Various TOTEM posts 2001 - 2003

[Dylan Couper]

Filmed in S K E L E T O R A M A ! ! !

The trailer had me laughing out loud a few times, but I don't know if I could enjoy 90 minutes like that.

When we were putting together our Lady X script ideas, I considered making a 50's B movie style film, instead of the samurai one.

Loved MovieCliches.com it had some good ones......

[Andre Andreev]

Screenplay parts I thru IV:

http://linkzip.com?spoon44

I found these useful.

Cheers
-- Andre

( long link: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...=Google+Search )

[Helen Bach]

Shooting People has a New York wing now. This isn't a rival to DVi, more of a complement. Anybody joined?

Best,
Helen

[David Hurdon]

Earlier this week I replaced a decade-old 27" JVC TV with a new model Toshiba 24" - what I could find to fit the antique cabinet that houses the entertainment centre. Last night I installed a component cable between the DVD deck and the TV. Then I put in a DVD-r of my own stuff and settled back to watch. I couldn't believe me eyes. The picture quality was stunning. I've worked with DV for nearly three years now and never seen the true resolution of my camcorders! I watched one project after another, marvelling at the colour, detail, sharpness of focus...I'm looking forward to getting some feedback from other eyes but I don't expect it to be different from my own reaction. If you haven't seen your stuff on up-to-date hardware you're in for a real treat.

David Hurdon

[Robert Knecht Schmidt]

I have a bet running with a friend.

One of us swears that some portions of Love Actually--most saliently, many of the scenes between the writer and the Portuguese-speaking maid--were shot HD video.

The other suggests the crushed contrast look was intentional, achieved with the aid of "a double white pro mist filter or something."

IMDb is no help in this instance. Anybody know for sure? His AC subscription expired and I don't know whether they covered this film or not...

[Michael Wisniewski]

It's not definitive, but here's a mention *** go down to the 3rd paragraph!!!

[Robert Knecht Schmidt]

Yeah, I had seen this. All it mentions is credit for a trailer. Thanks, though, Michael!

[Mike Rehmus]

I feed a HD LCD televison that has a Farouda doubler with a progressive scan signal. It isn't as good as real HD but it is very close. Makes S-Video look poor by comparison.

Megapixel Stills are stunning on HD. Makes me wish HD were really here for video cameras (the one available low-cost unit isn't really suitable for industrial videography I think).

Doubt if I can convince my wife that the PD150 and DSR-300 would make a decent downpayment on a HD rig. :-)))))))))

Now if they would only make a good HD monitor without all the junk they hang on the sides and backside. Maybe a 2-piecer so I could get a 32 " display in the Armoir.

[Mike Butler]

Just signed up, Helen. We'll see how it goes. (didn't know they were UK-based)

[Mike Rehmus]

*One Top Fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower than the first 4 rows at the Indy. 500.

* Under full throttle, a Top Fuel dragster engine consumes 1 gallon of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.

* A stock Dodge 426 Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to drive the dragster's supercharger. * With 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition.

*Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock at full throttle.

* At the stoichiometric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitro methane the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.

* Nitro methane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gases.

* Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.

* Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After 1/2 way, the engine is dieseling from compression plus the glow of exhaust valves at 1400 degrees F. Cutting the fuel flow can only shut down the engine.

* If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient force to blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half.

* In order to exceed 300 mph in 4.5 seconds dragsters must accelerate at an average of over 4G's. In order to reach 200 mph well before half-track, the launch acceleration approaches 8G's.

* Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have completed reading this sentence.

* Top Fuel Engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!

* Including the burnout the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load. * The redline is actually quite high at 9500 rpm.

* The Bottom Line; Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimated $1,000.00 per second. The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.441 seconds for the quarter mile (10/05/03, Tony Schumacher). The top speed record is 333.00 mph (533 km/h) as measured over the last 66' of the run, (09/28/03 Doug Kalitta).


Putting all of this into perspective: You are riding the average $250,000 Honda MotoGP bike. Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged and ready to launch down a quarter mile strip as you pass. You have the vantage of a flying start. You run the RC211V hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line and past the dragster at an honest 200 mph (293 ft/sec). The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that moment. The dragster launches and starts after you. You keep your wrist cranked hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums and within 3 seconds the dragster catches and passes you. He beats you to the finish line, a quarter mile away from where you just passed him. Think about it, from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200 mph and not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you within a mere 1320 foot long race course.


That, folks, is acceleration

No wonder my microphones have a tough time at the drags!

[Dave Largent]

Perhaps someone will have a good suggestion
for me regarding my next step.
I ordered some accessories from DV Info Net sponsor B&H.
I first got the Paglight C6 from them. Then I wanted a diffuser so I emailed PagUSA to ask if a particular diffuser I was considering would be usable with the C6 and was told that it would work fine for it. So I ordered the diffuser (~$70) from B&H. I also ordered barndoors to hold the diffuser (~$40).
(The reason I had to contact Pag directly is because
their website is not very clear about accessory compatibility. I can't even find the C6 listed on their USA site, only their Europe site.)
I also ordered a couple extra lamps (~$20)
and a dimmer (~$150).
All these items are listed with B&H as "no return".
When I received the items, I quickly realized
they were all designed for their larger lights,
including the diffuser and barndoors, which
customer support at Pag had told me would
work with it.
Any ideas what to do now as I have no use for
these items?

[Chris Hurd]

This sort of thing happens to me more than I care to admit. One option available to you is to post the items for sale in our Private Classifieds forum. Hope this helps,

[David Mintzer]

You might consider giving the vendor a call and tell them what happened. Perhaps they can intercede with B&H on your behalf. You could also try calling B&H---or better yet a visit if you live in the area---They will often "bend the rules" if you make a good case.

[Stylianos Moschapidakis]

What's the best video-/film-related gift you have ever gotten?