Mitch Gross
Forum Replies Created
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Use a portable LCD monitor. Not a computer screen but something that takes a standard composite video input. If you want to get some extra use out of it, most portable DVD plays have AV inputs these days. They’re battery-powered to boot.
Mitch
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Take it to some professional grip & camera houses to get their opinions. They may wish to purchase some or sell them as dealeres.
Mike, didn’t we briefly discuss this a number of months back in a thread about your flo lights? I’d still be interested in taking a look.
Mitch Gross
mitchgross(at)aol(dot)com -
In video, green is usually better because there is more information in the green channel. Blue is better for blonde hair. And yes, in corporate work you’ll run into far more blue shirts & suits than green.
Mitch
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There are a lot better keyers then what you’re using. You’d be amazed what a good program can do for you.
Mitch
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Taking the kits on location is really not that bad. You can buy a kit of a couple of lightweight stands with collapsing crossbar rod that stuffs into a dedicated bag for under $200. I added a third stand, some extra crossbar extensions and a bunch of medium spring clamps and a bigger bag to stuff tham all into and it was about the size of my tripod soft bag. I have never had a problem with the wrinkles, just use a few clamps on the sides as well as the top to stretch the fabric a bit. My big 16×8 screen rig took maybe 10 minutes to setup each time. I usually set the camera about 18′ back from the screen with the talent 9′ out (halfway in between). Two lights, about 5′ to either side of the talent pointed straight at the screen to illuminate it. A couple of lights in front for the talent and one little one rigged overhead for hair/shoulders and I was all set. Easy stuff and I was on the road with it for two months, so it had to travel well and be small. I used as much Lowell lighting as possible for size & weight. Again, it was cheap & light & we had no problems.
If I were to do it again I might invest in a Reflectamedia kit. That would be really simple & light and they work great. Because of the unique technology the screen can be right up behind the talent with no worries about spill so a much smaller screen can be used. But it is still an expensive system.
Mitch
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I have an 8×16 collapsable greenscreen made by Botero that I bought from B&H last year. The flexfill-style frame is actually 8×8, and the extra material extends from it. That’s fine if you want to have that extension on the floor as a small cyc setup, and the screen will clip to a single stand for support. I needed the 16′ width so I ended up getting a seamless rig – two stands with an expanding pole across them – and spring-clipped the screen in place. The seamless rigs are actually only about 12′ long, so I had to get an extension kit which included a couple of horizontal sticks and another stand to support the center. It all worked just fine but in retrospect I think it would have been easier to buy regular greenscreen fabric and hang it without the frame.
One note about the Botero. The fabric wrinkles a lot; but I never found this to be a problem as long as I lit properly from the front. Pulled nice keys. The fabric is also quite thin so it is semi-translucent if there is a light behind it. I had to set it up in a space with a mirrored wall and I could see the hotspots of my lights reflected off the mirror, right through the greenscreen (twice!). And a greenscreen in a frame cannot be put into the wash if it gets dirty.
Mitch
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I find that the smaller the bulb (lower the wattage), the flimsier and more prone to filiament breaking in transport or with a jostle. Anyone who owns Lowel Pro lights should have scads of spare bulbs around – they pop way too easily.
My worst day for bulbs was when I had a string of Inkies running off a small un-regulated generator and the helpful PA plugged an old magnetic ballasted 1200w HMI inline. I saw the colors of the rainbow from the HMI for a brief moment and then a rather brilliant paprazzi effect as all those Inkies blew.
Mitch
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Lowel lights are fine, but they are limited. They do not have particularly large units and they are not very versatile. They are generally open-faced (unlensed) lights that are good for bouncing off umbrellas, walls or white cards, or for pointing at specific spots with a bit of diffusion on them. Far more controllable is a fresnel-lensed light, which are units offered from companies such as Arri, Mole-Richardson and others. Lowel does have one fresnel light, but it is nothing to write home about.
Lowel lights are also a bit finiky and delicate. They are great for the private owner who will deal with them personally (read: gently) and they are physically quite small and light which is very convenient. But they certainly are not the end-all be-all lights and something like an Arri light kit would be more useful. Of course it is also much bigger, heavier and much more expensive.
I don’t want to completely criticise Lowel lights. I personally own seven of them (4 Pros, 2 Vs and a Rifa55), but I also know their limitations.
Btw, Lowel is based in Brooklyn, NY, and they will repair their gear for FREE if you drop it off or mail it in to them. I think they do charge sometimes for certain replacement parts, but I’ve beaten my stuff to hell & back over the years and have taken gear over there a few times and gotten everything back better than new (model improvements over time) and have never been charged a cent.
Mitch
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A couple people have asked me about my “monolith” Storm Case. It is the iM3300 model, shown here:
https://www.cases4less.com/detail_storm_3300.html
It (just barely) fits my Porta-Jib with 60 ibs. of counterweights. It could probably fit some other small jibs like a Cinekinetic, Trovatto (does he still make ’em?), or Seven Jib. I don’t think it would fit an EZ/FX jib, but perhaps it breaks down more than I know. You might be able to pack one in some tripod tubes, but that can get expensive if you need a few and the gear needs to be padded inside or it won’t last very long.
Mitch
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My monolith case is about 20″x8″x50″. Pretty thin & fairly mobile on the built-in wheels. I used to have a video village built into a case that sounds similar to your beast, about 4’x2’x2′. Roll ‘er onto set and pull off the top and I was ready for business, but I was always being banned from going anywhere near location because it was deemed too large for practical spaces in NYC, so it became client monitor.
Mitch