Preparing the images

Now that you’ve shot all the images, we’ll bring them into resolve to export out images and do whatever image treatment is necessary. This will require you to have some knowledge of resolve, but the operations are all very simple.

Organizing in Resolve

My clips -10 through +10 on the resolve timeline.

I have found it is most easy to organize all of this by creating a project called Sekonic DTS. In this project you’ll create bins for each camera, within each bin you’ll create further sub-folders for each ISO that you shoot.

• Bring all of the clips into resolve.

• Put them on a single timeline with the clips starting at -10 and going to +10. At the very end put your gray card image.

Apply your LUT if Needed

Now you’ll need to decide if you’ll want to process these clips or not before you export the JPEGs. For me, I want to shoot and expose for a lower contrast Rec 709 LUT. I don’t like the standard REC 709 LUTs as I find the shadows to be too crunchy. So I’ll use the Arri LCC 709 LUT and the SLog3-Cine709 LUT for Sony Cameras. I have not imported any log images into the DTS software as I want the meter to tell me at what point I will begin to clip in the LUT, not in the log image. If I’m stuck in a tough situation with overly bright windows, I can always check the waveform of my log image to see what detail is still there, but ultimately I don’t want us on set looking at anything with overly bright highlights or lots of shadow clipping, so I’ll expose for the LUT.

If you want to put another LUT onto the footage and re-export it, here’s a folder with all of the clips in it. They are very short to keep file size down, but you can apply any LUT you like to them, then import them into the DTS software to find your new dynamic range and mid-tone value.

Now go to color tab you’ll apply whatever LUT you like to the footage.

Exporting Stills

My stills gallery, using Still Albums to organize by camera and ISO

• Create a New Still Album in your Gallery. Label it with the camera and the ISO.
• Right click on the viewer
• Click Grab All Stills > From Middle Frame

Now you will have stills of each shot in your gallery.

• Select all the stills in the gallery, make sure they are only frames from -10 – +10
• Right click, press Export
• Whatever you type in will be the prefix, use the ISO as your Prefix (Ex. 800ISO – )
• Select JPEG or TIFF as the image type.

Evaluating Footage

Qualifer getting RGB values.

Once you have completed exporting the images, you will need to gather some data on when the images are clipping and where the mid-tone is.

First go to your gray card image.

• Select the Qualifier tool in the bottom right of the viewer window.
• Right-click on the image in the viewer and select Show Picker RGB value

Now you’ll look at the final image and get the RGB picker values for a fully clipped image. We’re using 8 bit values, so while 0-256 is our range, you’ll notice things will begin to clip before 256. For example on the FX6 I noticed it was around 250 that the image completely clips.

Write down the average RGB value for the following:

• Dynamic Range (+ Exposure)

This is the max value you can find in your set of exposures.

• Clipping Point (+ Exposure)

Gray where there is some perceptible change in detail from fully clipped. Basically find the first gray chip where you feel like there is sufficient detail for your taste of the upper end of your range.

• Mid Tone Value

This is from the gray card set to the proper IRE value that we shot earlier.

• Clipping Point (- Exposure)

Same thing as the + Exposure, but this is on the dark end.

• Dynamic Range (- Exposure)

Lowest possible value you can find in the image.

For the FX6 for example, this was what I found:

• Dynamic Range (+ Exposure): 250
• Clipping Point (+ Exposure): 245
• Mid Tone Value: 115
• Clipping Point (- Exposure): 16
• Dynamic Range (- Exposure): 11

Creating the Profile

First thing you will have to do is tell the software at what point you want to consider the image clipped and at what point you want to say there is no more shadow detail. This is going to change for each camera as they will not use the entire range of values available.

• Click Option in the toolbar.
• Click Dynamic Range/Clipping Point Values

Now you’ll take the numbers you made from resolve and put them here.

In the DTS Software you will now do the following:

• Click Create New Profile
• Click Advanced Mode
• Select the target used and Extended Mode (Located on the left tab)
• Select Ambient

Entering Initial Readings

Now you’ll enter in the initial readings that you took when you lit the chart.

My spot readings were slightly different than my incident readings, that’s normal!

• Make sure you have Cine Mode selected, this will ensure your shutter speed will be in degrees.
• Enter in your incident exposure which should be F11 at your desired ISO, 23.976, 180 Degree shutter.
• Enter in your reflected exposure which you have written down. It will differ slightly, this is expected.
• Click Next

If for any reason you had to introduce ND in at this step, for example for one test I was having issues dimming the lights and didn’t have enough scrims, ND, or space to get them to the correct stop. If that’s the case, you can use your aperture as your exposure compensation since you will not have the ability to input that information anywhere else. As long as the exposure is technically correct, you’re ok. For example for that test I had to use an ND 1.2 in the camera for most of the test, instead of saying my reading was at F11, instead I said F45, since that is 4 stops darker and technically the same exposure as F11 with an ND 1.2.

• When prompted, select the folder that contains all of your images

Entering Exposure Data

Now comes a slightly tedious part, you’ll have to select all the images you shot and enter in your exposure data.

• Click the image for the middle exposure at +0 exposure.
• As you click the image you will have to enter in the settings you used to achieve it. Use the chart below as reference to enter in your data.

There are some notes for entering in your data

If you used exposure compensation like ND Filters, or moved the lights – You will input this as the Light Output Correction Value (EV). For example ND .3 would be -1 in EV. If you must move the lights in closer to achieve one stop more brightness, you would put +1 here.

If you used a 360 degree shutter – You’ll need to enter in 358 degrees instead. For some reason they do not include 360, but the difference between the two is neglible.

• Keep clicking all of the images until you have all of them selected to make the profile.
• If you are having issues reading the images because they are overly dark or overly bright, just remember that because you exported them in order on the timeline from resolve, 1.1.1 will be -10 1.2.1 will be -9 and so forth.
• Once you have everything entered, you should click on your +0 exposure and look at the exposure details on the left, then click on +1 and see what changes. Just make sure that you entered it all in correctly going through each clip in order. Only one variable should change at a time.
• Click Next

Alligning the Chart

Now you’ll have to line up the charts crosshairs with the crosshairs in the software so it analyzes the right part of the image.

• Follow the instructions to align the chart with the software. Its easiest to pick a bright image first and then the dark images.
• For overly dark and overly bright images, make sure to use the Brightness of Preview slider to ensure you are hitting the crosshairs.

You’re almost done! Click Next.

Now you get to see your hard work…they’ll display a graph of your dynamic range. You are able to adjust the sliders, but the sliders represent the numbers that you had set in resolve.

If you receive an error “The set level does not exist in the image”. You can ignore this error. It will not have an effect on your profile.

• Save the profile as the camera name and include the LUT name as well. Ex. Alexa Mini – LCC

Adding more ISO’s to a camera profile

As we change the ISO this is going to have an effect on our dynamic range, I would recommend doing this process for each of the ISO’s that you commonly use so you can get an idea of how you have to change your lighting as you change your ISO.

To add another ISO to a profile

• Click Option > Dynamic Range Clipping Point Values
• Enter in all of the information you’ve collected from resolve again, you’ll notice these numbers are shifting slightly.

• Click on the profile from the main menu
• Click Edit
• Click Add Iso/Light Source

Continue the process outlined above, but with the new JPEGs.

• As you add more ISO’s you will click “Add ISO/Light Source” and do the process over again. You can also select a profile from the main menu and click “Edit Profile”, then click Add ISO/Light source to do this.

• At the end, click Save and overwrite the previous profile you had. It will combine both the old ISO and the new ISO into one profile.

Comparing Profiles

Once you have all this information, it becomes really helpful to be able to compare your real-world dynamic range tests against each other. The Sekonic DTS software gives you an easy way to do this.

Pink – FX6 (709 TypeA) Vs. Purple – Alexa Mini (Arri LCC)

• Click View Profile Data/Print
• Select Multiple Profiles
• Choose Camera Comp or ISO comp

This will allow to either compare different cameras at a single iso or a single camera at different ISO’s against each other.

• Select the drop downs to put either different cameras or different ISO’s on the graph.

Transferring Profiles to Light Meter

Make sure your light meter is connected via USB.

• Select your profile
• Click the arrow button to move it over to the Selected Profile area.
• Click Transfer to Light Meter

Congrats! You’ve finished the process and you’ve learned a valuable way to compare cameras with real world results. Have a better way to do this? Something easier and faster? Feel free to contact us and let me know!

Dynamic Range Graph from the Alexa Mini with the LCC LUT

Sekonic Meters have the functionality to be able to chart and display your cameras dynamic range both on your meter and on the computer. I think this function is seldom used because of its complexity and the time most people will have to spend to understand it, especially for cinema use. I hope with this article I can make it a little bit faster and easier for you to go through the process.

Why do this?

Light Meter displaying available dynamic range in spot mode.

There are a number of benefits to doing this, but the main thing you will achieve is consistency. By using a light meter you can light every shot and area in the scene to the same light levels, even when you turn around or do a large move. The other benefits are:

• Lighting without the camera present and have it look as you intended with minimal tweaking.
• Display of Dynamic Range available for the camera used. Shows if you are clipping without looking at a monitor.
• Multiple Profiles can be stored, so you are able to see how you must light differently when using a different camera.
• Able to calibrate using different ISO’s, so within the same camera you are able to see the dynamic range available if you decide to change ISO.
• No longer have to calibrate your meter as this process will accomplish that and it can be done on your own time.
• Comparison of cameras and ISO’s, as new camera systems come out this will give you the ability to compare real world data from the cameras against each others, instead of just taking the manufacturers word for it.
• I think this is one of the biggest points, that your mid-tone value is able to be shifted, so if your results while using a light meter are consistently under-exposed or over-exposed, you are able to resolve this.
• Clipping points are movable, so you are able to make your dynamic range to your taste and be very conservative, or allow more room for blown highlights in your lighting.

The process may be a little time consuming, but its well worth the effort and I think it makes your light meter even more applicable in the digital world. Most importantly you’ll end up lighting faster, better, and more precisely before you even have a monitor up.

Want to just skip everything and try my profile? 

Yeahhh, alright, but you’re going to be a little limited. For now I only have

Alexa Mini with the LCC Lut in 800 and 1600 ISO

Sony FX6 with the Rec 709 Type A Lut in 800 and 1600 ISO.

The folder of them can be downloaded from this google drive link. As a warning I have not tested these on anything except for my Sekonic 858-D. I’m not sure what other meters are capable of importing these profiles. To import them you will use the Sekonic DTS software below and import them into the software.

Did you make one? Want it to be added here? Get in touch with us on the contact page.

Data Transfer Software

Sekonic has software to help guide you through the calibration process. They also have the user’s manual available for download. The user’s manual does have instructions on how to complete this process, but there are a number of helpful hints this guide will give you along the way that are more specific to motion picture cameras.

Download the software here:

http://sekonicdts.com/sekonic-dts-installation Sekonic DTS Software

Equipment

The equipment you will need is

• Camera
• Tripod
• Lenses you use most often, or Lenses with T-Stops
  The faster your lenses are the better, as it will make the overexposure brackets easier to achieve. You can use lenses with F-Stops, but your results may differ as you use different lenses. For an explanation of the difference, visit this link. https://www.diyphotography.net/f-stops-vs-t-stops-use/ F-Stops Vs. T-Stops
• Two lights with stands
  Its best if they are identical, color temperature is not important.
• Stand for the Chart
  Even better if you have an iPad mount as it can nicely hold the chart without damaging it, it also will keep the C-Stand head out of the shot.
• Computer for notes
• Sekonic DTS Software
  Can be downloaded here: http://sekonicdts.com/sekonic-dts-installation DTS installation
• DaVinci Resolve
  Can be downloaded here: https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve Resolve Download
• A Chip Chart
  Details below

Charts

Sekonic Exposure Profile Target I – This can also be found available on E-Bay. This has 7 gray patches and a full white and black patch, as well as 18% gray covering the remainder. This is the most painful of all the charts, as it requires 21 exposures, but probably your most accurate option.

Sekonic Exposure Profile Target II– This item has been discontinued and has not been replaced by anything. They are very difficult to find used or new. These are superior to the mark I version though as they have a total of 25 gray patches in 1/6 stop increments and will take far less exposures to create an accurate result.

X-Rite ColorChecker Passport Photo – This can be used for calibration, but the company X-Rite was bought out by Calibrate recently and they have been producing all of the same products. This has 8 chips and they are very small, forcing you to put your camera very close to the chart or using a very long lens. Its unclear whether or not Calibrate is making the same exact test charts with no changes, so there is a small risk using these that it will be something that the software is not expecting. These also do not have very many chips of gray and only making 5 exposures can create a graph that does not adequately display the dynamic range of the camera. You can do the test with this chart, but its not advised. This card also does not have 18% gray so you will have to use the 4th chip over along the gray scale at the bottom. The software will compensate for you.

DataColor SpyderCheckr – This might also be a very good option, but I have not tested this one. Just a note it does not have an 18% gray square, so you will have to get an additional gray card to set your mid-tone value. For the Spot Metering, they recommend using the large square as the software will correct the difference for you.

Shooting the Chart

Now that you have all the gear together. You’ll need to shoot the chart. It should take you about 1.5-2 hours to shoot the chart if you have everything lined up. Additional ISO’s on the same camera should take 15-20 minutes.

Lighting the Chart

• Place target stand approximately 3′ away from background wall and then position camera, tripod, and lighting equipment.
• Firmly secure the chart so that it is perpendicular to the camera.
• Use two units and illuminate the target evenly at 45-degree angles. Position the lights so that they are at the same height as the target and the camera.
• The chart should be lit using an incident meter to show F11 at your desired ISO, 23.976, 180 Degree shutter. Make sure the chart differs no more than 1/10th of a stop across the chart. Lighting to this stop will give you enough room to compensate and achieve enough stops over and under to calibrate the meter.
• Turn off your camera’s auto-focus system, anti-shake function or any other functions which performs compensation. These could affect the results
• If possible, fill the frame with the chart, it will make your work much easier. The minimum target size in frame needs to be 50% or more.

White Balance

Because white balance can have an effect on exposure, you will need to perform a custom white balance to a white or gray card. You’ll perform a custom white balance and use that for all following exposures.

Shooting Exposures

You will want to shoot advanced mode as all our cameras will exceed 3 stops of dynamic range.

Depending on the chart you shoot you will have to shoot a different number of exposures at different Exposure Values. Refer to the chart to the right to determine how many are necessary.

• Confirm the chart is lit to F11 at your desired ISO, 23.976, 180 Degree shutter.
• Go to wide open and make sure the chart is sharp, then go back to your correct exposure.
• Meter the 18% gray portion of the chart using the spot meter and write down your reading including 10ths of a stop.
  Some of the charts such as the SpyderCheckr and the ColorChecker do not have 18% gray patches, refer to the Charts section to see which area you should meter instead.
• Place a writing surface to the right of the chart
  I did this by grabbing an insert slate in a C-Stand and only including a small bit of the back in the frame. You’ll use this to mark which exposure is which and what ISO you’re at.
• Shoot all the clips needed
  You can use the below exposures, I have included all of the possible exposure values that you’ll need for the chart that has the maximum exposures, you may not use all of them. I have highlighted yellow the parameter that you’ll need to change to get to the next exposure.

Make sure to not nudge the camera at all, it will make the process much easier if the camera remains in the same place the entire time, the same with the chart. You’ll write down how many stops over or under you are on the slate.

• Write down any changes to exposure.
  It is ideal to just use ND’s rather than moving the lights as this can be easily compensated later and is a bit more exact. If you must, moving the lights is acceptable.

If for some reason you need to put ND in the camera for the entire time, this is also acceptable and can be corrected later. This could easily happen if you are shooting at a very high ISO or you are unable to get the lights you have available dark enough to expose it properly.

Example of the final shot chart. I had to correct for focus issues and redid +1-10, hence my other note on the slate.

Exposure Calibration

Once you are finished you will need to figure out your mid-tone value, this is basically where the meter places middle gray.

Different camera manufacturers will have placed 18% gray at different IRE levels. Because I have only done Sony and Arri cameras, I only have the notes to those here. You can find the correct value for 18% gray for your camera by googling “18% gray [manufacturer] [camera]” “18% Sony FX6” for example. Be sure to note whether or not the value is for LOG or Rec709. By completing this you will be ensuring that if you were to set your camera at the exposure provided by the meter, 18% gray will be at the correct value on the waveform meter.

Sony Cameras with 709 LUT – 45 IRE

Arri Cameras with 709 LUT – 40 IRE

• Set your camera at T11 at 24fps, 180 degree shutter, at your desired ISO.
• View the gray card on a waveform monitor and adjust your aperture until you get the proper IRE values. Make sure your waveform monitor is showing you as much detail as possible.
• Shoot this chart for 5 seconds.
• Stop down so that you are 5 IRE darker and shoot again.
• Open up so that you are 5 IRE brighter and shoot again.

There is some personal taste involved with the midtone value, so taking these additional shots will allow you to place it where it’s proper, but then also give you an idea of how much movement a few points will give you.

Most likely you are going to do this project in two sittings, so the rest will be covered in a further post. Everything is shot, so you’re doing pretty good!

Quick Shout Out to Ryan E. Walters whose Sekonic articles helped me a ton when figuring all of this out. He has so much information about how to do it and is so detailed, its worth a look! 

The first thing to figure out will be if the job was run through payroll or if they had you sign a W-9 and will be giving you a 1099 at the end of the year. We won’t get much into misclassification, but just know that in California you are supposed to get your paychecks bi-weekly. If you are working 1099, then they will most likely pay you Net 30.

Setting a Timeline

The main thing you want to do whenever you are reaching out to them is to set a timeline. You want them to say “You will receive the check by next Wednesday”. Once they fail to meet that goal you want to follow up, get them to set a new timeline, and figure out why it happened.

Payroll – After 2 Weeks

If the job is through payroll and the check hasn’t come after two weeks, try calling the payroll company who you filled out your start paperwork with. They have very little relation with the production company, so they have no incentive to lie to you. You can call them and just ask about the status of your check, they’ll be able to tell you if it was mailed or not or if the funds have even been released yet. 

After ~30 Days

If the job is payroll, after 30 days you should begin to get a little nervous. There isn’t much reason it should take this long. If it’s payroll, skip to the section “After 60 Days”

For the Net 30 jobs, it’s pretty rare to see someone pay exactly on time, I would wait about a week before you start to ask them where your check is. Once you get to that point, email your contact on the production team and just let them know that you have not received your check yet and ask them for a timeline on when it should come.

From there it’s about seeing how they respond to this. If you’re lucky they may give you a timeline and say you should see your check on a specific day. Wait until the date comes and then let them know you are still waiting on it, ask them what happened. Check the address it was sent to, make sure they have a record that it was sent, basically help them to make sure there are no mistakes on their end.

No Response

If after reaching out you don’t get a response it’s just about being persistent. Make it a part of your daily routine to reach out to them via text, email, phone calls, whatever communication method you have. Be polite, but each day ramp up your efforts a little bit. Start out with just an email, then the next day email and text. Maybe a few days after that if they still aren’t responding you call, email, and text them. This portion depends on how much you trust this person. If you feel like they are trying to skip out on paying you, using all forms of contact really lets them know you’re not going away. 

After 60 Days

Once you reach this point, it’s really about your relationship with the production and how they have responded thus far to determine what you’ll do going forward and in the future with them. Some companies might pay quickly for labor through payroll, but getting them to pay for equipment rentals could be very difficult. In these instances, you can always ask for a credit card upfront for equipment. Some people will ask for payment when the job begins for equipment rentals, others will bill their credit card once the job is over. It takes about 15 minutes to sign up for a credit card processor like Stripe, then you can add this into your regular things you ask for from this client. There are a few next steps you can take here.

Wait

Probably the least fun out of all of these. If they are responsive and truthful about what’s going on, it might be worth it to just continue this routine. Ask them when you can expect the check, tell them you didn’t receive it, etc. It really depends on how much you value the relationship with this client.

Charge Late Fees

Personally, I don’t love this option. In California, late fees are capped at around 10% per year. That means on a 1000 dollar invoice you are looking at .83% per month, or $8.30 per month and it must be stated clearly on your invoice beforehand. For some reason, people will still get unreasonably upset about late fees and it has not been the most helpful to keep the channel of communication open. I also think there are better ways to get more money for all of your time which we’ll come to shortly.

Collection Agency

I like to think this one is the most fun and can be really effective, although keep in mind it is unlikely you will work for them again after this. Sometimes that’s okay though! People need to be paid and you should never feel bad about trying to collect the money you have worked for. 

A good collection agency I’ve worked with before is Direct Recovery, you’ll just send them your invoice or any records of the amount owed and then they will take over the collections process. In my experience, people will get the collections call and then immediately call you to send a check. The collection agency will charge ~15% or so to collect, but it’s a small price to pay for money you wouldn’t be seeing otherwise.

Wage Claim

This is probably the most rewarding, albeit the most time-consuming. Basically this is just filing a wage claim with the state of California to say that your employer has not paid you. The silver lining to filing a wage claim is that you can also be paid waiting time penalties on top of your wages due. 

From the DSLE website: “The penalty is measured at the employee’s daily rate of pay and is calculated by multiplying the daily wage by the number of days that the employee was not paid, up to a maximum of 30 days. “

Now, this can be huge….say your daily wage was 600/day. 600*30 = 18,000. So you could get a judgment for 18k on top of your wages due. I have managed to turn a 300 dollar unpaid invoice for overtime into over 10k myself because of the waiting time penalty. Filing a wage claim though can be tricky. You need to know that the company actually has money to pay the judgment you’ll receive. The good thing is it’s the responsibility of the employer to prove your claims to be false, so bring your timecard written on a napkin, it’s fine!

The goal with the wage claim is just to threaten them with how bad it could be, then seek a settlement before your hearing even comes up. While it’s great to get money, it’s terrible to spend years of your life chasing after it, it can take up to 9 months to get your hearing, another 2-3 months for your judgment, and then you still need to collect on it. It’s much easier just to explain to them that based on the Waiting Time penalty laws, they could owe you 30x your rate, plus the overdue paycheck, and just wait until they come back to you with an offer of 3/4 or 1/2 the total due. If they don’t want to settle then you can go the judgment route and ultimately because you have a legal document showing you are owed money, you can do things like seize their assets.

Conclusion

Getting paid is hard! Find the people who pay on time and stick with them. Don’t ever feel bad for trying to get your money.

I’ve been wanting to create a better system for prepping for projects as a DP, it can be really tough sometimes to remember all the details and ideas you come up with for each scene or location, and even more difficult to get that information to your department heads. 

This free app allows you to track projects, reference images/videos, as well as location and scene notes, shots for each scene, and even will tell you the necessary footcandles you’ll need to shoot each scene.

Here’s our explainer video on what it can do:

If you like this app and want to install it on your phone, just navigate to the link below and save the app to your homescreen.

The link to our app is: prbik.glideapp.io

Bolt Lighting Rental Inc is a lighting rental house located in the San Francisco Bay Area. We’re committed to training the next generation of technicians everywhere. Check out our instagram for daily educational content.

I have no problem admitting I found Catch.Co through a targeted facebook ad. They really knew me! It claimed to lessen the headache for those who are working as both an independent contractor and as an employee and I knew I had to try it out. Basically how it works is you hook it up to your bank account and then it monitors that account for any deposits. When a deposit hits, you get an email or a push notification from their app asking you about this deposit.

In this instance, it was for a kit fee that I needed taxes withheld on. I haven’t been buying tons of new gear recently, so withholding taxes has become even more important for me.

When I setup my plan with catch.co, I went through a few simple steps and figured out how much I wanted to withhold for different things. You can choose from a number of different options, setting aside money for taxes, vacation time, retirement, health insurance, dental insurance, life insurance….it’s a long list of possibilities. Because I have a number of these things covered already, I chose just to withhold money for taxes and vacation. 

Now, I tell Catch.Co that it was a paycheck, it guides me to their website or their app, and I login. It prompts me and asks me to give a little more info about the money I received. 

I let them know it was for contract work, that I will need taxes withheld. I could also choose full time work and it would only take out vacation time.

I click move 286.55 to Catch and it will then transfer that money from my bank account to a separate Catch.Co account that I can access through their website. The money is basically in a bank account and can be accessed any time, my plan as of yet is to pay my taxes, then give myself a refund for the additional money that is withheld.

From my research with how I have it setup, it looks like the risk is pretty low. The withholding account and the vacation time are both held in FDIC insured accounts, so it’s no different than any other bank. They do also have retirement options where they collect a small management fee and it seems like that is how they make their money. There is no monthly fee to use it how I’ve displayed here. While I recommend doing your own research, I have to say I’ve been happy using the service for about 3 months now.

It’s always been a headache trying to keep track of my 1099 income and doing my taxes at the end of the year was always a little nerve racking, I think that Catch.co takes the guess work out of it, simplifying the process. Check it out!

Bolt Lighting Rental Inc is a lighting rental house located in the San Francisco Bay Area. We’re committed to training the next generation of technicians everywhere. Check out our instagram for daily educational content.

Keep in mind we did not use much real data here, don’t try and draw any conclusions from what you see, it’s not real yet!

Helpful Functions

Excel is a super powerful tool that can be used for so many applications, but it isn’t until you learn some of the different functions and formulas do you start to think about what you can do with it. I’ve found ExcelJet.Net to be an excellent resource, even still when using google sheets. The main functions I found myself using were.

=Vlookup

VLOOKUP is an Excel function to lookup and retrieve data from a specific column in table. VLOOKUP supports approximate and exact matching, and wildcards (* ?) for partial matches. The “V” stands for “vertical”. Lookup values must appear in the first column of the table, with lookup columns to the right.

Index and Match

The Excel INDEX function returns the value at a given position in a range. You can use index to retrieve individual values or entire rows and columns. INDEX is often used with the MATCH function, in my example we used it to find a name of something, and then output the price which was a few columns away.

Conditional Formatting

You can think of conditional formatting as automatic formatting that is triggered by conditions that you define. For example, you can use conditional formatting to automatically change the color of cells that contain values greater than or less certain values. Conditional formatting is a great way to visually highlight important information in a worksheet.

That’s it! If you’re interested in excel it’s so easy to learn because there’s so many great resources out there. Here’s my list of go-to websites:

https://www.reddit.com/r/googlesheets

https://exceljet.net

As always, just type your question into google with “excel” and most of the time there is someone out there who has done what you’re trying to do.

About 8 years ago I listened to the episode of This American Life about the NUMMI automotive plant in Fremont, CA and how they turned one of the worst performing plants in the country into the best, just by instituting the Toyota Production System. This later became more broadly known as Lean Manufacturing and I have been fascinated with it and how we could introduce some of these practices into not only Bolt Lighting Rental, but also on set. Lean is really just about continuous improvement, the simple idea that your processes should improve everyday and that those improvements should come from the people who know best, your employees. 

Once you hear what Lean is about, you realize it can apply to much more than just manufacturing. While I had implemented some of the ideas I got from that episode into Bolt Lighting Rental, I never had a very good road map, just some general ideas that helped in a huge way, but still left me wondering what to do next. I was originally hesitant to pick up 2 Second Lean…I mean, just the cover alone is enough to throw anyone off.

But I gave it a shot, once I picked it up I read the entire thing in one sitting. It’s a really captivating book and he explains all of the concepts of lean thinking in such a fun and exciting way. I’ll do my best to explain a few concepts of lean thinking talked about in this book to get you thinking about it. 

The 8 Wastes

Since lean is all about continuous improvement, you need some sort of guidance on how to improve, part of that is by removing waste that does not add value to the customer. To help you figure out what to change, there’s “The 8 Wastes”

1. Defects – Services and Products that are not fit for use. This either means extra processing or scrapping the part all together, both of which deliver no value to the customer.
2. Overproduction – Producing too much of something before it’s ready to be sold.
3. Waiting – People waiting on materials or gear.
4. Non-Utilized Talent – Employees that are on auto-pilot, not thinking about how they could be doing it better.
5. Transportation – Movement of people or equipment.
6. Inventory – Excess Inventory. The longer is sits around, the more you have to pay to store it. You want your inventory to come “Just in Time”.
7. Motion – People having to lift, bend, or move equipment too much.
8. Extra Processing – Performing any activity that is not necessary to produce a functioning product or service. This goes back to defects.

Use the acronym DOWNTIME to remember these. A lot of them are very interconnected, for example if you are moving things from place to place often you probably have excess transportation, as you move stuff you’re bound to have more defects as items get damaged, that will require more extra processing, and hopefully you’ve got your processes down otherwise you’ll have your people using excess motion, which will lead to them being frustrated and their talent not being utilized. 

Here’s a quick video of how we overcame some Excess Motion at the shop with a fun fix.

The 5 S’s

Okay, so now we know what to change, but how do we change our workplace? That’s where the 5S System comes into place and I think this is where I think you can see it easily translating to working on set. The 5 S’s are:

Sort: Remove anything unnecessary from your workspace. Figure out exactly what you need to do the task at that workstation and get it there. An easy set example of this is if your gaffer always likes tungsten lights on a squeezer, make sure there is a cart with your tungsten, your stands, and your dimmers.

Set in Order: Carefully organize the tools and equipment that are remaining. You can really go nuts with this, you want it to be clear if someone walked in off the street that something is missing from your work area.

Shine: Clean the area thoroughly. Clutter and dirt hides potential problems. 

Standardize: Document what’s being done so those improvements can be shared. This makes your new approach apart of your standard business. 

Sustain: Make sure things don’t slip and that you redo this process often. Remember, continuous improvement! 

One of the ideas I loved that I realized we already do on set, is color coding items in our shop to show where they go. I’ve spent hours putting E-Tape on our first unit package, but I never thought to apply it to our shop. Now this way when we find a C-wrench somewhere, we know exactly where it goes.

The last thing is how do you get people to actually do this? We’re trying as Paul Akers suggests in his book and dedicating an hour every morning to the 5S ideas, cleaning our workspaces, getting everything in order for the day, then most importantly, spending time making a small 2 second improvement every single day. Basically…we fix things that bug us at work! Here’s a few videos of how we have implemented some Lean thinking in the shop.

If you’re still skeptical, here’s the meme for you:

Check out his book here for free! It’s a great intro to lean thinking.