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How to make a lighting pattern…
I remember reading an article in a video magazine (forget which one) that stated one can make their own patterns for a light to display on the background wall by using some type of black felt material and cutting holes or slits into it for the desired pattern.
Is this true and able to be done? If so, does anyone know of any websites that shows patterns I can cut into my material?
TIA
Sam
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8 Replies
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Go to the MATTHEW web site and check the pattern on their cookies.
https://www.msegrip.com/mse.php?show=products&cat=55You can buy a sheet of black foamboard from Walmart and cut the shapes yourself with an Exacto knife and use it like you see on their website.
Nino
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That’s a good suggestion…. just be careful. Foamcore is of course flammable and furthermore it being black it will soak up heat like a sponge… so just make sure it is not too close to the lighting instrument.
Traditionally old-fashioned “cookies” are make out of wood… and the big ones are darn heavy. With ones made out of foam core (or alternately, black showcard or matte board) you are going to save a lot of weight. You can probably hold one up with a lightweight stand and a single grip clamp…. as opposed to a full-size C-stand and a sandbag that a traditional cookie would require.
Todd
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Interestingly enough, I am redesigning the lighting for a CBS studio that I had originally set-up 4 years ago. As I am want to do — especially then, when I was heavy into my “Arts & Crafts” phase — there were dozens of black foamcore flags (toppers, siders, and full box snoots) affixed to the 2000watt units, along with a few textural cuks cutouts. No one ever replaced any over the years, and the studio was active 18 hours a day. As the electricians were knocking down the current light hang I marvelled at how long the foamcore lasted — and never once did they have an issue. They were however VERRRYYYY dried out and some showed signs of slight melting.
|DS
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Yikes….. OSHA, anyone?
I wouldn’t mind using a foamcore cookie or snoot or flag or cutter or whatever on a temporary set that was lit for one day or one scene or one show… but I don’t think I would use any for a permanent installation like that unless I was using Kinos or something that gave off no heat. It’s a miracle there wasn’t a fire there… and as luck usually has it, it would probably have been at the moment the stage was clear of crew on a break, giving it time to get good and raging in the ceiling before anyone noticed.
Just my two cents,
Alex -
Foamcore is great, especially for slashes and similar simple shapes.
But for complicated patterns you may still prefer either the Chimera window pattern kit or a Source 4.
— Bob C
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You’ve never seen any of my foamcore stained glass window breakups then! 🙂
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Just my 10 cents.
I would use Foamcore just for the reason that it is flamable.
If your using source 4’s get some tin and create your own, or buy them premade.
If your using say an ARRI 300 Fresnel, what I do is use heavy duty blackwrap. Then using an exacto or sharp leatherman, I cut my own patterns. You’ll have to make it big enough (about the size of a quartered full gel sheet) to fit on the barn doors away from the element. If you add color make sure to put the color in fromnt of the blackwrap pattern. Putting the blackwrap in front of gel makes the blackwrap get way to hot and can fade the gel.
I have been doing this for years. Saves money, is quick, and best of all you’ll have patterns no-one else does.
Think safety!!!
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