From 7 to 7

[Michele Coser]

Anohter work for me, yesterday in Milan.  It was the 5th work with those guys (always the same, see my previous post here).
We shot a "commercial" (again, not really a commercial that can be seen aired on tv) about a model of a famous motorcycle. This publicaton will be probably out in june 2007 on the international market.

I start from my home at 7.15 am. Is dark outside; when i am at a few km from the exit of the motorway i take a break at the last autogrill... (well, driving make me want to go to bathroom...).  A few minuts later (8.15 am, just an hour from start) i pay the ticket and i take the highway. Man, what a traffic. Everything blocked or very slowed down. At 9.30 i call Alex, the director, telling him that i'm blocked and i don't think i'll be on the set at 10 am....   
I'm quiet and calm enough, but all those cars clacksoning around makes me crazy... i mean: you're here, with a 12km traffic block, and do you really think that playng with your clackson every single minut can really help?  Do you really think that there is a dumb at the start of the queque that slow down all of us?

Anyway, i arrive on the set (that in reality is a big space, divided into three sections, with lots of furniture that you can take, put, exchange in case you need) and i notice a truck near the entrance.   Mediaset (one of the biggest italian tv channels chain) was on the set nex to us. There were a lot of lighting cases outside "Movie people" written all around, big cables through the doors, dozens and dozens of people...  i headed to our set, Alex, Claudia, the producer and the two actors were already there. And that was our crew; six persons.  I excuse and explain why i'm late (it was not too much my fault; note to self: next time around christmas time i have to start from home at least one hour before usual)

This time we shoot with the Sony Z1, the "usual" canon XL2 was used only on a small dolly.  The Z1 is more lighter than the canon, i added on the top stage an old battry to increase weight (and it also look like a j-box, with all the cables around . Then we start shooting. I have always fear that my shots aren't good. But Alex and Claudial look the shots in real-time on an external monitor (yet, sometimes the cable to the monitor cause troubles to my walking; note to self: buy a wireless transmitter..... when i have more money) and they say me if i have to redone something.

Later we take a break. There's some rumor on the near set that two biggest vip are arriving. They are expecting federica fontana and elisabetta canalis to shoot something about product-selling during a tv show about football.  google those names (separately) for images to see what i'm talking.
They arrive after our dinner; when we reprise shooting our work.  The fun thing is that the make-up room was right next to the cofee room and the bathroom.  In fact i encounter for a few seconds elisabetta exiting the bathroom.   I did'nt ask for a signature, mainly because i was not interested too much in those Vips, but also because i'm here to work  and not to be a fanboy (an attitude showed by the two actors, that used every free minuts in hope to see those two hotties, i don't blame them).
Another fun thing it was during a break. I was outside, with the vest and the arm on, and one of the Mediaset guy looked at me and says "Oh, they have a steadycam"... with a voice that was like "Hey, we're mediaset, we have a generator truck outside, lots of crew, equipment and two vips aound, and we don't have a steady...."  a bit of envy i think

Anyway at 4 pm we ended shooting and start picking up our equipment.  I salute everyone (wich was pretty quick, because the actors are already gone) on our set, and i go home.  Another mindless crazy city christmas traffic on the streets of milan was waiting me; traffic that magically disappear when it's time to take the tricket on the motorway.
I arrive at home at 7.15; just 12 hours after the departure, i take a few minuts to go to a shop and buy some shrimp sauce and some other thing.

I hope the next time i have the completely new sled, so my steady don't look anymore like a camera-on-a-stick,   i only got some troubles when changing from high mode to low mode, my monitor won't work. I tried everything... in the end i thing it was the stupidest thing possibile.... the camera in standby mode (but i'm not sure).

[Alan Dague-Greene]

Hey Michele, it's always great to read about your experience. Do you have cases for your equipment? And if so, would it be possible to take the train through Milan to your destination? I guess that would be unrealistic, given the amount of equipment you're carrying.

You say you weren't sure your shots were good enough, and Alex and Claudia asked if you needed to change something. Were they happy with the shots? Or was it merely the video cable connected to their monitor that was preventing you from delivering the best shot?

[Michele Coser]

I still don't have a case for the rig.  I think i seriously need a rigid case or at least a semi-rigid case for the sled.  Months ago i asked a shop here if they can contact a case manufacturer, but the factory didn't make custom models; and their biggest model was a bit too short for my sled (just a couple of cm).  I'm tinking of building one (i have a friend that has already built some cases for instrument for his band) but it will be big enough to contain my actual sled and the next one.
Carrying a steady rig on train is possibile (i was talking one day with one of the Meditech guys in rome, and he did it one time) but it must be difficult due the size of the cases.  I have a rollerblade backpack, wich is bigger than normal "scool" backpacks but smaller than mountain ones, and it can't contain my vest because it is slightly smaller.
Actually i put all the equipment on the backseat of my car, but tha't is a non pro solution... well... i don't mean that if you have a case you're automatically a pro, is just the way you entroduce yourself to other.

Sure when i have a sled case i ask every single clelebrity i encounter to sign on it

As for the shots, most of the time you can see or feel when you do something wrong, like cutting the head of the actor or not keeping the right frame; but sometimes there are small things, small wrong movements that are hard to notice by yourself.
Plus most of the time the shots were walking on a semi-circle around a point, with the view of my monitor obstructed by the arm.
We got only few walking straight shots.
Plus i don't have a transmitter so i have to use an external cable running from the camera, attached to the vest. Sometimes Alex sometimes Marcello (the producer that went in the afternoon replacing the morning producer) were also the cable guy for me, but sometimes they forgot to do and i unexpectedly reached the end of the cable, resulting in a little bump.
However, what i wanted to say was that Alex and Claudia, if the shot was not good, they tell me to redone. Yes in the end i think they were happy with the shots.

[Alan Dague-Greene]

For the circling shots, you could try walking backwards (with a spotter, of course) so that the arm is out of the way of the monitor. Next time, I know, I know.

[Mike Mann]

Man, I'd make that awful trip through busy streets everyday if I could film those hotties.     I think you'll feel better when the holiday shoppers have settled down and your new gear is set up to your liking Michele.  I'm thinking of making a case myself, but not too fancy.  Probably just out of plywood because I'm tired of working with metal.  Does anyone here have a homebuilt case?  Good luck Michele.

Mike