Todd Terry
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COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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Well Danny, in your second example, something like the Switronix would be just fine.
My concern about your 500 or so as a backlight is that the faceprint is so large you might not get a really hard hardlight. They are certainly not soft, but the hundreds of multiple bulbs do give a sort of spread-out multiple shadows look.
That’s on reason the Switronix is so cool, its faceprint is very tiny so the effect is more like a single source. Plus being bi-color helps… even when I’m shooting daylight temps sometimes I lower the temp on the backlight a bit for a nice warm look.
When we need more than that, we use LEDs that have about the same firepower as a 1000 LED, but they do it with 24 very bright ones instead of a thousand little ones… it makes for a smaller faceprint and more punch.
This is one of our setups from an old post, but it applies to the look you are trying to get…
At any rate, whichever instruments you go with make sure they are dimmable. With this setup, the ability to tweak it up or down a little bit will make your life much much easier.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Craig…
If you use rods/rails with your setup, you should grab one or more of these little guys…
We use them all the time to hold video, audio, and HDMI cables. Each lock will hold two cables. Much MUCH easier to use than Velcro ties, you can pop the cables in and out easily, and they keep them secure and locked absolutely firmly in place with no wiggle like Velcro or other kinds of flexible ties, so there’s much less strain on the ports.
By the way, they are available on eBay from other sellers for a little bit less than the one in the link… that was just the listing that had the clearest picture that showed it in use.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Yeah, you’re not going to get a hard side/rim like that from the little Switronix, at least not in exactly that setup.
For that look, what I usually do is take a mediumish HMI (usually a 1200w Fresnel) and put it high and to the side/rear on a tall junior or combo stand. I’ll blast that into a white 4×4 in front of the talent for the key… but, I’ll also arrange the instrument/barndoors so that I can “steal” a little bit of that instrument directly to splash on the talent. It’s a good setup, it will give you a very nice large soft key combined with a very hard side/rim… all with just using one instrument.
But… you can’t really do it that way with a single LED, and certainly not with that Switronix.
You might get a rim that hard from the Switronix if you can place it close enough to the talent. I’d say if your talent can turn around and reach up toward the backlight and either touch it or come fairly close (maybe within a foot) then it’d do nicely. If you have a large space or very wide shots where you have to place it farther away, then you need something with more punch.
The TorchLED is a great little instrument though, in the right applications.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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You should be fine… it’s not the type of lighting instrument that you should be wary of mixing, it’s the color temperature, and those should be close.
I mix lighting types all the time… on one of my sets it’s not unusual to see tungsten, flo, LED, and HMI instruments all at the same time.
One of your issues might be color accuracy, however. Many LEDs do not have a very high CRI, and many of them have ugly green spikes. You can usually correct this with gel.
Also, I don’t know what your setup is or how much firepower you have going on, but a 500 LED might be way overkill. When I use an LED for a back/hair light I often use just a little Switronix TorchLED, which is almost always way more than enough. It’s also a great little instrument because it is dimmable and bicolor…and has a very small faceprint so the light can be harder if you choose.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Never seen that, but if wiggling the cable helps increase or decrease the problem then no doubt it is a cable/connection issue. I’m sure the fireware update was just an unlikely coincidence and has nothing to do with it.
The question is though… which is bad… the monitor/cable combo?… or the camera/connectors? IF you had access to another C300 you could swap monitors and quickly determine which was the problem child.
Either way though I think it’s undoubtedly time for service from Canon.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Micromanagement can happen with large and small companies, on large and small jobs. You can also be given free reign on jobs whether they be large or small, or companies large or small.
I’ve never really seen a pattern to it, although some people might have.
Not long ago we had a major change to a project that was a giant pain in the rear. We found out after the fact that virtually everyone was perfectly fine with and even loved the project as-is, from the company president on down. The change was requested by the mother-in-law of the company’s front desk receptionist. Yes, mother-in-law. Of the part-time gal who answers the phones. Who wasn’t even asked.
Didn’t realize she got a vote.
As Nick says, keep the good ones happy.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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The Gravity rig was used to light talent, and give visual references for performance. It did not visually put Sandra Bullock in the scenes… that was completely different compositing work.
It was however a very neat rig.
And at probably well over a million dollars, it ought to be.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Rick’s setup is very inspirational. I’m always a little bit in awe of people who can shoot really wonderful interiors with just available light.
The fantastic British photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones (better known to most people as Lord Snowdon) had for years in his London studio a grand total of ZERO lighting instruments… only a northern skylight as his single light source. And he could manipulate it in such amazing ways, creating some of the most wonderful portraits of people you’d ever want to see.
Good stuff.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Yep… this stuff, one of my favorite things, discussed in this previous post…..
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/47/860477
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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John is right, as always.
You can get the “Private Ryan” look easily at 1/250th.
Those ultra high shutter speeds are rarely going to prove very useful. My primary camera will go down to an 11.25° shutter at its narrowest, which at 24fps is 1/2000th of a second. I cannot even conceive of when I’d ever need to use that.
You’d need a boatload of light for that, too… dim interiors, no.
Something else occurred to me… you asked in your original post if the 1/60th “normal” shutter for video was tied to the 60Hz power. My immediate thought was “No, no, not at all. It’s because at 30fps a 180° shutter gives you 1/60th, they have nothing to do with each other.” But… in a way you are right. The 1/60th shutter doesn’t directly have anything to do with the 60Hz power… but the 30fps (60i) that your camera shoots does, following in the footsteps of the early TV cameras that were pretty much slaves of the AC power cycles. So in a very indirect sense one could say that a normal shutter speed of 1/60th for video is a result of our 60Hz power.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
