Search Results for 'no'

[James]

Well, I raced to get this forum up so we may encounter some bugs. I have to travel for the next two days but I will continue to tweak when I can. Let me know if you run into anything strange!

[Davinki]

So I was thinking back to something David Mullen ASC told me awhile ago, about the “the desire to spend a lot of money to own a lot of lighting equipment” and looking back, it brings up something i haven’t considered and kinda accepted as a yes uncritically, and thats whether cinematographers should even aspire to own lighting gear. I took it as a yes owing to online spaces beating the drum that cameras aren’t important but that lenses and lights are, “Invest in glass and lights” they say, which isn’t completely wrong, but just kinda misleading as people say this, but then when pressed on what they mean on lighting, they always mean lighting gear (either in the individual fixtures themselves or in how many fixtures) that is really only good for interviews or really small spaces and not in any filmmaking scenario that takes in larger spaces (as it would defeat the idea of the Ultra portable lighting kit you can have with your personal little camera bag and take with you around the world like all of those travel vloggers), as from the past year I’ve been seeing lighting setups and the conclusion I’ve come to is that the amount of light needed is heavily underestimated by alot of amateurs, including myself. I can only see someone hitting ceiling after ceiling with lighting gear and going for more and more in response, which then I ask, why bother? Why not avoid the hassle and just stick to renting what you exactly need? I always answered this to myself by saying that maybe the rental outlet may not have what you exactly need or in locations you may not know what availability you will have access to, hearing about your expansive use of maxi brutes and other tungsten lights or Sean Bobbit’s of six 18ks for a gymnasium really sobered me on this, making me take a step back on whether to really go for an extensive lighting kit to own, even if i was going to rent it out, let me know your thoughts

[BM459]

Interesting! Thank you for the response. Was the handheld in Jarhead chosen to be observational? I find that film to be very visceral.

I wondered if perhaps the No Man’s Land scene would’ve benefited from something in the camera to reflect the unstable footing of the characters, though I think the solid camera actually depicts that better, especially that brilliant close up of the feet sliding in the mud. It might’ve been unhelpful to have a camera operator slipping around in the mud too! I think the “shot” of the camera rising above the trench for the first glimpse of No Man’s Land is the best moment in the film. It is absolutely bone-chilling, and the first time that the effect of the single take really makes an impact.

I also am interested to see ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’. It looks outstanding.

[Roger Deakins]

Placing diffusion on the barn doors of a lamp will not really make the source ‘softer’ unless your subject is very close to it. The diffusion will spread the light in a more even wide beam but it won’t actually soften a shadow. A second layer directly on top of the first might spread the light even more but it will still not soften the light. To do that you need to make your source larger, as would be the case if your second layer of diffusion is set a few meters in front of the first. In general terms, the further your diffusion from the lamp the softer the light.

[BM459]

Dear Roger,

I re-watched 1917 tonight. A true masterpiece. Here is a question of personal taste, but I wonder: did you ever consider using more handheld in the film? There are a few moments where I felt a handheld camera on the shoulder of an operator could’ve possibly reflected the experience of the characters better than the gliding, floating camera you went with. Perhaps it would’ve made the camera work too noticeable though. I think you ultimately made the right choice, but I am curious if it was ever something you thought about? And if you think it would’ve worked in places?

Many thanks!

[GianniRanzuglia]

Hi,

I’m very new and unexperienced in the film industry, but the biggest lighting challenge I experienced was when a director wanted a hard streak of light and the shadows of the window seen on the floor.

We were shooting at 2-3pm, the weather was cloudy and the sunlight was bouncing everywhere and the strongest light I had was a 2k Fresnel. The camera was looking against a large window with a wide lens, so positioning light out of frame outside the window was a challenge big enough. When I turned the light on, the streak of light was so subtle and weak, the window shadows were invisible and I couldn’t bring the light closer because there was a hedge in front of the wall.

In the end, I ended up setting a 750W fresnel behind the couch where the action was taking place, cut some rubbish bag strips and placed them on the light; imitating the pattern of the windows.

After quite a long time and effort, I was happy with the placement of the streak light and the shadows of the window being cast by the 750W fresnel. But when the director came back to the set, he saw how subtle the streak light from the 2k was and decided to solely use that light and scrap the window shadows.

Sometimes less is more 😂

[Roger Deakins]

I would like an optical viewfinder – but I know that is no longer a possibility!

[GianniRanzuglia]

Hi all,

This is a very simple question. I know if I add a full sheet of diffusion to the barn doors of a 2k fresnel it’ll diffuse and soften the light, but what happens when I add a second sheet of full diffusion on top of the first? Will it diffuse the light even more or am I just losing light? Or both?

If I wanted to diffuse the 2k twice would I have to add the second layer of diffusion a few meters away?

Thank you all for your time!

[croma0]

Hello I have to do a shoot of the face reflection of an actor sitting on the edge of a swimming pool.
I want to use a backdraft behind him but I’ m afraid of the cut with another plan with wide angle if it’ s a sunny day.
Because we are shooting this at 13:00 PM and I can’ t change the time table….
What do you think…

[James]

Just to start up the forum, the question will be: What is your “dream feature” that you would like to added to the camera you normally use and why.