I love it when a rig comes together.

The last bits to (satisfactorily) complete my 5D Mark II rig arrived today:

Though I've run it in various configurations previously, the final setup is nothing short of a joy to use.

-Kurt

Powering a BeachTek audio adapter with an external battery source

I run my rig off an Anton-Bauer Dionic 90 battery (through a 3rd-party battery adapter), a 3-hour-rated lithium-ion setup which has more stored power than I know what to do with. Given this convenient power source (with 5v, 7.2v, 12v and 15v connections on the adapter), I prefer that all the accessories on the rig run off the same power source to avoid last-minute confusion as to what on the camera has fresh batteries and what doesn't.

That, and it sure saves on batteries.

Amongst the accessories on my rig is a BeachTek DXA-5Da audio adapter, which - unlike my monitor - does not have any source for power other than a 9V battery box. Granted, the 9V power source is used only for the VU meter and headphone amp - audio devices hooked up to the unit will pass the signal to the camera with or without a battery - but it's nice to have these features at hand without worrying about battery life.

Granted, in the time that I've run it, I've used alkaline 9V batteries, not lithium - which probably account for my assessment of 9V battery life in any electronic equipment. You mileage may vary.

The unmodified BeachTek DXA-5Da

With that said, I contacted BeachTek about the voltage requirements of the unit, wherein I found out it will run equally as well on 12 volts as 9, with no issue.

EDIT: The 12V source caused an unreasonable amount of static and electronic noises when shooting. I later installed a 12-to-9V step-down adapter in the box, which I have added to the list below.

As my Anton-Bauer adapter has a 12v power source, I figured I'd take advantage of it - in a home-spun method.

Anton-Bauer adapter plate w/12v output

I located a power plug and wire off a useless Chinese doo-dad that would mate with the cable provided with the adapter and stripped the wires for soldering to the BeachTek:

Donor 12v wire

So, out came the screwdriver, and apart came the BeachTek.

WARNING: 
These photos are for example purposes only. Opening up any electronic device as shown will void its warranty and most certainly cause possible injury or death to your person and/or others. Doing so will also ruin your sex life forever. Do not try this at home or on the moon. Your stupidity will never be my responsibility in a court of law, because you free me and everybody else in the world of liability by opening your electronic stuff.

Now that that's over with, let me continue.

The DXA-5Da comes apart via the four screws at the base (hidden by four adhesive caps). Not much room to work with, particularly as the battery leads limit your ability to move the bottom half of the box aside to work in.

One drill bit later:

After a bit of debate, I decided that this location near the battery door would be the most ideal location to place the wire. Nothing would be in the way inside, and it'd be equally free of the controls at the front.

Adapter wires soldered - note tie wrap to keep the wire from pulling through

Soldering the wires into the existing 9V leads couldn't have taken more than 30 seconds.

EDIT: These procedures show the 9V unit being connected directly to the 12V source. Due to the issues relating to this combination, I purchased a 12V-to-9V step-down converter on eBay and wired it in-line with the 12V power input. The step-down unit would not fit in the BeachTek without modification, so I cut a hole in the 9V battery box, and glued the unit in from the back as shown:

 
It's a convenient and quick way about it, but given that there is no switch to re-direct the source power from the battery leads or the wire, I'd be hesitant about allowing someone other than myself to use it - combining a 9V battery and the 12V power source on the same circuit could be a nice invitation to fry something (probably the most expensive thing on your rig, as Murphy would have it).

EDIT: Now that the step-down unit takes up the area where the 9V battery would otherwise be, there is no risk of someone running the unit off of the 12V lead and a 9V battery at the same time. I did not solder the new leads to the 9V contacts either, so it wouldn't work even if one jumped it with alligator clips.

From the outside, neat and clean.

At any rate, it works perfectly off the 12V from the Chinese A-B adapter, with the step-down unit installed in the BeachTek. Excuse the funky look of the VU meter; it looks normal in person. Must have had the polarizing filter set wrong.

Success!

During my discussions, BeachTek informed me that they are working on a new adapter for release in the future that may interest me. No word of what it is.

I'm already going nuts in anticipation.

-Kurt - "Man with the 5D"

The importance of framing: Jib shots

FreddieW on YouTube once remarked that the camera you use is not as important as how you use it.

Being a film-look perfectionist, I can come up with a few hundred reasons why that is not always the case. Nevertheless, provided one has the talent for it, this statement is - in essence - true.

A perfect example can be seen in a recent test video I shot when I was checking the usability of the second-hand 8' jib crane seen here:

Not in the mood to smash my 5D if something was to go horribly wrong, I shoved my tried, tested, and thoroughly beat Flip Ultra HD crash cam on the rig.

We're talking about a camera that is best known for its mediocre 720/30p home-video look, and an automatic iris and rolling shutter that just won't quit.

And this is where framing comes in. Despite some obvious "this camera is running on full-auto mode, and we can tell" moments, it looks like a million bucks:

Yep. Framing is everything.

-Kurt K. - "Man With the 5D"

When 15mm rail systems don't fit: Fixing Cinematics' High Riser Baseplate

I cannot fault anyone for using a 15mm rail system. They're modular and most convenient - provided you don't run into an oddity.

But that's what I found when I mounted a Cinematics High Riser Baseplate to my own rig. After installation, neither my Fotga DP500II follow focus block or Cordvision arms fit with ease, so I decided to look into the matter further.

From bottom to top:
Cordvision 90 degree angle arms
Generic, Chinese 15mm rail block (all over eBay and often supplied with cheese plates)
Fotga DP500/DP500II Follow Focus Q/R block
Cinematics bridge from Q/R high-riser baseplate

The industry standard center-to-center distance is - supposedly - 60mm.

But is it?

Relative center-to-center distances of the four blocks are as follows:

Cordvision: 60.7mm
Generic: 60.5mm
Fotga: 60.5mm
Cinematics: 60mm

In short, the real standard (amongst the prosumer market, anyway) is 60.5mm - if one considers that the Fotga and generic blocks are the most common and frequently sold on eBay.

Additionally, I should note that Cordvision rails are thicker than most by 0.2-0.3mm, which accounts for the difference in the Cordvision products.

Thankfully, the Cordvision 60.7mm spacing presents no problem when running 60.5mm spacing everywhere else, but the Cinematics 60mm causes the 60.5mm equipment to bind up. Though the contracting portion of the block can take up some discrepancy (as noted with the Cordvision equipment), the inner section will not - and this is where the extra 0.5 center-to-center distance of the Cinematics' bridge causes havoc. You can see it plainly in this photograph:

There's the secret of my fitment issues - but how to rectify it? Grinding the 0.5mm off the inside of the block will only cause one of the clamps to fit loose - and that's not a reassuring thought when these bridges are the only two things holding my entire rig from crashing down over the riser mount.

Luckily, the generic bridge shown earlier has a 40mm recess in it, which matches the Cinematics riser block perfectly, even without the curvature built in:

The generic bridge also has the necessary center hole, but threaded - and unusable as-is. A bit of work in the drill press changed that. A 7/32nd drill bit was used to clean out the threads, followed by a 1/4" to make the final hole. The result?

 

It may have cost me the use of one of my cheese plates, but I can adjust any block (particularly the follow focus, of which its position changes with each lens used) on the bottom of the rig with no issue now.

Rule of thumb: If you're running 60.5mm throughout, replace your Cinematics blocks with generics. It's the best solution.

Kurt K. - "Man With the 5D"

Customer relations in film and media: How close is too close?

Given the extremely direct, two-way communication with customers afforded to companies through e-marketing, is it conceivable that this personalized service can become an out-of-control monster, taxing the resources of a firm's public relations department?

It is indeed possible, particularly in regards to film* and television production companies, both of which receive immense public attention as it is. Granted, outside of the inner discussions of these firms (and perhaps a few highly publicized disasters), few will admit to any such failure, but a simple perusal of some existing campaigns serve as good evidence of poor e-marketing decisions:

Case in point, virtually anything marketed to the male teenage crowd - and here I speak mainly from experience with YouTube, having been successful in creating one all-original video to have surpassed the million-view mark - will be met with an onslaught of social media and email communication demanding instant gratification over one's latest film or video in progress, if previously released in a teaser format.

For a small developer (such as myself), crank messages such as I describe above may be manageable; yet, the same situation can multiply into a customer relations bottleneck with any project of far greater visibility to the general public - the marketing of a popular television show or motion picture, for instance - and possibly work against the company's image if these overeager, impatient consumers are handled without due care.

In the case of YouTube, the choices are difficult - blocking comments defeats the purpose of online buzz, allowing all comments yields trash commentary with no redeeming excuse for their existence (amongst the good), and a single person can spend an entire workday moderating comments on just a view viral videos (and a robot may not do the job adequately).

What's more, it is also quite likely that these individuals will remain impossible to please in any practical manner through online channels - until they get what they want. Yet, these two-way interactions are often the best form of damage control and will keep internet pests at bay until the content they want is available to them. Despite their previous criticism, a good portion of these same people will follow through and make a purchase.

On the other hand, these social media venues can result in excellent consumer feedback - if used properly. Too frequently, this is not the case. Consider Starz Entertainment, a PPV cable company with 134,000 Facebook followers, who recently posted a poll to their followers ("What's Your Favorite Starz Original Series?"), but did so by phrasing their poll question as the headline to one of their photo albums. A poll format was not used, and users were expected to reply to the comments section. Of Starz' 134,000 Facebook followers, all of 46 used the comments section to voice their opinions - not quite the response rate needed for a meaningful survey of their social media followers (and not quite the easiest method to calculate metrics either).

Why was the response rate so low? Just like visitors to any other website, users of social media expect consistency and simplicity in website navigation and will not spend time to find something that is needlessly obscure. As the Starz example demonstrates, Facebook users are not looking to vote for their favorite Starz shows in photo albums that are comprised of the usual comments section and nothing else (even I was looking for checkboxes and/or a Likert scale), and they won't spend time to give their input if they feel it will take more effort than a few clicks on a radio button in an intuitive area of the website. Any of the popular Facebook application/plug-in polls - simply by virtue of simplicity - would have been far more likely to garner a healthier response rate.

Quite ironically, these "polls" were posted shortly following the cancellation of two very well-received Starz programs, Boss and Spartacus. Both of these shows are quite notable in that they have spurred the same exact debate in multiple internet discussion forums: Which of the two shows is the best?

While I cannot speak for the reasoning or logistics which resulted in the cancellation of either show, an online ethnographer would undoubtedly argue that the cancellation of these shows resulted in a poll that was not only poorly executed, but poorly timed (indeed, many of the 46 comments relating to the poll are Starz subscribers expressing their disapproval of the cancellations).

It is worth noting that, at this time, Starz has been drawing attention towards its new (and locally-produced, I might add) series, Magic City, which is nearing the release of its second season. However, Magic City has a mediocre track record with Starz subscribers - easily observable through multiple internet forum discussions. If the point of these efforts are to shift subscribers towards Magic City and their other current offerings, Starz' e-marketing efforts have fallen short.

On a side note: At the initial release of Magic City in mid-2012, Starz' introductory website for the show (http://www.magiccitysweeps.starz.com, since replaced with a standard landing page on the Starz website) boasted a raffle for a restored 1958 Cadillac, links to visit the Starz Facebook page, and allowed users to forward an "internet postcard" from the fictional Miramar Playa hotel that serves as the center of the show's plot. Not quite the pinnacle of interactive online marketing, nor particularly effective (after a few visits to the site, I found myself questioning why I would send anyone a postcard from a hotel that does not exist while I am not on vacation). I was not surprised to see that the site counter and the view count of Starz' YouTube promotional video for the Cadillac raffle remained roughly equal.

That's not to say that there aren't any positives to be derived from close contact with the viewing public, as fan feedback gave MGM the direction to improve the James Bond franchise with the release of Skyfall last year. Skyfall - though modern - is laden with classic Bond elements, which was sorely lacking in the film's heavily criticized (both by fans online and by critics in print) predecessor, Quantum of Solace. In part, appeasing these fan complaints have resulted in Skyfall being heralded as one of the best entries yet in the Bond franchise - though it could be argued that viewer input over Skyfall has been partially influenced by an intense campaign of propagandistic press releases. Either way, observation of online communities show acceptance and favor for Skyfall; in short, MGM's homework paid off.

-Kurt Kaminer

*I use the term "video" to refer to both 35mm content and that shot on viral video, for the boundaries between the equipment used for movies, television, and YouTube viral sensations are beginning to blur.

For an additional insight on the pros and cons of e-marketing, see the following:

Sensible Marketing: How much interactivity does online marketing need?