Ask David Mullen ANYTHING

[Kim Frank]

A set dekorator I worked with used Chalk in water, to diffuse windows. Very cheap and you can easily clean it afterwords.
Something else I've used when I was on a budget and needed huge diffusion was the foliage used on construction sites over here.
You get them in different denseties, sizes and even Colours and they are water resistent but let wind through.
Great bang for the bug and easy to rig because of the many eyelets!

[David Mullen ASC]

My apologies for failing to mention the size. The windows are easily 10x10 feet so soft frost could be pricey. What do you recommend to use to dirty the windows?

You wouldn't be buying the Half Soft Frost, you'd be renting a 10x10 or 20x20 size of it and stretching it on ropes or a frame.

Some set decorators mist the windows with water and then toss Fuller's Earth on them.

[Martin Stevens]

Hello David,

If someone wants to hire an ASC DP how would they go about doing it?

Do they simply call the ASC and ask who's available etc.?

How difficult is it to hire an ASC DP?

Also, what is the daily or weekly pay rate for ASC DPs?

I assume there is a minimum and then it goes sky high from there.

[David Mullen ASC]

The ASC has nothing to with the unions, it's an honorary society. We get paid all sorts of rates, high and low -- obviously Robert Richardson makes more money than a lowly DP like me, despite the fact that both of us are ASC members. However, the IATSE Local 600 guild minimum rates are a good starting point for research, since most ASC members are in the union as well.

Generally you would contact the agent of an ASC member and discuss the project, send a script, etc.

Rates really are based on budget, so it's more a question of whether the ASC member wants to do the project for the money that can be offered. Of course, there is some haggling on rates between agents and producers, that's what agents are for...

[Martin Stevens]

Thank you David. Now that was a fast response!

[David Mullen ASC]

For example, in the basic Local 600 agreement with the Producers Guild, the minimum rate for a Director of Photography on a feature is around $750 for an 8-hour day (around $94 an hour), with 1.5X the rate after 8-hours and then 2X overtime kicks in at some point. Something like that. However, since the typical shooting day is more like 12 hours, it's something closer to $1300/day. However, just last month, someone offered me $150/day to shoot a non-union film...

Commercial rates tend to be higher, but then, the shoots tend to be for fewer days.

[Martin Stevens]

Now that's the type of information I was looking for.

Thanks again for your passion and devotion to this industry.

[Marc Wielage]

You can contact the ASC and ask them for the name of the agent who represents a specific ASC member:

American Society of Cinematographers
1282 N. Orange Drive
Hollywood, 90028
(323) 969-4333

and Local 600 (which represents many of them) is here:

International Cinematographers Guild
Local 600
7755 Sunset Boulevard
Hollywood, CA 90046
(323) 876-0160
http://www.cameraguild.com

The IATSE low-budget agreement is a good place to start in terms of costs:

http://entlabor.com/uploads/IATSE_20...02007-2009.pdf

I know of major DPs who've donated their time for charity projects, and others that made six figures a day for very high-end commercials. So it runs the gamut.

[Martin Stevens]

Hello David,

I've always heard and read that B&W film stock has more DR then Color stock, is this true?

I'm also hearing a consensus that Color stock has about 14.5 Stops of DR, and so it is hard
for me to believe that B&W has significantly more.

Some of my old B&W 35mm still negatives seems quite contrasty indeed.

[Kemalettin Sert]

Hello David,what is the name of this effect?