Shameless, immodest plug for my work on "The West Wing"...!

[Jim Giberti]

<<Have you ever read any of Robert Rodriguez's empassioned interviews about HD 24p? It's enough to make you stick yourhead out of your tenement window a-la Peter Finch in "Network" and scream "I'm as mad as hell (at film) and I'm not gonna take it any more!" Right now, you couldn't GIVE me a brand spankin' new Arriflex 35. Please pass the Panasonic AG SDX900.>>

Think of the world in a year or so when HDV is our new medium.

[Hugh DiMauro]

<<Wringing my hands with glee>> I feel evil welcoming the demise of film. I must admit, I am intimidated by film (having shot Super-8 as a lad) and completely angered at it's cost prohibitiveness for us middle class folks who aren't made of money. I mean, I don't want to hear that the new breed of people in digital video are lazy because they think they don't have to take the same care in setting up shots as with film. I say, hell, I relish the opportunity to set up involved and creative lighting scenarios and I will do so with complete confidence while watching it unfold on the monitor. Forgive me for not feeling like a true artisan by having the confidence to wait for the celluloid dailies. No thanks. I want to know what I have in "the can" as soon as I press the stop button on my XL1s.

[Charles Papert]

Thanks Hugh and Rick.

Again, I only did two months on that show which resulted in something like 4 episodes before I moved on. There was a regular revolving door on that show the first season, seven operators came and went one after another for various reasons. A skilled eye can detect variations in the Steadicam work as a result...!

Regarding Rodriguez: he may be vocal and passionate, but that alone doesn't convince me that his is the gospel. Nobody else in the industry is as much of a control freak as he, covering as many as six key positions on his films. I barely have enough energy to do my own...! As soon as digital has the latitude of film and the format/hardware/data storage/cabling issues are worked out, I'll jump on that bandwagon.

[Hugh DiMauro]

Charles:

Three things. 1) I, too, used to live in Brookline, (1969 - 1970). The Beatles just came out with the song "Something" and I remember hearing that song and driving by the giant Citgo sign in Boston. I remember Coolidge corner and that huge ornate movie theatre caddy corner across the street from the pharmacy where I used to buy my Matchbox cars for .30 a piece. I remember the "Combat Zone" and "Bickford's". Wow. I attended S.S. Pierce (Pearce?) school. Is any of that still there?

2) I saw "Office Space" for the first time a few weeks ago and laughed my arse off. You were lucky to be part of that film crew. The dude who played the "slow guy" with the Coke bottle glasses stole the show and John McGinley is underused and unappreciated.

3) I saw "My Fellow Americans" on a cruise to Canada and I have to say, again, you were very lucky to be part of that. What is it like working with such (who appear to be, at least) cool actors?

Oh, I lookd you up on IMDB. Very impressive.

[Charles Papert]

Hi Hugh:

We moved to Brookline a couple of years after you left.

Citgo sign in Kenmore Square--still there, I think it may have historic landmark status. You can still see it in the background of Sox games on TV.

Coolidge Corner is all spruced up, but the movie theater remains, and is still an indie house. Pierce School is still there; a new modern building was erected in the early 70's with open classrooms and other progressive ideas. I don't know if it's been reconfigured, I was last in there doing a shoot around '84.

As far as the movies, yeah, "Milton" was a great character. That's Stephen Root who was the station manager on "News Radio".

I only dayplayed on "My Fellow Americans", shooting second unit for the climax of the film where the two ex-presidents are riding on horseback across the White House lawn. Two stunt guys wearing blue hoods with reference marks were doing the riding (the hoods to allow for easier head replacement, which was more complicated then than now).

[Hugh DiMauro]

Fabulous. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane.

[Charles Papert]

Sorry Hugh, I was rushed before, forgot a couple things.

S.S. Pierce was the name of the building in the middle of Coolidge Corner, here's a picture. They are also a liquor distributor. No connection to Pierce School, I believe.

The Combat Zone is, for all intents and purposes, gone. It was cleaned up over the past 15 years. Only one original strip club remains, although I heard another one opened recently. Boston has undergone quite the gentrification since the days you lived there!

[Hugh DiMauro]

Oh wow! Thanks for the pic! Hell, I forgot to mention the trolleys! It cost me a dime to ride the trolley from my apartment into Boston. Also, my mother took me to see Funny Girl at that ornate theatre. We sat in the balcony! I love Boston. I miss it. I've been back to visit a few times and as we speak, my partner and husband are in Cape Cod now for a week's vacation. She wants to move there something fierce. Just a little problem with money, not being a millionaire, and all that. Oh, and how does a Boston based cameraman get all of that fabulous Hollywood work?

[Jim Giberti]

Hey Charles...I didn't know you were a Boston boy. I was born and raised there, then moved to Cape Cod as a starving musician. Kristen and I just took the boys (both are into film making) down to Fenway for the Mariners game. I love Bean Town...even more so now that I can get there in 2 1/2 hours from my farm in Vermont <g>.

[Charles Papert]

Farm in Vermont...sigh.

Hugh: I'm not based in Boston anymore. Been in LA for six years. I moved literally because a Boston based cameraman can't get all of that fabulous Hollywood work--unless you've already lived in LA and established yourself.

[Hugh DiMauro]

Farm in Vermont: <<TRIPLE SIGH>> I can imagine an ass-kicking studio in my own barn loft converted to my liking.

Charles, when in L.A. if you run into a screenwriting buddy of mine named Ken Copel (he wrote the screenplay "Two Guys Talking About Girls" which was changed to "At First Sight" starring Jonathan Silverman, Dan Cortese and R. Lee Ermey. Went right to video which is a shame because it was a wonderful movie) say hello to him from me. He's ultra pissed at me now because I missed his wedding. Stopped talking to me. I'm giving him some cool down time. ha ha ha. The chances of you running into him are probably slim to none but you never know because he can give a pitch at almost any studio and you seem to get alot of work. He's a fabulous writer. Wants to direct. Anyway, with all the synchronicity flying about in that town, you just might run into him.

By the by, I also own an XL1s and it's interesting to know that a cameraman of your caliber owns and uses one. Says something about the product. I'm about to supplement my camera with the Panasonic AG DVX100 for wedding work. Any thoughts?

[Charles Papert]

Well, I like a lot of things about the Panasonic. It's a nice little package and offers a lot for the money. I still think the XL1 has the skin tone rendition to beat though.

I used the DVX100 for one of my Instant Films, seen here, specifically "Hollywood and Valentine". "Fill" was another film on that page made with that camera.

I liked it, although not so much that I felt compelled to run out and buy one. After shooting a PSA last weekend with the Mini 35 on the XL1, I'm even more sure of that! (and I'm of the mind, as are others, that the Mini 35 version for the DVX100 has a serious issue optically, that the image has to travel through the DVX's own lens, although I'll be interested in the results).

[Hugh DiMauro]

Thanks