be done for kidnap, but it was worth it and he learned a good lesson that day:)
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OK, that's funny.

But yeah, unlawful imprisonment or something.

See, for every situation where some type of assault/crime may be the "right" response, there are thousands where its unjustifiable. Also there are a lot of things, pranks like your example, that would fly "back in the day" that are just unacceptable now.

Also, if you punch my DIT in the face, you've probably just punched a 5'3" woman. So, that earns you extra ire. My entire regular camera crew is female. My favorite dolly grip, and sometimes 2AC was a women's 400m NCAA D1 nationals sprinter. (She's also my girlfriend ... so I'm openly biased.)

On the flip side Clint, I won't be taking my crew to Turkey either. Or pretty much anywhere in the middle east for that matter!
 
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