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Most useful light control equipment?
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Or do what sailors do for the tops of sails: sandwich the corner with a firm material like plastic or foam. then make your attachments to the plastic with a grommet or bolt or whatever.
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Thanks Todd,
Very clear pics.
The Matthews sewn corners gives me the idea how they mount. So I’ll try it with tape and maybe add a little glue.
Not a fan of the pop up ones. They always seem to catch some wind and want to fly away outdoors. But yeah they take up little space. I have these other ones with aluminum grips on two sides so you can hand hold them really well. Or mount them. I like the design except once the reflectors are on the frames its really hard to get them off. A real wrestling match. Also its white or silver and I though it was just me until you said the foamcore gives a nicer reflection. The shiney cloths just seem to have hot and cold spots and its hard to get a nice even soft fill.
I have one kit frame that came with these flags and green screen with velcro hems. Works good once its assembled with the cloth in place. But the frame doesn’t stay assembled by itself which is weird. The velcro around all four sides of the cloth holds it all together. So as a result its hard to assemble without getting your cloth dirty. I can gaffer tape the assembly together but its kind of not thought out real well. Or maybe I’m an idiot and there is a way to hold it without the pieces slipping apart just as one side gets velcro-ed. I can probably get a latch of some kind and use machine screws to attached them Or glue down some velcro on the other side.
Would the fairly thin empty metal frames that have the pins attached allow you to mount the vinyl with some B-52s?
Like what you did with the extra drilled holes in the speed ring. I think I’d be nervous doing that in front of our 1k fresnels. They get really hot.
Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
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[Craig Alan] “Not a fan of the pop up ones”
Yeah, me either… rather use them, except for a quick setup where I know I’m going to shoot a quick shot and then break down two minutes later and have a crew member to hand-hold it the entire time.
[Craig Alan] “But the frame doesn’t stay assembled by itself which is weird.”
Is your frame hollow tube? If so, you can string shock cord (elastic bungee cord you buy by the foot) throughout the entire frame… keeps it together, pull it apart to disassemble it, and it will also pop up back together tight like those elastic-strung tent poles. We’ve done this with 4×4 frames before, works well. It’s kinda hard to find shock cord in stores, and when you do it’s expensive. But it is plentiful and cheap on eBay. Quarter inch works well…
https://www.ebay.com/itm/261242632588[Craig Alan] ” allow you to mount the vinyl with some B-52s? “
Ummm… C-47s? Maybe, if your frame is thin… or use cheap small spring clamps from Harbor Freight. Or velcro on the frame and silk.
[Craig Alan] ” I think I’d be nervous doing that in front of our 1k fresnels. They get really hot.”
If that’s a 1K tungsten, yeah, they’re probably too hot. They work fine though on a 1200w HMI, maybe even larger but that’s as big as I normally use. You’d think an instrument that big would melt it right away, but the vinyl doesn’t even get warm. Of course, although HMI housings get pretty darn toasty, they generate much more light than heat compared to tungsten.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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https://www.ebay.com/itm/261242632588
Thanks for link. Yeah its hollow. But I’m thinking maybe drill a hole and add a thumb screw might do it too.
[Todd Terry] “Ummm… C-47s?”
Yeah but reversed and spring held on with gaffer tape so you get a longer/tighter grip.
Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
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[Craig Alan] “Yeah but reversed and spring held on with gaffer tape…”
I’ve done this for a couple of decades+ now and I’ve never heard of a “B-52” before.
Ya learn something new every day I guess.
T2
__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Here’s another link but I couldn’t find many
https://www.dannyboyservices.com/special.html
On one set many years ago a guy used that name for it as he assembled it. I thought it was just him making fun of all the grip speak. Then I read it again in the lighting book and figured it was just the name grips used for a modified C-47. There doesn’t seem to be any consensus on where c-47 came from.
Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Camcorders: Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV30/40, Sony Z7U, VX2000, PD170; FCP 6 certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.
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I know them as C-74s…. The version dipped in plastic look pretty cool.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Hi Larry –
Since you described this is for outdoor work, I would first ask what your general budget, crew situation, and experience level with this type of shooting is. Reason being is that a (relatively) high degree of control over outdoor elements usually necessitates heavy, bulky gear, i.e. butterflies, overheads, combo stands, grip gear. Also, when doing this type of thing, safety is paramount and you absolutely need someone who knows what they’re doing with it! So my first recommendation would be ideally to hire a couple (or more) grips that are proficient in rigging and know the proper ways to tie off/safety items.
Also, what is the programming type? Is it narrative/ficitonal? Documentary? Run and Gun?
In any event, aside from standard grip gear for the outdoors – meaning combo stands, grip heads/rigging, PLENTY of sandbags, etc…here are some of my go-to items outdoors – you can find all of these navigating through the grip section of filmtools.com.
– I love using Ultrabounce. Usually in 6×6 or 8×8 sizes (as I prefer with most rags that aren’t overheads). It provides a very strong, wide bounce that can then be softened with frames if needs be.
– Checkerboard Rags. I prefer the silver/gold combination since I’ve found that it warms up the talent nicely when bouncing direct sunlight.
– Griffylon. Just a standard black/white rag that can be a white bounce or negative fill. Or even raingear over the talent’s head as it is reasonably waterproof!
– For diffusion, I like Silent Frost or Silent Grid Cloth (in varying thickness). As the name suggests, it is diffusion but in more of a plastic-like material that stays silent. It doesn’t crinkle in the wind.
– If you want an overhead, most any standard silk does just fine. Just depends on how thick you want it to be. The size depends on your coverage needs.
If your needs are much smaller, then 4×4 open frames skinned with any type of diffusion (including those above) and floppy cutters will do for the basics as others have suggested on this thread. Anyone else, chime in!
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One last suggestion…one interesting technique I like is to use a mirror reflector – usually 4×4 or 42″ x 42″ and bounce a super-harsh sunbeam INTO another material like the ultrabounce, which then is used to light the talent. Here’s an example of what the result looks like from a shoot I was the key grip on a couple years back:
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