[John Sharaf]

Bob,

There are two (or more) schools of thought in this regard; if you want a “natural” color, light the foreground and the background in the same color space! If you’re looking out the window and there’s a fire truck you might want it to read the right color red, in this case you’d want to use daylight source on the interior foreground. You must also consider that there is probably a lot of daylight ambience on the interior as well, from other windows in the room.

If you were to light the interior with tungsten then the outside will look excessively blue. A compromise possibility is to use 1/2 CTB on the tungsten (or 1/4 or 1/2 CTO on HMI’s) to render the exterior only slightly blue. Some LD’s find this “mixed light” effect very colorful and pleasing.

JS

[John Sharaf]

The Kamio does make a circular eyelight if used close to the subject; but for me it’s usefulness for this purpose is limited to shots where the subject is meant to look into the lens, otherwise the direction (and placement) of the specular in the eye is wrong.

In interviews I usually key with a Chimera (or a large Kino) and as long as the light reaches into the eyes it produces a sufficient specular reflection so that an additional eyelight is not necessary.

There are times for dramatic purposes and other reasons, that the key light does not reflect in the eyes; in these cases as additional eye light (like the little Pepper you refer to) is called for. If you’re using a fill light that will often suffice for the eye light as well.

In feature films they often use an on camera light that can be shuttered down to almost nothing to put that little sparkle in the eye.

JS

[John Sharaf]

I just got back from England and can report that carryon is limited to one piece that’s much smaller than anyone is used to. You’ll have to ship ENG cameras in the hold so make sure you have a proper case to do so!

JS

[John Sharaf]

Fatkid,

The elegance of the Varicam/1200A/firewire/FCP system is that you can edit in native High Definition with simple inexpensive drives; any effort to short cut this workflow, as you’ve done in this case “by logging and capturing” on the set will come back to bite you as you now well know.

Others should take note of the trouble that Fatkid is having making everything work now that post is all screwed-up and be well advised to follow what is now a well proven and traditional workflow, namely digitizing with the 1200A (or new 1400) VTR to FCP in the DVCPRO100 codec (either by Firewire or HD-SDI through a capture card like the Kona).

I’ll bet that Fatkid’s improvised work flow was meant to circumvent renting a deck, in order to save a few dollars. It’s unfortunate to have to learn by mistakes, but these are usually very valued lessons!

JS

[John Sharaf]

Joe,

Unfortunately in this respect the Varicam system is not like the film camera that it’s meant to replace. To visualize the slo motion you need to use either a hardware frame rate converter (manufactured by Panasonic) or a software frame rate converter (which is a plug-in in FCP).

The HVX200 operates differently in that it can play back the slow motion off the P2 card.

JS

[John Sharaf]

I believe you need either the 1700 or the new 1400 deck to do this!

JS

[John Sharaf]

Johnny,

The Ego would be a good key light and depending on its placement will be either contrasty of flat, also use of fill card or even black “negative fill” card can control the contrast.

Choose a small fresnel like a 100watt Pepper for the backlight, or enen a 6″ Kino Mini Flo.

JS

[John Sharaf]

Pastor Mike,

I don’t think flourescent lights would be appropriate for your applications; and you should consider the service presentation and the talk show as seperate scenes, requiring different looks.

Lighting is not just providing enough expopsure for the cameras to work; it’s more a matter of creating a mood or look that enhances the “show” that’s being photographed or viewed. That’s where the theatrics come into play. For example, to best light the service you might want to create a spot light area at the alter and any other “action” area that draws the viewers’ attention there. If the are area changes you might consider having the lights dim when not in use. Also by creating colored “washes” you might create one or more “moods” that are appropriate to different parts of the service.

These are serveral starting points that a lighting designer would consider when faced with the task you describe. I’d recommend that you engage the services of such a person to help design, specify the equipment, install and operate and/or train your own in-house personel to operate the installation. It need not be that expensive if done on a limited consulting basis. Depending on your location, you might hire a film or video cameraperson to assist you in this task. Check your Yellow Pages, internet or Mandy.com to find someone in your area.

JS

[John Sharaf]

Johnny,

Check out the Lowell Ego; it’s great for tabletop and other small subjects like your puppet, especially if you want to create a daylight-type look. Here’s the link:

https://www.lowelego.com/

JS

[John Sharaf]

Kevin,

If you’re talking about a telephoto shot of something 200′ away through haze, it’s like shooting through a heavy filter; of course it’ll be soft. Which such atmospherics, the only thing sharp would be a subject close to the camera!

JS