[Daniel Schultz]

Another related question. I might be doing a shoot with a photographer who has the Canon Mark II. What do you think of her using it as a 2nd camera for some of the parts of the shoot that need 2 cams? My fear is that the beautiful Mark II footage would look much better than the HMC150 (shallow depth of field, etc). Do you think they’d blend on a FCP timeline, or would it look odd?

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

Hi Todd,

Thanks for the detailed info. I can look at each shot from the ad spot and understand better how the look was achieved.

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

Appreciate your advice. I’ll check out those titles.

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

Hi Todd and Dennis.

Appreciate the responses (and allowing me to indulge in my obsession).
I’ve done a classroom shoot with natural and fluorescents before, and although it wasn’t terrible, I’d love to take it up a notch.

Dennis, the reason I wanted to bounce the HMIs of the ceiling was I wanted to turn off the flos. I was hoping to not have the mixed lighting. And, yes I want to use the natural light and supplement with the lights.

Todd, just viewed your ad spot, and I love the look you got. That was with natural and HMIs, right?

Appreciate all the info and advice–even the Keep-it-simple-stupid advice, which for me, might be the most important! (But, alas, I know I will continue to obsess. I hope you understand it comes from wanting to be as good as I can.)

Thanks all.

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

Is there anything in particular I need to know about operating HMIs? Do they all need to have a ballast? And will and HMI fresnel work basically the same as a tungsten?

I’m assuming bounced light off the ceiling would give a softer overall ambient light than chimeras pointed at the kids.

I’ll be scouting the classrooms at the end of next week, and maybe I’ll check back when I have more info.

Thanks,

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

Yes to 2-cams, I assume.
Any tips? Best/easiest to shoot with the two cams and then use waveforms (clap) to sync in FCP? Or is there a better way?

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

Noan, do you think the two cameras would be a good match for a 2-camera setup?

Also, unrelated…does the HMC150 take stills? I heard it did but couldn’t find anything in the manual about it.

Thanks!

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

I get the message loud and clear about the totas. If I have a north facing window and do as everyone says, shoot with my back to the window and faces towards the window…that all sounds good. But what if it’s a really cloudy day? I know some clouds are good for diffused natural light, but if it’s dark and rainy. Don’t I need a backup plan to get ambient light in the room?

Mabe I should consider renting HMIs. How many and how big would I need? I’ve never used them, but I’m assuming they work like Fresnels, only daylight balanced? (I’ve used fresnels, and I’m somewhat comfortable with them).

I think, for many reasons, going simple is wise–with as few mics and lights as possible to make the kids feel self-conscious. But for a backup…I’m confused all over again. I guess it’s not easy!

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

I really appreciate all the posts here, representing lots of valuable experience. Mark, I’m glad to hear your comments about the ear mike–I was having the same feeling and really hoping to not go that direction. Also, I liked your idea of shooting some lights into the ceiling instead of trying to gel the flos, which is probably more trouble and expense than I’m ready to deal with.

So here’s a thought.

1. North-facing windows
2. Turn off the flos, and shoot 3-4 totas into the ceiling with either full or 1/2 ctb.
3. Use litepanels for closeups of kids, thinking that there will be enough ambient, color-corrected light bouncing around–all in the daylight range.

Thoughts?

Dan S.

[Daniel Schultz]

Yes…I mixed it up when writing, but, believe it or not, did actually have it right in my mind. I want to avoid shooting into the windows. None-the-less, thanks for the clarification.

Dan S.