OT ish; Free estimates :-)

[tim......]

surely everyone has a hammer

they'll usually find one under the ball of their foot :-)

tim

[Andy Burns]

And flat-bladed screwdivers can be found in the cutlery drawer ...

[Huge]

According to my video producer friend, one hour of elapsed time for every second of finished product is a reasonable rule of thumb. Although that was in the days of tape, so it may have got a bit quicker since then.

[John Williamson]

The only thing about film & TV production that's got quicker with digital is the editing, as the "talent" is still analogue and prone to the same problems. "Take 85." "CUT!!!"........"Take 124 "

[ARW]

And how many hours of that was travel time and how many hours actually working working on set? And how many hours on set were dead hours?

On Thursday I was out of the house for 13 hours and I did one job. 9 hours driving (400 miles round trip), 1 hours work (probably nearer to 30 minutes but I dragged it out to make it look like I had done something), and the rest of the time I was either collecting parts or just stood there doing nothing (apart from feeding the parking meter).

It might be a long day but it's still only an hours work.

[The Medway Handyman]

The 12 hours were on set, but with pauses between takes & breaks for refreshments. Travel time extra.

[spuorgelgoog]

And an hour's pay?

Owain

[Dave Liquorice]

actually

You've seen TV working before haven't you?

Onsite at 0845 (but car park 10 min walk away) walking back to car at

1800. First tech check at 1030. *If* the rig goes well (ie plug it in and it works) we can do it in just over an hour. If it doesn't then we might be still trying to get things working as the last minutes to "on air" (this job isn't live in the UK but is live "to the world") without any break, not even a grabbed cup of coffee. Lunch 1115 1215, 1230 production check, back on camera ready to go at 1400, KO 1500, finished interviews & derig by 1800 (with a bit of luck). There was 6 hours or so driving.

Define "dead hours", is that time when I could safely (in respect of not jeopardising the job) leave site or get my head down in the car? Is the period from 1500 to 1700 (ish) whilst the match is on "dead hours". I will only have to do something if something fails so I have to be there.

The "pauses" on soaps are minimal, 20 minutes, 60 to 70 pages/day means there is very little let up. Whilst lighting are doing their quick tweaks, we are sorting who is covering what and/or telling lighting they can't put that there and/or catching up with the script changes...

Serious drama, features or commercial are a different, maybe a page or two and less than a minute a day. There can be an awful lot of waiting for another department but you can't leave set to go shopping or have a kip.

[ARW]

No. I was paid for travel time, work time and standing about doing sweet FA time.

[ARW]

Only once. That's when I was the electrician for "This Morning" and they were filming in Doncaster.

And what a shower of s**te they were. And that is the whole bunch of the crew from the top to bottom.

I f***ed off at 8pm after swapping the same light fitting into both bedrooms because they had only had one light fitting and because there was also only one bed and I was asked to help move it between bedrooms for the "let's pretend the new bed for the disabled person has arrived shot". Fuck that - that's my stand around and get I paid for nothing money time. The longer it takes them to move the bed the more I was paid.

I did say I would join them again if they could organise a piss up in a brewery.

[Andrew May]

And the young couple who did the old schoolhouse in Leith. Complete reroof by themselves.