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Wheres the best spot for the hair light when trying to avoid reflections?
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[Patrick Bronte] “What would you do if you went to someones home and the only room available was a lot smaller and doesn’t have the depth to it like that in the photo? “
Well, sometimes you just do what you can. We usually gravitate to the bigger of available spaces, but sometimes even that is not enough. We do a lot of healthcare stuff, and are forever being jammed into tiny doctors’ offices, etc. I can’t count the times that we’ve shot in an office but the camera wasn’t even in the room with us… I’ve had to put it out in a hall as far back as I could without seeing the door frame in the shot. There’s a lot of “make do,” and it often has to just be “good enough.”
[Patrick Bronte] ” add would be a white reflector on a stand to catch some of the key light in order to offer some soft light to the opposite side of the talents face. What do you reckon?”
Yep, that can work.
[Patrick Bronte] ” the only issue I’m going to encounter is that I’m not going to be able to achieve that look of having the talent in sharp focus and the background being blurred out “
Depends on your camera… my backgrounds are soft because I have Super35mm-sized sensor and I’m shooting with my lens wide open with a fairly long focal length. Getting that look is a challenge with a smaller-sensor camera (where the chip is usually only 1/3″) just because of the principals of physics and optics… the smaller sensor means everything is sharp. You can help that a little, make sure you are shooting with your iris as wide open as possible (adjusting lighting levels up or down to get proper exposure). Then put your camera as far back from the talent as is convenient, so that you are zooming in and using a longer focal length… with the talent as far from the background as possible, too. Sometimes that can make the scene look a bit visually “compressed,” but will soften the BG.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Todd, what would you choose between: having the scene “visually compressed” with a soft background or having everything sharpened? My XF-100 only has a small chip so I’ve got a lot of experimentation to do before my next shoot. Can you soften the background in post in anyway?
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Well it’s purely a matter of taste, but I like soft backgrounds. There was such a desire for shallow depths of field for a while, that there eventually seemed to be a backlash, with a lot of people hatin’ on it. Those folks all pointed to the “deep focus” movies of the Citizen Kane era, where everything in the frame was razor sharp. I never heard anyone mention the (to me, obvious) fact that those films were all in black and white… which I think makes a big difference. By the time you add all the visual info of color to your brain, I don’t think deep focus works as well. So I generally choose soft backgrounds.
You can soften BG focus in post and simulate shallow DoFs, but it’s a heckuva lot of work, and more suitable for very short form things (commercials, etc.), and not so much for long-form pieces like your veterans’ narratives. Those would just be too much work.
There is the option of using a DoF lens converter to restore a 35mm depth of field (I did this for years with my P+S Technik 35mm converter). They are not in much use anymore thanks to big-chip cameras (my lens converter cost me $13,000 only about 6 years ago… today it’s virtually worthless, I could hardly give it away). But honestly you sound like you have a lot on your plate wrestling with the lighting already, and considering they are a fair bit complicated I would not recommend them for your use. If you want to know more info, you can search and track down a couple of articles I wrote on depth of field for Creative COW magazine, or just search “DoF” or “Depth of field” in the forums and you will find literally hundreds of postings and suggestions.
But honestly… for what you are doing I wouldn’t sweat it too much, and just do as much as your camera will naturally do. Just stay away from super super busy or patterned backgrounds and you’ll be ok.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Todd, thank you very much for the info about the LED lights you have found so useful. I wonder if you know anything about the Genaray circular lights, that come with a slot for an umbrella. Of course, with an umbrella on your rectangular lights they become circular as well.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
I don’t know anything about the Genarays, Rick… I was not familiar with those until you mentioned them yesterday, I checked them out briefly and they look pretty cool.
Yes I like idea of the built-in umbrella holders on them. A little while back someone in a COW forum, I can’t remember who, was hatin’ on umbrellas… said something to the effect that they were the sign of an amateur or someone who didn’t know what they were doing, or a good way to spot a still photographer who is trying to do video. I completely disagree with that… I love umbrellas and use them all the time. If you are in a situation where you don’t have to worry about spill too much (such as a bigger location) or don’t need control like eggcrates and such, then an umbrella and a softbox will give you pretty much exactly the same results. And while a softbox takes a few minutes to put together, you can open an umbrella in literally one second. So I use them a lot. I have some silver ones for reflected use, but usually I shoot through them with the silk ones. I also have one that I hacked by replacing the silk with my favorite “shower curtain” material, so I have a harder softlight (or is that a softer hardlight?). I also have a blue reflective one that converts tungsten to daylight, but honestly it eats so much light that I never use it… maybe once or twice if that.
It’d be interesting to figure out a battery solution for the Genarays. It’d be theoretically easy since they are 12v, but the heads look too small to actually mount a brick on, and I wouldn’t want to have to cable to a separate battery. Smaller 12 or 14v power tool batteries would probably work (probably DeWalts or Milwaukees). That’s a pretty easy hack, you buy one of their fairly cheap rechargeable flashlights that uses the same battery and use that to build your battery receptacle. That’s a lot lighter weight than a full AB brick. A lot cheaper, too.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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I need to build a stand for 5-6 boom poles. How did you attach the PVC so its solid enough to hold light stands? Love the organization.
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] ” How did you attach the PVC so its solid enough to hold light stands?”
Hi Craig…
Well… I didn’t. None of my PVC tubes hold any light stands, although they are strong enough to hold them if I wanted (although they would have to be much larger pipes). There are three PVC tubes (of two different sizes) attached to one end of the case (the bottom of the three pics in the above post). Two of them hold umbrellas, and the other transports the mic boom fishpole. They are attached to the case by small bolts, with the heads inside countersunk in the pipe (to avoid snagging the umbrellas). In the pic you might be able to see a small hole or two drilled in the pipes. These are access holes so I could drill the countersinking in the opposite side of the pipe, and so I could get a screwdriver in there when attaching them to the case. In case you are wondering about that fatter middle pipe… that’s a “holster” for my zoom lens. On these shoots I was using the zoom a lot, but when I wanted to pull it off for a quick shot with a prime I didn’t want to take time to pack the zoom away so that’s a quick place to park it. The slot in the side accommodates the focus/zoom levers. There’s an identical “holster” inside the case (you can see it in the top pic) for more secure transport of the lens.
As for actual light stands, they are on the opposite side of the case (seen best in the middle pic). The plywood deck has a thicker hardwood piece screwed/glued to the bottom, and I drilled three 5/8″ holes (with spade bit in a drill press) at the appropriate spots so the inverted stands would nest together nice and tight. I really should have used Matthews baby wall plates, but they are like 30 bucks each and their baseplates are actually too big to put that close together. No matter, the baby pins fit in the holes nice and snug… it’s tight and secure enough to use the stands as handles when driving the case around (the swivel wheels are on the opposite end).
Between the stands is a 5/8″ post (just a bolt with the head cut off) to give me a spot to park the one grip head I was taking to hold the boom pole cradle. Similar posts are inside the lid to park the LED heads.
Hope that helps…
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Thank you very much.
[Todd Terry] “They are attached to the case by small bolts, with the heads inside countersunk in the pipe (to avoid snagging the umbrellas). In the pic you might be able to see a small hole or two drilled in the pipes. These are access holes so I could drill the countersinking in the opposite side of the pipe, and so I could get a screwdriver in there when attaching them to the case.”
I think I get it now. They are attached to the side of the case rather than the deck. I’ll have to think what I could use. I need them free standing. But they would have to be support enough not to tip. Your case does the trick.
I have a bolt driver set and I have a counter sink bits. So tool wise I should be fine. Just have to figure out what I’m going to mount the pipes on. I’d also like to have hooks to hang the xlr cords.
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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Yeah Craig those are attached by their sides to the case only. They are not attached to the deck at all.
What are you trying to do exactly, and with what kind of gear? Might have some options or ideas…
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Todd
Thank you again.Here’s the deal. I am handing out and collecting throughout the day 5-6 boom poles with mikes attached.
I want them left extended. With mikes attached.
I want a holder for it where they are secure upright – easy in and out. At a glance can see which have been returned. Would not mind hooks to hang the Xlr cables.
There is no wall I can use. PVC is perfect cause it won’t stratch the poles and smooth in and out. I could even number them by team so they can put away their own. Must be completely tip- proof.
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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