On the set of "24"

Hilarious to hear what he says about process work - he makes no secret over hating it. Bridges was famous for the 'Cuda that Don Johnson drove during the series. He flatly refused to be towed in the 4th car, which was given over to process work.

So, it was a regular thing to see that yellow car chasing - completely wild - a full ShotMaker rig through the streets of San Francisco. We had to get a three-axis remote head to do the Dutchouts that Carlton Cuse and DJ made a signature of the series.

No wonder Charters laments process work now.

e
 
So sorry the threads were combined. Please keep on posting.
I'm curious who combined the threads and why??????
 
Thank you all so much for your interest and comments. I have a crew of 15 rotating and about 7 regulars, all unpaid except for the experience, on 2nd Unit and your comments, good and bad, are what keeps all our spirits up. 16k downloads and growing each week. Amazing! And as to mentioning our sponsors...you bet we will, again, good and bad, as much as we can. Why? Because for the past 2 years, even when we were buying all our own equipment, we gave the same amount of coverage to the JVCs which we bought out of pocket and hyped with absolutely no0 compensation from JVC . I remember we shot JVC 100HDs of which I went out and bought 6 because i was so impressed with them. But back then we weren't acused of over-hyping but now we are.?!?!?! Curious. Well, all I can tell you is we'll keep on telling it like it is, good and bad, until everyone who plunks down their had-earned money gets the message so their money isn't wasted. And a great example on the integrity of our "over-hyping"? Try this on for size. Sony-Best damn camera I've shot with (with its 1/2" chip set limits) EVER. GO BUY IT. Heck, BUY TWO. Monitors...well not so much from our sponsors over at Sony. But Panasonic- Best damn monitor for the price ($4k for a 26") ever. I shoot EVERYTHING through it. Sony sponsor? Yes! Panasonic? No! Here's another. Apple- Best Damn NLE out there. Adobe-Best Damn Suite ever. But there's a conflict. S Apple=FCP, Adobe+ Premiere (and After Effects, Macromedia and a ton of others) So the question is, why do so many seemingly competitive companies ALL sponsor 2nd Unit? Simple. We tell the truth. We don't play favorites and, when you stand back and look at them, each, inandof themselves, are a single gear on an incredibly complex mechanism. Put it all together and we're lucky enough to have all of them see the benefit of sponsoring 2nd Unit. So, for those of you who may get tired of the "over-hype" of 2nd Unit or Sony, sorry, there's nothing I'm going to do about it because what we do isn't for money. Rather it's to bring you and show you what can be done with the best damn gears in an extremely complex machine!All that being said, I really can't thank you all enough for chiming in. Please, please kep it coming and if you're in the area, come on down and shoot a day or two with us. We'd love to have you!
 
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overlandfilms said:
Anyway, even with locked-off cameras, you guys should be able to get into a quarter instead of a profile. They're not flattering for anyone and you simply don't get the eyes you should.

Obviously, lots of care was lavished on lighting this one and the framing should match. You are shooting cinematographers after all!

e
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You dont know, you not there. :nads:
 
jlames said:
Thank you all so much for your interest and comments. I have a crew of 15 rotating and about 7 regulars, all unpaid except for the experience, on 2nd Unit and your comments, good and bad, are what keeps all our spirits up. 16k downloads and growing each week. Amazing! And as to mentioning our sponsors...you bet we will, again, good and bad, as much as we can. Why? Because for the past 2 years, even when we were buying all our own equipment, we gave the same amount of coverage to the JVCs which we bought out of pocket and hyped with absolutely no0 compensation from JVC . I remember we shot JVC 100HDs of which I went out and bought 6 because i was so impressed with them. But back then we weren't acused of over-hyping but now we are.?!?!?! Curious. Well, all I can tell you is we'll keep on telling it like it is, good and bad, until everyone who plunks down their had-earned money gets the message so their money isn't wasted. And a great example on the integrity of our "over-hyping"? Try this on for size. Sony-Best damn camera I've shot with (with its 1/2" chip set limits) EVER. GO BUY IT. Heck, BUY TWO. Monitors...well not so much from our sponsors over at Sony. But Panasonic- Best damn monitor for the price ($4k for a 26") ever. I shoot EVERYTHING through it. Sony sponsor? Yes! Panasonic? No! Here's another. Apple- Best Damn NLE out there. Adobe-Best Damn Suite ever. But there's a conflict. S Apple=FCP, Adobe+ Premiere (and After Effects, Macromedia and a ton of others) So the question is, why do so many seemingly competitive companies ALL sponsor 2nd Unit? Simple. We tell the truth. We don't play favorites and, when you stand back and look at them, each, inandof themselves, are a single gear on an incredibly complex mechanism. Put it all together and we're lucky enough to have all of them se the benefit of sponsoring 2nd Unit. So, for those of you who may get tired of the "over-hype" of 2nd Unit or Sony, sorry, there's nothing I'm going to do about it because what we do isn't for money. Rather it's to bring you and show you what can be done with the best damn gears in an extremely complex machine!All that being said, I really can't thank you all enough for chiming in. Please, please kep it coming and if you're in the area, come on down and shoot a day or two with us. We'd love to have you!
Click to expand...

Its okay j lames, they are only for :kali: pansonic!
Dvinfo for all. I hung there beause all pros.
Now Pleaes goto www.2ndunit.tv and downoand latest trailer!!!!!
 
Relative to the "profile" issue, you're right. I suppose it's not the content of your comment but the tone with which I take exception. I probably would have said something like, "Gee, I really applaud you for bringing viewers behinds the scenes of top drama series. One question though; why did you select a full profile? I noticed you never do that on any of the other 20-some episides you've shot for 2nd Unit who are usually in quarter-profile. Were there some problems you had to overcome?" That way, your professionalism would have shown through as significantly as your experience does if that's your picture that accompanies the posting and we all would have learned something through a well-worded question and not an accusatory finger. Just my humble thoughts. Anyway, thanks for noticiing the lighting but we didn't "lavish" any more or less on it than any other setting. It just looked that way because of the dramatic set wall that's part of the Situation Room. The shots are what I selected given the confinds and I mean CONFINDS I was given. Few have been on the 24 set so you can't know the restrictions but there are some SIGNIGFICANT ones. We had four walls and three of them we glass with trademarked sets on the other side of 3 of them. So, between the glare and the restiction, what ya see is what ya get. I respect your opinion but I would ask that you consider the fact that you weren't there, I, with only 23 years of experience was and, respectfully and I would never have worded my post as you did yours. We're all here doing our best to help independent filmmakers make a better workproduct at our own expense and a couple of us really do know what we're doing. Even the cast and crew of 24 have had to deal with some "challenging environmental constraints" with the completely new 24 set and two are room size and ceiling height. Each should be easilly doubled to allow for movement and shot selection but that being said, the confinds are a testament to what Rodney and John Cassar and their crews have done. You have that "confined" feeling while watching any "24" shot in the bunker or in CTU or in the Situation Room where we were. And that, combined with with the restrictions on which way we could point our cameras, explains the "profile" view. We didn't have a "quarter" shot. The Fox restrictions on lens direction dictated everything so we worked with what we were given and that was it and were darned lucky to be given it. Again, thatnks to the people at FOX and 24 for the truly one-of-a-kind interview and access to a completely cosed set.
 
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jlames,

Who said I've never been on the set of 24?

When we did Bridges, it was much the same thing. Nash's apartment, Joe's apartment, the SIU and other sets were all practical. In fact, after Rodney left the show, we changed the SIU from the ferry to a galvanised-walled barge with no wild elements whatever. Shooting there was always a good time.

:lipsrseal

Regardless, the next time I come to LA, I'll drop you a line and donate my time to an episode of 2nd-Unit. If you could score an XDCam hat for me, I'd appreciate it - Sony never gave us any even though we were on the first show to shoot all XDCam 350s in the USA. Whatever, no hard feelings.

:kali:

As I said, I think you put forth good information and interesting insight through your interviews. I just thought the cavalcade of Sony branding (e.g., the woman who threw on an XDCam hat for the sitting at the producer's monitor gag) was humorous. I'm the king of pimping my sponsors and the brands we sell, so I'll just type this from my glass house and like it.

:cheesy:

e
 
jlames said:
Relative to the "profile" issue, you're right. I suppose it's not the content of your comment but the tone with which I take exception. I probably would have said something like, "Gee, I really applaud you for bringing viewers behinds the scenes of top drama series. One question though; why did you select a full profile? I noticed you never do that on any of the other 20-some episides you've shot for 2nd Unit who are usually in quarter-profile. Were there some problems you had to overcome?" That way, your professionalism would have shown through as significantly as your experience does if that's your picture that accompanies the posting and we all would have learned something through a well-worded question and not an accusatory finger. Just my humble thoughts. Anyway, thanks for noticiing the lighting but we didn't "lavish" any more or less on it than any other setting. It just looked that way because of the dramatic set wall that's part of the Situation Room. The shots are what I selected given the confinds and I mean CONFINDS I was given. Few have been on the 24 set so you can't know the restrictions but there are some SIGNIGFICANT ones. We had four walls and three of them we glass with trademarked sets on the other side of 3 of them. So, between the glare and the restiction, what ya see is what ya get. I respect your opinion but I would ask that you consider the fact that you weren't there, I, with only 23 years of experience was and, respectfully and I would never have worded my post as you did yours. We're all here doing our best to help independent filmmakers make a better workproduct at our own expense and a couple of us really do know what we're doing. Even the cast and crew of 24 have had to deal with some "challenging environmental constraints" with the completely new 24 set and two are room size and ceiling height. Each should be easilly doubled to allow for movement and shot selection but that being said, the confinds are a testament to what Rodney and John Cassar and their crews have done. You have that "confined" feeling while watching any "24" shot in the bunker or in CTU or in the Situation Room where we were. And that, combined with with the restrictions on which way we could point our cameras, explains the "profile" view. We didn't have a "quarter" shot. The Fox restrictions on lens direction dictated everything so we worked with what we were given and that was it and were darned lucky to be given it. Again, thatnks to the people at FOX and 24 for the truly one-of-a-kind interview and access to a completely cosed set.
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eh overland!!!!!!!! :kali:
 
WOW! I am so happy that I happened on this thread!

Great job 2unit.tv!!! I now have you bookmarked and will be visiting often!

I just saw the first episode of the interview with Rodney Charters on the set of 24... I loved it. What a great opportunity for you and for me!

I'm going back for more.... RIGHT NOW!

Thanks!

-Ted
 
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Just wanted to add something to what Jonathan posted about the "24" setup. I was there handling the cameras and I was well aware of the profile shot. But, and this is a big deal, Rodney gave us his lunch time for the interview. In addition to that we had to unload two car loads of gear, in the rain, set up shop in the situation room, get going and let the cinematographer of the show go back to his $25,000-of-film-a-day job.
Quite frankly I'm amazed that he's able to handle that kind of pressure and sit down with us and then go back to work as if nothing happened.

Given all these factors I refrained from stopping the interview and ask to reposition the camera because of the profile issue. I had the luck and opportunity to meet Rodney before and I knew how important his contribution would have been. We tried to schedule this even 3 times before and we sure didn't want to lose content just to make the setup fancier. So...we traded image for content.


--
Paolo
 
Guys, relax. It looked great. You're doing good things. Most people don't have access to DPs of this caliber for Q&A.

My observations are meant to be taken as minor suggestions - nothing more. I would have made a different framing happen. That's all.

When you post here with a call for critique, "...Please give us a review of what you think. We are here to learn also." and then react so defensively, you do the poster and yourselves little service.

You asked. Like you said, we're all here to learn.

e
 
Well, I will say that I noted the profile shots myself (and thought to myself how I would have liked to frame the shot) but I reminded myself that it was most likely because of the restrictions given by Fox. And completely understandable at that.

I was just thankful to be able to witness this interview with such a mild mannered guy while on the set of 24. Very cool! And seriously, what a great guy Mr. Charters seems to be.

Honestly, I don't think that overlandfilms was intending to be thoughtless in his critique. (mind you, I don't know him from Adam... so maybe he was! But I get the sense that it was just an observation.)
 
Oops! Sorry overland... didn't mean to be talking about you with you standing right there! :) (ps... that is a "good" smiley!)
 
Like Arrested Development when they're always talking about someone in the third when they're standing RIGHT NEXT TO THEM. Gets me every time.

AD_nevernude167.jpg


TOBIAS

Excuse me? Do these effectively hide my thunder?



F-ing hilarious.

e
 
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You're right, it is about learning and we do solicit, with every post, constructive criticism. But when that goes over the top, that's when my usually mild-mannered dander get up. I care, as Jarred will tell you first hand, for the job I do, the people who trust me and the space he gives us all here. And while I appreciate that this is a free and open society with everyone able to express their opinions, (I fought for them for 4 years) when those opinions are disrespectful, in my humble opinion, of others’ work, it causes problems. With all due respect and those of you who know me from my 2-years on this board, I mean that sincerely because I firmly believe that you don't have to be disagreeable to disagree, if you want to pick on me, that's fine. After 23 years in this business I can take it. But referring to a hat a woman is wearing as just for the shot and a gag is as insulting as it is wrong. Let me tell you a little something about the woman you refer to, if for no other reason that in many respects, she mirrors all of us here.

Lilliana is a 50-something individual who could have easily thought Hollywood passed her by but didn't. She showed up at the El Papel cattle call, along with 400+ others seeking 5 main roles, not really expecting to win. But she competed nonetheless and when the dust settled, she was picked to play "Mama" because she beat out everyone else there for that spot on merit and ability. Did we give her a hat? No.

Then, if the picture which accompanies your post is you, you have the age to have the experience to know that every show has someone who becomes "Mama" to the cast and crew; the go-to person for anything and everything. The deal-maker, the peace-keeper. She became that person relating to b oth the cast and the crew equally and acting as the lubricant between these all-too-many-times squeaky wheels understanding the needs of b oth and relating the crews’ directives and vision to the cast so that everything just came out well. Again, every show I've had the privilege of working in 23 years has had one and for El Papel, this diminutive Mexican American who worked her way up from immigrant to American citizen was it. Did she get a hat for this role? No. Then, mixing in an ambitious shooting schedule with her day ... or should I say night ... job as a dispatcher for the Los Angeles Police Department's 10,000 officers, she was asked to take on another role, this time that of linguist when El Papel was picked up for Spanish television before the pilot was even finished in English. All 4 main characters speak Spanish with varying degrees of success. One from Venezuela, one from Puerto Rico, one from Peru and one from Mexico, they all spoke Spanish but not one consistent dialect of Spanish so Lilliana stepped up to the plate again as linguist now working 8 hours a day for the LAPD, 8 hours and more a day on set for the role, 2-3 hours a day with the cast as linguist and hopefully sleeping the rest. Did we give here a hat? No. The it became apparent that while I was directing a great story in English which prompted the network purchase, I didn't speak Spanish well enough to direct it so in steps Lilliana who shared my vision for the pilot and was a natural as an Asst. Director. Did I give her a hat? Yes but not for that. She had not gone home one night coming right from LAPD Dispatch to the set … and she looked like it. And I have to tell you, the tears said it all when someone handed her a hat with something on it and pulled that one back and gave her the one I was wearing off my head telling her she had earned it. It was like a right of passage. This Mexican American, 50-something immigrant who thought her dreams of a Hollywood career ended with the first laugh line around her eyes was given a chance to succeed and she knocked it out of the park and continues to do so today. So when you, again, not possibly being able to know the circumstances, flippantly refer to a hard-fought-for and won symbol of success by saying that she "threw on an XDCam hat for the sitting at the producer's monitor gag) was humorous”, I have to tell you, I take exception to that because it’s an insult to everyone who gives of their time here and everything they’ve accomplished against impossible obstacles. Again, if your picture's any indication, you're on the back 9 of life and your career in Hollywood hopefully has achieved success in a very difficult business. I’m sure this is true because “Bridges” didn’t hire just anyone. It took the top people it could get because that’s just the way the show went from Dan Truly on down the line. So you must have been good at what you did. What you’re doling now other than writing blurbs on this board I don’t know but I do know that Liliana, also on the back 9, and I, again on the back 9, decided to do something. I started 2nd Unit and gave of myself and my money to try and help others in the filmmaking community who are going to take my place one day. Liliana never gave up and when given the chance to act, took it three bases further hitting a home run for the team proving that age is a benefit and not a barrier when used correctly. And all the others on 2nd Unit which went from an idea no one really thought about except Jarred Land and Chris Hurd to a fairly successful weekly show that hopefully benefits people now supported by Sony, Apple, Adobe, Tiffen, Steadicam, Fujinon, Studio Direct, Birns and Sawyer, Big Vision Studios and a host of others proudly claim as their own, some on the front and some on the back 9 are all giving it their all because barriers work both ways. Hollywood wants youth but is leery because of its inherent inexperience. Yet it reject the old and its experience because we live in a youth-oriented world. The old Catch 22. So I guess the bottom line here is that this forum is by and for all of us who wear the hats…and shirts and show jackets and carry cameras and mics and mixers and boards and, and, and, and…; all symbols of our achievements that were earned and not merely thrown on as site-gags to promote the sponsors. Liliana earned that hat that day and today wears it proudly virtually every day she’s on set when we’re shooting in Spanish and she’s not in front of the lens. Please, please give her the respect that she’s earned and think of your words the next time you put on a show shirt or jacket or hat and wear it with the pride that is rightly due you. You paid your dues, on Bridges and doubtless on many other shows. Give her the same courtesy you demand yourself. And to that end, I have a proposition for you. When you say, “Whatever, no hard feelings.”, to prove there are no hard feelings, why don’t you let us bring you out here and do a show on your experiences in television and whatever other forms of entertainment you know. I’m certain that, with your years of experience, there are plenty of stories, anecdotes and pearls of wisdom our viewers would love to hear about. The George Spiro Dibie interviews still hold the record for the most recurring downloads and he’s definitely on the back 9 but that’s what 2nd Unit’s all about; making sure that the experience moves on to the next generation. So how about it? No hard feelings and let’s use this opportunity to get something good to the viewers. It’s on me.
 
overlandfilms said:
Like Arrested Development when they're always talking about someone in the third when they're standing RIGHT NEXT TO THEM. Gets me every time.

F-ing hilarious.

e
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HAHA! Exactly!

Anyway, 2nd Unit Tv... looking forward to the second episode of the interview. Until then, I'll be visiting your past episodes.

Really glad that I stumbled onto this thread.

-Ted
 
I'll just say as my last post on your good work that I meant no offense to what you're accomplishing or the people behind it.

e
 
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