horrific times

[Mandar]

hi guys....was away shooting a docu.... had a horrific time for 10 days.............EQUIPMENT...PLZ can somebody solve this problem. had worst equip. even i did check it before shoot it just didnt work. got screwed for abt 6 to 7 day in the later half of the shoot. no cables working..not a single connector in soldered properly...
above all was in location where theres no electricity.. so leave me doin it.....
f*** man this is really bad.
the only soln for this is to have ur own equip.but that is not the option . at lest for now.what to do ?
anybody for soln?

[stalker]

hi Mandar

maybe one solution is to have an assistant check on the equipment on the day before the shooting crew leaves?

another is that maybe lets build a list of responsible and dependable rental guys from whom we always buy. once word is out that a particular rental is worthless, maybe less people will collect equipment from them?

[Mandar]

dear mr stalker. may i know first who are you ?

[stalker]

i am the Stalker!

[Mandar]

this message is for' stalker'

this will be the last time i will be telling u this. dont hide u r identity..... first off all .this is not a normal social networking site where u do whatever... so plz follow that thing atleast..if not then i will have to do somethng abt it. this is the last time i will be tellin u this and i am serious abt it

next is when u dont kno anything plz dont reply just like that. with ur EXPERT comments.... have been seeing u doin. so thank u. plz keep it to urself.

r u in inst or a passout?? coz the conversation depends on that...so plz keep it to ur self. that will be good for u . i dont like to talk to strangers above all who keep forgetting abt the uppermost part of their body for that matter.

[jabeen]

Hi, Mandar

I agree with you about hidden identities. Not nice at all in a place like this.

But whoever 'stalker' is, s/he does have a point. It's better if you rent equipment from suppliers who are known and recommended by friends, especially when you're going outdoors. Within Bombay we're used to getting bad cables and malfunctioning players and sending the attendants back to get replacements and yelling at the rental guys on the phone. There are no guarantees because all this stuff is so overused and abused, but still it does help to ask around.

There are, of course, FTII friends who own cameras and sound equipment which is in better shape. They tend to charge high rates, though...

[Mandar]

what i had was the equip i checked i dint get on the shoot that was the problem ....and then the location was like no network..so ...
my problem is most of theses rental people have really bad equip. even on a feature that happens. the equip is not maintained properly. and most imp is its the features and tv thats the main business not docus or anything. so even if i call up and ask for replacement theres a chance that i wont get it.
thats what i wanted to say. nothing else.

[Paramvir Singh]

I agree with mandar on equipment not being in top condition. Dont like to crib, but equipment is always a fight. Its something to do with the indian 'chalta hai' mindset. Somewhere inherently we as indians are quite duffers and not aesthetically or qualitywise inclined:

I was shooting a feature and tested cameras and lenses. After much testing fixed ona set and noted the lens body numbers. One day, I randomly asked my assistant to check the lenses against the tested/approved body numbers. The 50mm was different. So I understood tjere is no worth of a commitment or a 'word'. If you have locked down certain equipemmt, you MUST not trust the rental folk, check each and everyday agaisnt the body serial numbers and recheck and recheck and recheck.