legal question gaffers and payment.

Jason Miller

Jason Miller

Veteran
i have a question, I'm hoping some fellow gaffers can help me with.

I lite a theses project for a fellow student, with the understanding that he would loan me his redrock for my theses, now his producer-partner says if I want it I have to rent it. my question is since this was the agreed on payment for designing and exicuting their lighting, can I get a restraining order forbiding them to show the film, public or private, untill I recieve payment?

I figure if I can keep them from showing it to the theses commetty, they'll pay up.

thank you
Jason Miller
 
I think you're screwed.

Did you have a written contract? How much are you willing to spend to get a restraining order? Not to be flippant, but if you are in the position that you have been inconvenienced by having to pay for something that was promised as free, how would you ever be able to pay for litigation and a restraining order?

Move on, rent the redrock from someone else, and chalk it up to poor planning contract wise.
 
Unless its in writing, your pretty much out of luck.... Whenever I shoot stuff, I always ask for all the usual contracts / legal paperwork.
 
well I honestly didn't think I needed it in writing since he was a really good friend.
but as far as the restraning order it should only cost a couple hundred, renting the redrock for a month would be more than buying the damned thing.

the way I see it, I own the lighting design on the film, its just like an actor, with out a signed release form an actor he cant show the film.

Jason
 
Jason Miller said:
the way I see it, I own the lighting design on the film, its just like an actor, with out a signed release form an actor he cant show the film.

Jason
Click to expand...

Unfortunately you own nothing in his film. You worked for free on the understanding of a barter exchange. You would not be able to prevent him from showing the film however you could take him and his partner to small claims court. Make sure you ask for an amount equal to what you would have charged for your labor or the amount equal to what it will cost to rent the M2 adapter from someone else. All this will cost you is the court filing fees.
 
Sounds like your biggest loss is that of losing a friend. :-( Sad!

Then again, if your friendship has survived, maybe he can ultimately talk some sense into his partner? Who actually owned the Redrock? If they jointly own it, he must have some say. If the other guy owns it, maybe your friend can use the working relationship to pressure the partner.

Maybe you just need to chalk it up and move on.

Best of luck.
 
I guess thats his mistake to say you can have it if it wasn't all his to lend but then again, some peole will say anything to get people to work for them.
 
well they were both producers on the film i lite so they both had the right to speak for the project and the equipment
 
or you could just break off the friendship, notworry about it, and move on to the nextproject. Really you didnt "lose" anything like money, only some time, but you did gain experince. Both in terms of lighting and business. next time get something in writing.
 
well I lost a lot of time, this is my theses project, if I have to start over, and replan it for shots without a dof adapter then I'm screwed, 150,000 for an eductation, no degree without the theses project. I have a month to ether get an adapter, or replan without it. my problem is if I replan I have to resub my theses prop, and they may or may not accept it. they were already sceptical, they said its the most ambishous project they've ever had, and they normally reject projects much smaller.

this is one aspect I thought I had in the bag, so now I have to devide me attention between the other problems i'm working to fix, and this one.

but there is no moving on to the next project.


Jason Miller
 
C'mon, man.... You thesis project doesnt DEPEND on a 35 adpter. if your camera broke id understand..... but it doesnt depend. Just work around it. be creative.
 
WOW what an extremely petty thing to do. Sounds like a case of your friend having some jealousy issues.

I agree 100% with Timur (if you cant get your hands on another).
 
like I said the shots i have planned depend on dof control, more so than a video camera can provide, and there are the shots I pitched in my theses review, I'm a visual effects major, I got my undergrad in filmmaking, so I care about the film, the school cares about the quality of the final shots and how close it comes to what was pitched

I'm looking to buy one now, but there don't seem to be a lot of them for sale, at least not for the new asking price or less, I've gotten several emails, saying they'd sell me their redrock for 2000 or more. no FF or lens included.

dear god I sound like I'm wining, not my meaning, just looking for advice.
 
Barry Green I owe you a great deal of thanks, this semester I've been doing a lot of research on shooting with the hvx to solve the problems everyone here seems to be having with black and white outlines, I was able to solve the issue, in large part thanks to the info you've put out here for all of us.


ps for all my spelling mistakes in my last few posts, I'm sorry finals week is wrapping up and I've been in the lab for 18 straight days from 830 am to 130 am, thank god today is the last day,

Jason Miller
 
If your not pulling focus from deep in the background to foreground, you can get a roll of Hampshire frost- diffusion- and stretch it across the background.
This will give you a poor-mans version of shallow DOF. Just don't let any light hit the diffusion material. This is really only good for head shots, as your limited by the width of the diffusion material.
I know it's not the perfect solution, but a way to save you a few bucks.
 
Jason Miller said:
like I said the shots i have planned depend on dof control, more so than a video camera can provide, and there are the shots I pitched in my theses review, I'm a visual effects major, I got my undergrad in filmmaking, so I care about the film, the school cares about the quality of the final shots and how close it comes to what was pitched

I'm looking to buy one now, but there don't seem to be a lot of them for sale, at least not for the new asking price or less, I've gotten several emails, saying they'd sell me their redrock for 2000 or more. no FF or lens included.

dear god I sound like I'm wining, not my meaning, just looking for advice.
Click to expand...

You've already been given some great advice. RENT ONE for your project if you must have it. But as Timur said work around it and shoot your movie without one if you can't get a rental in your area.
BTW if an adapter, or lack of, is going to make or break your film, then you have some serious problems with your story.
 
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