scrubs charles etc.
 

I'm a bit out of loss for words. Saw my very first episode of
Scrubs yesterday evening (episode My Old Lady) on national
TV. Now I've never been a fan of "hospital" shows but this
one was very funny. Thought I noticed some steadicam shots
and can only imagine who was "walking" the camera on those.

Feels pretty incredible to "know" someone who worked on
a show that is being aired by a TV station here.

I hope to see more episodes!

Rob i worked as an A camera operator on a really crummy australian show for 2 years...

and it still makes me go weak at the knees when i speak to people who work with the big boys in LA, i can't wait to conquer LA with my stuff.

Zac

I'm a huge fan of John C. McGinley. Scrubs is a great show and we're fortunate to have Charles on board with us.

Thanks Rob. Glad you liked it. That particular episode was our third to air, and it is one of my favorites in the way that it blended the laughs with real emotion and serious scenarios without being maudlin. Pretty ballsy for a (then) unproven freshman comedy.

I actually do all of the operating on the show, Steadi and otherwise, and DP some second unit stuff.

Keep a'watchin!

Charles... You are a DP too? I have a question... I know WHAT a Director of Photography is, sort of, but would like to know more.
What kind of equipment do you use, and what are the duties?
Thanks

OK...

The usual breakdown of a union camera dept. is:

Director of Photography (aka the cinematographer, also known as the cameraman): head of the department, works with the director, production designer and other department heads to create the look of the show. Designs the lighting setups, has varying amounts of input over the camera and lens choices (some directors are more or less hands-on about this). His right-hand men/women are the gaffer, the key grip and the operator, who carry out his directions for the lighting and camera placement.

Camera Operator: I posted a ridiculously lengthy description of duties here a while back, wouldn't know how to find it at this point, but in a nutshell: works with the director and the DP to line up and execute the camera moves.

1st Assistant: Pulls focus, manages the rest of the department and make sure all gear is ordered and functioning.

2nd Assistant: "runs" for the 1st, builds/breakdowns cameras, slates each take, does camera reports, records info on each setup (focal length, lens, film stock etc).

Loader: loads the magazines, manages the inventory of film, acts as liason for on-set camera personnel and production (i.e. makes phone calls)

For additional camera days, a "B" unit would add another operator, 1st and 2nd assistant; for big multiple camera days (stunts, explosions, etc) you keep lettering the cameras down the line. On my current show we will have a few "A" through "D" camera days.

For a digital show, the loader is replaced by a video tech, who will assist the DP in dialing in the look they desire.

To more specifically answer the question about the DP position, Keith:

Equipment-wise, a set of incident and spot meters are standard, with color temperature meter optional (gaffer usually uses his). Beyond that, everyone works differently--some other items would be:

- PDA or PC software to calculate the position of the sun at a given time to determine ideal shooting time while prepping
- "Look book"--binder of still images used as a visual reference with the director, and also with the color timer to assure proper timing of dailies.
- Polaroid (vintage peel-off type), used to judge lighting contrast

Actually, re-reading the question Keith, I'm not sure what you meant by "equipment"? Did you mean what kind of cameras?

But specifically: I have been working as a DP for years, but my more high-profile work is as an operator. On some of the shows I operate I move up to shoot (i.e., DP) second unit. I have shot a feature and a gaggle of short films and commercials. If you have all of the HBO channels including HBO Latino, you can check out my work every day--inbetween shows, they have short bumpers that end with a "next on HBO" listing which include stylized footage of "real life" Latino's. I shot that material a few years ago, and it still runs daily, much to my surprise (and disappointment--I thought I would have been called back to shoot more by now!)

Wow, great info, Chas... I'll try to find that previous post you were referring to and maybe combine it with this one as an article for the site, if that's all right with you.

Charles, that show is one of my favorites on TV right now. The intro is pretty cool, everytime I watch that, i'm like "how did they do that?!?"...

Wow is right! Thanks Charles, for the info! The reason I asked about DPs, is due to a posting on Mandy.com. They are looking for a "DP with own equipment" to work on a documentry in Bosnia and Florida. I'm already in Fla, so I wanted to see if I was qualified. I guess not, as I have no idea what the equipment is, or where to find it, or how to use it.

Still very informative :)

That's a little different than I've seen it, Robert...on small crews, the grips and electrics tend to cover each other's workload (sometimes there are "swing" personnel who move between grip and electric) but at least domestically, grips don't dealwith power distribution. Also, the key grip and gaffer are essentially equals, each having best boys who coordinate the ordering of gear and personnel for upcoming work.

It's all a little different in other countries, in my limited experience working over there.

Keith, in a documentary situation the DP generally operates as well, as well as lighting as needed. Assuming this is a video job, you would obviously need a camera package, and would probably be expected to have a small lighting package as well (DC and AC).

Alex: the opening of "Scrubs" was shot with an elaborate motion control system. The move was programmed and then repeated many times, with each actor switching around between takes. The assistant director counted a cadence from a stopwatch which helped the actors pace their movements so they would match each other as much as possible. In post, the takes were dissolved rapidly between each other.

Thats cool. I knew it was done by repeating the same movements over and over, with different actors and stuff, but I didn't think there would actually be something that was programmed for the movements. Cool.

"at least domestically, grips don't dealwith power distribution"

Right--unless the crew is so small that there's no distinction between the grip and electric crew.

I think the post Charles mentioned can be found here
(at the bottom of the page)

The post I was thinking of (which seems to have thankfully disappeared into the dusty archives) was about 437 pages long with extra-wide margins. The world is a safer place without it.

Perhaps this one then??

who is Jon Inwood?
 

Charles, who is John Inwood?
According to a press release at
www.digitalproducer.com he is the Cinematographer for scrubs and will be part of a live chat hosted by Kodak on June 27? I'm a little confused here. He claims he uses a single mobile 16mm camera to shoot the series.

Kodak is making it sound like he is the only one shooting the series.

John Inwood is the Director of Photography (DP) of "Scrubs". I'm the "A" camera operator, and I occasionally shoot (aka DP) second unit. He's my boss, and a great guy. Who knows, he might mention me during the chat??

It's a subtlety, but when one says "I shoot (insert movie/TV show here)" or "I'm the cameraman", it means you are the DP. I usually say I "operate" a show to make the distinction.

Saw another episode last night where they get there very own
interns and you guys somehow managed to get "the hulk" in
there :) Lauged a lot, was a funny episode!

Oh, and please send Sarah my e-mail addy! <g>

what I'd give to just have an hour on set and watch everything happening.

Rob, did you notice that the "cold open", the introductory section before the credits, was one long Steadicam shot that took the lead actors from the parking lot, through the hospital, up an elevator, down more corridors and into the ICU? That was a marathon day, 37 takes of that one shot!

Scrubs is a great show. It's cool to see you are such a huge part of it. I'm a big fan of Donald Faison, he's hilarious.

I have a quick question regarding the relationship between DP and camera operator. Whether on television or film, when does the DP get the opportunity to operate the camera? What are the rules behind that....is it just the DP's preference? Obviously the DP has a set of different responsiblities, but often when I watch the behind the scenes footage of feature films, I see the DP often taking hold of the camera in many scenes. Bob Richardson, (Oliver Stone's DP) seems to do this a lot. And I've even seen some directors such as Luc Besson and Niel Jordan manhandle the camera. I'm just a little confused on how that whole process works...does the DP or director just come in whenever they want to operate? Or do the need to operate specific shots? I'm interested in pursuing the path of DP because I enjoy lighting (though I'm just beginning with that) , but I also enjoy operating the camera and wouldn't want to limit myself to just lighting. Hope this question makes sense.

Brad, that's an excellent question and your observations are astute.

Every DP is different in their approach. Some like to be very hands on with the camera, prefering to operate themselves. I have worked with Roger Deakins a few times, most recently on the upcoming Coen Brother's movie "Intolerable Cruelty", and he operates the A camera himself. In this instance, union requirements still insist on a camera operator to be included on the payroll, although he will be essentially a standby.

Other DP's will involve the operator as a collaborator, and will sometimes leave the operator to line up the shot while they focus on lighting. I have been fortunate enough to enjoy this relationship with several DP's.

As far as the union is concerned, as long as an operator is being paid for, they don't care how many shots the DP operates himself. In the non-union world, the DP usually operates as well as lights.

I was just discussing the concept of directors operating with the director of my current feature, just today. I thought and he agreed that the two jobs are at odds with each other, in that it seems impossible to be able to concentrate fully on the various mechanical and timing-based issues of operating while paying full attention to the actors.

That hasn't stopped a whole slew of actors turned director from trying to do both. Some can do it, others have a hard time acting, let alone running the show.

True enough. In fact, the lead actor of "Scrubs", Zach Braff, is currently in post on his first feature on which he was a triple hyphenate...writer, director and actor. It was produced by Jersey Films, Danny Devito's company, and stars Zach and Natalie Portman. I heard it went well. Zach is very talented. Last year he directed the music video for the theme song from "Scrubs" which I DP'd for him (you can see it here, scroll to the second news item to find the link).

Some big news, while we are on the subject--I am not returning to Scrubs for the upcoming season. I'm moving on to pursue other projects and some directing opportunities. It's going to be strange watching the new episodes when they come on air!

thanks Charles, that makes perfect sense to me. I guess it's not all cut and dry and depends on the DP's preferences. That's good to know.

Interesting that you mention the conflict between directing/operating and directing/acting. I too was having a conversation about this with someone the other day. I can imagine that directors have a hard time judging a performance when their eye is behind the viewfinder, trying to focus on the technicalities behind the camera -which of course you know is a job all in itself. I guess some directors can handle that, like Soderburgh and Robert Rodriquez. Though in Rodriquez's case, since he seems to wear so many hats on the set, I think it results in somewhat muddled filmmaking. Maybe that's just my opinion on his films.

As far as directing and acting in your own films, I imagine that's a very difficult thing to do, especially on huge films like Braveheart, where Mel Gibson directed and starred. Would the assistant director in this case call action and cut? I'm trying to imagine Mel Gibson chanting out his major speech, then all of a sudden yelling "Cut!, My performance sucked, let's do that again". Plus, since the actor is so focused on his own performance, how can he guage the performance of his costars at the same time? I guess people pull it off, it just seems illogical.

Many directors prefer to have the AD call "action" and "cut" for them as a standard procedure. Others just have them call "action", while they call the cut themselves. Often the "action" call will be more complicated and have several cues, including "background action" (extras), "camera" (to cue a move that needs to start before the action) or other individual cues. Not having to concentrate on the timing of these allows the director to focus better on the shot as it happens.

I don't know if I'll recover from not having you on the set of Scrubs,
Charles! <g> We need that inside information.... Anyways, I did
notice that steadicam shot which was pretty awesome. I didn't
notice it at first because I was to suckered in (which is a good
thing).

What about a guy like Robert Rodriguez. On his later movies
within the hollywood system he was doing directing, dp'ing and
camera work if I'm not mistaken (also editing). How does this
go in the union system?

To an outsider like me the union system feels very strange. I
know it all got started on making sure everybody received their
rights and credits, but I just can't follow why a movie cannot
remove a camera operator if the DP is doing that etc. etc. I
understand about protecting the rights of someone when he
is there, but not why you must have this and that person or
credit on your movie.

I once read somewhere that a director cannot also have some
other credit so they simply invented another credit that everybody
knew meant the same but was okay because it was "forbidden"
by the union

What was the name of the Scrubs episode with the cool steadicam shot?

Thanks, Brian

Season 1
Episode 17
"My Student"

HTH,

<,What was the name of the Scrubs episode with the cool steadicam shot?>>>

Why,all of them!

I kid, of course. I'm not THAT arrogant (close, though!)

Rob, the union thing is a bit bizarre until you get inside it and realize that most producers would like nothing more than eliminating jobs and cutting benefits to the bone. The second that the operator position is made "optional" (and believe me, the producers lobby for that every time the contracts come up), the position will be instantly eliminated from all but a few projects. The DP has enough work to do for the most part to be forced to operate the camera as well. It's a complicated administrative position as well as a creative and technical one, and having to add the duties of operating on top should be a choice, not an obligation. On a small project, this may not be the case because of the intimacy of the unit. Believe it or not, when I DP I almost always prefer to have a good operator. I don't miss having the "control" at all, I welcome the opportunity to focus on what that job is all about (and I estimate that working as a DP uses about four times the mental energy that operating does).

As an operator, I KNOW that I am able to bring to the plate ideas and techniques and skills that ultimately can shave precious minutes off a given work day, which saves the production many times my daily rate. Eliminating the position for economic reasons just doesn't make sense.

I have worked on shows as a "standby operator" to satisfy the union requirement, and I have watched firsthand as the DP has shot bad reflections or film gear in the shot because he/she is pre-occupied with other things. It's their prerogative.

Thanks for the excellent explenation, Charles. It was ofcourse,
as you know, not an attack on you, the industry, the union or
anything else. It just looks so very strange to me because here
we haven't got anything that resembles that (not in any line
of business but perhaps the hospital or something).

I was/am "just" intrigued....

Thanks!

Charles, While watching the My Student episode of Scrubs I noticed that your name didn't appear in the credits. Is this standard pratice to include only the "top" people in the credits, top meaning the ones they feel contributed the most. How is that determined.

Anytime Rob, of course I took no offense. It's hard for me to remember my impressions when I was on the outside looking in--but then again, the union conditions have eroded considerably since those days (bummer for me!)

Brian:

Yes, I only got credited once every 12 or 15 episodes on a "revolving card" which changed weekly. The credits that are listed are a combination of contractual mandate, union requirements (there they go again!) such as the Director's Guild stipulation that the assistant directors have their own card, or the Screen Actor's Guild defining exactly what the minimum amount of time different actor's billings must appear on screen. My position has no such requirements, although I would have lobbied hard for such a thing had I returned this season.

It's still amazing to me that the first full feature I worked on, which was called "Squeeze" and was released by Mirimax in the mid-90's, had full screen individual credits for certain crew members, including myself. That's extremely rare, somewhat disconcerting!