Rick Wise
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COW Coin
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This old house has a fuse box or circuit box. What are the amps on each circuit? 15 or 20? Find out!
Those masks are probably somewhat fragile so heat is an issue. Generally, though not always, I prefer to light masks with a hard Fresnel key and some judicious fill. If you have to show a long shot of the entire hallway, then you are going to be very cramped indeed. In that case, a couple of lights bounced into the ceiling is about all you can do, plus maybe some raking light from down the hall if you can frame it out. If you can just isolate each mask, then some small LED Fresnel unit on a C-stand arm that you can move around to the most dramatic lighting angle will be best, plus some bounce material such as foamcore, beadboard, even space blanket. bring some options and grip gear to hold in place.
You may want to play with another small unit that has some relevant color. In any case, bring a selection of gels, including browns, greens, reds, etc.
Camera angles will be cramped. Hopefully none of the masks is very large.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
To my eyes, the digital Bolex has the most 16mm film look of any digital camera I’ve seen. It has its problems, including the need for an external viewfinder since the one that comes with the camera is next to useless. By the time you add necessary stuff you may be closer to $4,000 than $3,000, not sure. Worth considering. I haven’t shot with it yet but am hungry to do so. You can get it with different mounts.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Why NOT green screen? That way you can put anything in the background, provided you shoot everything correctly so you can pull a clean matte. Otherwise you will need to create backgrounds that work for each of your subjects. From your post, I gather you don’t want the same background for each person.
If you are worried you cannot properly light green screen and keep the foreground clean, do a search on the topic in Creative Cow for lots of posts. Then, if possible, shoot some tests just to make sure you’ve figured it out correctly.
Today’s green-screen software makes shooting green screen so much easier than it used to be. One critical matter: no green spill on the edges of your foreground subjects. That can be achieved two ways: pull the subjects forward enough that the intensity of the green bounce is nearly eliminated, and/or a soft, warm 3/4 back light on the foreground (1/4 CTO for example.) Distance and warm edging do miracles for post.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Different strokes for different folks…. Michael Mann likes deep focus, these days achieved with wide lenses and hefty f/stops and high ISO. Most cinematographers prefer shallow depth of field, with wide-open lenses and long focal lengths. “Cinematic?” So many factors. With that C100 you can do just about any look you like, with lots and lots and lots of practice. Beginning with the lighting.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Good safety tip, Eric. To fly a 300W and maybe a 650 Fresnel out on a C-stand arm will be OK, though I think it’s best to also hang a sandbag off the back end of the arm as counter-weight. Anything heavy enough to make the arm bow more than a tiny bit is too heavy. Then it’s time for much larger and more sturdy support systems, as you described.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Todd, do the test I described and get back to us…. I know I resisted this idea too until I tried it out. At first it seems counter-intuitive. It may help to think of it this way: imagine a vertical pole. On the bottom there is a flat piece of metal that extends for six inches or so and is solidly screwed into the base of that pole. Hold the pole vertical. Push the pole toward the metal plate. The pole doesn’t budge. Push it away from the plate, the pole goes over very easily. You can pile all the bags you want on that plate, but it will never be as solid at holding the pole upright if you are pushing away from the plate as it is when you push toward the plate..
The other two legs of a C-stand splay out. They do provide some resistance to topple, so they help a lot, but the laws of physics make it pretty clear: for the most stable resistance to topple, the weight on the C-stand goes over the highest leg sticking straight out under the load-bearing arm. (For a diagram, see p. 81, Set Lighting Technician’s Handbook, 4th edition, by Harry C. Box, the grip and electrician’s bible.)
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Oh dear, it looks like for once I have to disagree with Todd! The high leg should be UNDER the weight bearing arm, not across from it. Of course, with enough sand bags, any arrangement will work. But run this simple experiment: run the arm out to the right. Place the high leg directly under it without any sand bag. Press down on the arm. It is extremely hard to tip the C-stand over this way. Now do the same thing, but this time with the leg on the opposite side of the arm. Now it’s pretty easy to tip the c-stand over.
As for where the knuckle should be: If you are facing the knuckle, the weight should be out to your right. If you are standing behind the C-stand, the knuckle should be on the right side with the arm carrying any weight going straight out away from you. In the photo at the start of this thread, the weight is going out to the left of the knuckle when you stand in front of it. The reason the weight should be to the right is that if your are flying something heavy out on that arm, when the weight is to the right the knuckle tightens its grip as it starts to sag. Placed to the left, the knuckle loosens its grip. In the photo, the weight is miniscule so you could go either way. However, it’s really good practice to ALWAYS place any weight to the right. Making that a habit will some day save your butt.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Compromise. Set exposure so that your actor is a bit darker than “normal” to preserve detail in the highlights. A whole lot depends on your camera’s ability to handle high-contrast situations. For digital, anything over 100 IRE is lost forever, but shadows can be boosted in post. So protect the highlights. On a large budget shoot you’d have HMIs to fill in the shadow area so the range from darkest to brightest is not so great. For no budget, find the sweet spot for your camera. Experiment!
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Thanks, Bob. Looks like $449 for the less expensive Shadowmaker.
Todd, yes, Halloween suppliers have some limited stuff. Frightprops has a $59 low-voltage flicker gen, https://www.frightprops.com/controllers-electronics/led-light-controllers/microflicker-low-voltage.html.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
B&H lists this Flickermaster as “no longer available.” I cannot find any version of it on the internet.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com