Tour of my DP cart

CharlesPapert

CharlesPapert

Director of Photography
A couple of years ago I made a quickie clip of my DP cart before going to NAB with the intention of making a more produced version down the road and it hasn't happened yet, so I figured I'd post this for anyone interested.

After a great run on Key & Peele where I was able to have a full-time DIT, I then had a run of TV shows where I was not allowed one. I'd already started playing around with using a
Blackmagic ATEM TV Studio on the last season of Key & Peele as a source switcher, which I preferred to the router my DIT had because it provided a clean switch. I found the frame store capability of the ATEM was handy to use reference grabs in the lighting process, something akin to the way we used to use Polaroids on film shoots. Once I started doing the shows without DIT's, I found it tiresome to have to configure a cart for myself for each show with rental scopes and the like so I set out to build a cart that had just what I needed onboard. It took around a year and a half to configure what you see in the clip below, working with a custom fabricator.

Essentially, this system allows me to finetune the image with multiple cameras (the typical setup I work with in episodic) while maintaining a library of references that is handy within scenes for matching, but also great to be able to pull up at any time during the show--very handy for shooting out of order or in re-shoots. The cart acts as a distribution hub for the images around the set, streamlining that process from show to show.

This is NOT a replacement for a DIT cart! For one thing, I don't do color and LUT's on set as I feel there is too much management involved with that (dialing in color is one thing but ensuring that it gets passed on to post with the appropriate notations of which shots it applies to is where it gets time consuming). And I obviously don't manage data and transcodes. I try to work with a DIT whenever possible, but that is often not the case especially in episodic where certain networks and entities have banned the use of DIT's. This cart simply allows me maintain continuity from job to job.

As noted earlier, the video is scrappy and I wish I had someone else shoot it so I could better focus on what I was saying, but the points get across!

https://vimeo.com/papert/cart
 
But where's the back up cart!
J/K, you know I'm jealous.

I have to resort to sending signals into my CD O7Q+ to compare cameras. Then I route that into a 21.5" OSEE monitor so I can see what I'm lookin' at.
 
bill totolo said:
But where's the back up cart!
Click to expand...

Well, you know I have a second cart which is the baby version of this one, for jobs where there is a DIT (so I don't need to worry about distribution and whatnot) and/or where it needs to be light enough to be carried up stairs. It's been at the fabricators for mods for a few months but allegedly coming home tomorrow, so maybe I'll post a followup with that one. It's cute.

The super-portable version that I've had to use once or twice is a Decimator DMON-Quad with remote, which will let me switch between four sources or the quad split. I've done that on process trailers and the like.
 
CharlesPapert said:
Well, you know I have a second cart which is the baby version of this one, for jobs where there is a DIT (so I don't need to worry about distribution and whatnot) and/or where it needs to be light enough to be carried up stairs. It's been at the fabricators for mods for a few months but allegedly coming home tomorrow, so maybe I'll post a followup with that one. It's cute.

The super-portable version that I've had to use once or twice is a Decimator DMON-Quad with remote, which will let me switch between four sources or the quad split. I've done that on process trailers and the like.
Click to expand...

Touche!
I'll shoot the sequel.
 
Pretty cool. Makes me glad I don't shoot multicam very often, so much cabling/routing/configuration to work at your level. There is a freedom to single camera that's nice.
 
I am so glad you posted this!

It reminded me that I needed to install scope box onto my new Mac mini.

Your cart came out well by the way.

Dave
 
For anyone going to Vimeo to see George's cart, check out "Valley Girl Sizzle" next on his menu. Best little beauty short I've seen in some time!

G
 
rob norton said:
I would also like to know!?
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Of course, it is a financially based decision. Union scale for a DIT is generally at or above operator scale, making them the second highest paid member of camera department after the DP. The primary argument that I have heard is that the position was created when the look was being burned in on set (think F900 or original Varicam), and now that we shoot log or raw, there will always a be a full color session regardless of what LUT's are used on set. Some shows will be allowed a DIT for a short run at the beginning of the season to help set looks and built LUT's that will then be used for the rest of the season, and ensure that the workflow is in place with post. This was the case for me on the NBC series I shot last year, I got a DIT for prep and two days the first week.

As far as the specific issue of visual continuity, I believe that falls to the DP whether there is a DIT or not. We had that same responsibility in the film days and I don't see why I'd lean on a DIT now to achieve that. My use of frame grabs as seen in the video has been a powerful tool for me to be able to match within and between scenes so I don't really need a DIT to weigh in on that. It is helpful for me to have a second set of eyes on the frame--sometimes my DIT will catch flicker in lighting units or focus issues that I missed. I'd always rather have one. But there's not much I can do if the entity I'm working for has an existing edict against that position.
 
Great post Charles - and thanks for the tour. Assume this cart is heavy enough it needs a lift gate - or at least two - to load?
 
markfpv said:
Great post Charles - and thanks for the tour. Assume this cart is heavy enough it needs a lift gate - or at least two - to load?
Click to expand...

Lift gate, yup! I forgot to include in the video that it is built to break down vertically into three sections. Four power cables are unplugged, four latches per section and then two people can easily carry each piece up stairs.

I also forgot to show how the right side of the top of the cart unlatches and becomes a cover for the patch panel on the side of the cart, reducing the overall width.

My lightweight cart is designed to be carried up stairs by two people without needing to be broken down, or lifted into an SUV by one person after one case and the front wheels are slid out. I'll post video of that once it returns from the fabricator in a week or so.
 
CharlesPapert said:
Of course, it is a financially based decision. Union scale for a DIT is generally at or above operator scale, making them the second highest paid member of camera department after the DP. The primary argument that I have heard is that the position was created when the look was being burned in on set (think F900 or original Varicam), and now that we shoot log or raw, there will always a be a full color session regardless of what LUT's are used on set. Some shows will be allowed a DIT for a short run at the beginning of the season to help set looks and built LUT's that will then be used for the rest of the season, and ensure that the workflow is in place with post. This was the case for me on the NBC series I shot last year, I got a DIT for prep and two days the first week.

As far as the specific issue of visual continuity, I believe that falls to the DP whether there is a DIT or not. We had that same responsibility in the film days and I don't see why I'd lean on a DIT now to achieve that. My use of frame grabs as seen in the video has been a powerful tool for me to be able to match within and between scenes so I don't really need a DIT to weigh in on that. It is helpful for me to have a second set of eyes on the frame--sometimes my DIT will catch flicker in lighting units or focus issues that I missed. I'd always rather have one. But there's not much I can do if the entity I'm working for has an existing edict against that position.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, it's cool bit of production history. That sounds like a lot of pressure for the DITs during those F900 days!
 
NorBro said:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1266036/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_1
Click to expand...

Mm, I should probably re-name or remove that clip which I made while I was in consideration for that film (I didn't get it). I had done a series with the lead from the movie, Jess Rothe (now probably best known as the star of the "Happy Death Day" franchise") which is the first section of that clip and the rest was examples of of musical type scenes since Valley Girl was a musical. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the film was shelved and has yet to get a release date.
 
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