Okay, the fog has cleared. We had the wrap party last night for Rikers...it was a great party. I can't say enough about the director and producers. They were very sensitive to each department, and especially the sound department. Charles Winkler is truly one of the best to work with...bar none. I hope to do many more with him.

Now...about HD/24P. The camera equipment was really not up to the task in my opinion. Way too many failures for a location package. I couldn't believe how many times the gear went down. If it wasn't the fiber cable it was a board in the camera... I really think Sony has failed in the ruggedness of the F900 and F950. It is fine for the studio, but on location...forget it. It does not save any money. You end up shooting far more throw away material in search of the perfect take. In a normal film set up, everyone prepares for the take in the same manner...rehearse, last looks, shoot, fix, repeat. With the advent of HD, it seems we just shoot the rehearsal and never get really set for the real "1st take". Things start being overlooked, which are usually caught during the rehearsal, and you end up with printed material that has flaws in continuity, dialogue, camera movement, lighting, and whatever else. Then, just because you can, sometimes they never cut and you do the scene 2 or 3 times before anything is fixed. A real bummer for every department. I'm not sure the actors like it either. It's not just on this production that I saw this happening, I've seen it on EVERY 24P show I've worked on.

Now it may seem that I'm venting here, but it really concerns me. We are going for quantity over quality. Not a good trade in my opinion. But, it is just that...my opinion.

I had a few hiccups in gear on this show, but mostly recurring problems that I'm working out. I am considering going to the new Yamaha 01V96 mixer. It is really a great set up for location recording. We'll see....