Category: Equipment Rental

Moving Picture Rental to Attend Pacific NW Lens Summit

Posted on by Oriana Chacon

We’re getting ready to jump on a airplane to Portland in the morning for the Pacific North West Lens Summit with Michael Koerner and team over at the Koerner Camera rental house in Portland, Oregon who are hosting a special type lens fest.  They’re showing of the most comprehensive collection of optics in the world. Vintage lenses, new lens releases and large format lenses will all be there. The smartest and most talented lens gurus and lens engineers will be there to chat at this great rental house soirée!   

Who’s Going?
Got a burning q …

Saying Good-bye to Birns & Sawyer? The Future of Film Equipment Rental

Posted on by Oriana Chacon

Here’s some film trivia for you. What do 1962’s Lawrence of Arabia, 1969’s Easy Rider, 1984’s This is Spinal Tap, and 2000’s X-Men have in common? They all used equipment rented from legendary TV and film production equipment rental house Birns & Sawyer.

It’s not good-bye in the strictest sense—the company is merely reconfiguring its operations. But we are bidding farewell to the original movie camera rental shop in Hollywood.  One that’s been in operation since 1954.
Film’s Last Stand?
In some ways, yes. But this isn’t …

NAB 2019 The Complete Recap

Posted on by Oriana Chacon

Every year the NAB Show attracts thousands of people to celebrate the greatest tech and innovation in the film/tv industry. This year it was a great mix of top gear sightseeing, catching up with friends & making new ones too!
Why Go To NAB
This year we ran a poll about NAB and found that some people don’t see value enough to attend. But we’d like to challenge that! The reason why you go to NAB is: to be the FIRST to intimately know the new technology. You get a chance to play with that “latest full frame camera”. To look at the makers in th …

The Arri Alexa Mini LF. The Good and Bad News

Posted on by Oriana Chacon

As anticipated, when the original Arri Alexa LF came out, I knew that it would be just a year before a Mini LF version would appear. ( I was right for once!)

The good news and the bad news
The good news is this camera is a game changer for Arri. It looks like a real winner. It has to be, because they’re now competing with the Sony Venice, which is a really, really great camera. Not to mention Arri lost a lot of ground by not coming out with a compact large format camera sooner. They’ve got a lot of catching up to do.  Apparently the camera w …

Not Missing The NAB Show 2019, Are You?

Posted on by Oriana Chacon

It’s that time of year again when we all fly to Las Vegas, not for a rowdy weekend of fun but for a little bit of both: The NAB Show 2019- The Story Starts Here!

That’s the theme for this year’s NAB Show featuring fresh topics from around the world of content creation like ESports, AI and machine learning, in-vehicle entertainment and blockchain in media. Apart from these hot topics, there are tons of activities planned for the week of NAB. We’ll be at the heart of it, reporting it all back to you….which brings me to…
The Survival Guide
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The Ultimate Guide to Pre-production for Producers

Posted on by Oriana Chacon

The first day of shooting is always an exciting time for cast and crew. But it wouldn’t be possible without the months of pre-production that brought everyone to the set.

You’re probably familiar with Edison’s quote about genius being 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Think of production as 1% realization and 99% preparation.

From 30-minute spots to feature films, pre-production is the process of discovering, researching sourcing, and bringing everything together to successfully execute the client and/or director’s vision.

This gu …

Cinematography Tips You May Not Have Tried

Posted on by Oriana Chacon

There are dozens, if not hundreds of cinematography techniques available to help you become a better storyteller. From pre-visualization to thinking—and shooting—like an editor, we wrote about some of them in a recent post.

In this post we’ll cover some techniques that might help you start to think even more outside the box of your comfort zone.
Iconic cinematography techniques
Have you ever heard a brief clip of unfamiliar music and immediately knew who composed it? Or seen a work of art (think Banksy) and known instantly who created it …

Why Should You Consider Renting [and not buying] Film Equipment?

Posted on by Oriana Chacon

It’s the eternal question: is it better to buy the motion picture equipment you need or rent it on a production-by-production basis? In most cases, the answer’s pretty straightforward: renting is the way to go. Why? Simple:
Even Owned Film Equipment Comes at a Cost
When you own your own equipment, you have to maintain it. And if it breaks down on set, there’s no rental house on standby who will provide you with a replacement.

Most importantly, not all cameras, lights, and other tools of the trade are created equal. Entry-level cameras are …

How to Avoid Gear Theft

Posted on by Oriana Chacon

Sad to say, there are some slick, professional gear thieves out there. It’s a serious epidemic, with theft from vehicles and sets at a frightening and expensive level.

According to ESTA’s Production Equipment Rental Group [PERG], the anti-theft organization that operates online missing equipment database and alert system Rental Guard, nearly $9 million worth of professional motion picture camera equipment was reported stolen in 2016. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Theft hurts everyone
Gear theft is about much more than the equip …

The Top 10 Gear Items you’ll need for Film Production that you Probably Forgot at Home

Posted on by Oriana Chacon

It’s near impossible to give a blanket answer to a question like “how much does a half-hour video or film cost?” But an industry rule of thumb is that it takes about an hour to film one script page. And you should estimate somewhere around $1000 per finished minute.

But the cost can be much higher for commercials (which often have budgets over a million) and feature films with name cast and established directors.

No matter what your production schedule or budget, it’s plain to see that each hour of filming is expensive. One of the bes …