Rick Wise
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COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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The chin shadows tell the key story. Hard keys. Plus lots of soft top light. Background darkened with rows of duvetine or cutters. Probably a center key for the 3 center women, and singles for left and right. Classic sit-com high-key lighting. Useful but not to my tastes….
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Yes, you can mix any color lights for B&W. The only effect you’ll see is slight darkening or lightening of vivid colors; a red shirt lit with tungsten lights will look a lighter shade of gray than if lit with daylight-balanced units, but only slightly.
If you light well, compose well, and have compelling content, then B&W will work fine for YouTube or anywhere else. You will be helped by the release of Roma, which is in B&W.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
I have never paid much attention to “best aperture” for a lens other than paying attention to the fact that many lenses will give you crisper images if they are NOT wide open OR stopped all the way down. But let’s say your particular lens has an especially sweet spot at f/4 and you want to take advantage of that. You’ve metered the scene and the f/stop is f/8. The only way you can expose at f/4 is cut the light intensities of your lights so that now your exposure is f/4. In other words, cut down the light intensities of your key lights (and probably all others as well) by 2 f/stops.
You control light intensity so that you can expose at your desired f/stop. Actually, we do that all the time to keep the look of a complete scene constant. If we shoot one shot at f/2 and then shoot another shot that will be cut in directly after the first shot, we work to make the 2nd shot also an f/2, etc., so that depth of field characteristics remain constant and also the background intensities don’t change. In fact, we try to keep ALL the shots within the scene at f/2 for those two reasons. (We do fudge a bit when necessary, but strive for a constant f/stop throughout the scene.)
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Right here.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Ryan, here’s a suggestion: Before you post ANYTHING more, put up links to videos you have actually completed.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Mark, Beautifully said. Absolutely to the point. I’ve given up replying to this guy or even reading his endless posts. Maybe you will make a miraculous breakthrough. Thank you!
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
With practice, you will get good at such adjustments. Looks like you need to drop an inch? Lower just one leg about that much, Then a second, and finally the third. With a heavy rig, do NOT try to do all 3 at the same time. Do them one at a time. Check the bubble to make sure all are even. Usually you can adjust just one leg to level things out if you are not on the bubble.
Or, as Todd suggests, remove the camera first to lighten the load.
Practice, practice, practice.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
I totally agree: for doc work, owning your own camera works well. Later, if you start doing more long form, rental may be a better solution, though there are lots of cinematographers who do own their own camera package. I didn’t. Once I left docs, it was rental all the way.
My workhorse camera was a 16mm CP 16-R, a solid and reliable body, coupled to a 10-150 Zoom outfitted with a fluid zoom control, plus a decent tripod. Today I have no idea what I’d get. I suspect Todd’s suggestion is excellent.
Let us know what you end up with.
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Brings tears to my eyes. Fab!
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Todd, love, love your music!
Rick Wise
Cinematographer
MFA/BFA Lighting and Camera Instructor Academy of Art University
San Francisco Bay Area
https://www.RickWiseDP.com