[Todd Terry]

Wow, that article is so worth reading… give it a look if you haven’t already.

Makes me feel like a slacker when we drag out a few HMIs and consider that a “big” shoot.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Well, I wouldn’t sweat it too terribly much… since you are shooting film it’s going to be easier to pull a good key…

I would say just light it the way you would normally light this scene, as if you had a practical background. In this case that would probably mean having pretty strong back/side lighting in order to catch the flying drops in action. In fact, you might do some experimentation with back lighting, tryiing to light the drops first before you even worry about lighting the talent, and then add that lighting after you have the water looking the way you like.

You also might try multiple takes… over greenscreen, over bluescreen, and over dead black. It could be in the end that one of those choices gives a better matte than the other.

Do some tests with either a digital still camera or a video camera with the shutter speed set to 1/300th or higher to test your lighting plot.

Also, keep in mind that for shooting 250 at 150fps you are going to need a fair bit of lighting… don’t skimp, especially on the backlighting. The SR3 of course has a variable shutter, but I would keep it wide open at 180Ëš so you don’t cheat yourself on any exposure.

On a completely different (and obvious) note…. do you own this camera? If you do, then you know what it will do and ignore the rest of this. But if you are renting it for the shot, make sure they give you the right equipment. The usual SR3 has a max shutter speed of 75fps… you’ll need one of the ones with high-speed movement that have been modified to go up to 150fps (and they are not quite as commonly seen as high-speed SR1 or SR2 bodies).

Let us know how it turns out….

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Haven’t been lighting quite as long as John (maybe two-thirds as long), but I’ve never had a bulb explode either.

Now, most of my globes are going to be contained in some way (behind the lens in a fresnel, or behind one of the lenses in a PAR HMI), but I do have a few completely open-face instruments… and honestly, I’ve never really been worried about them.

We’ve had a few minor other things happen (a C-stand bonk someone, someone getting bumped in the head by crane weights), but no injury or incident ever from a bulb exploding. It’s more likely that someone is going to get burned from not realizing an instrument is still hot.

I’m not saying don’t worry about it… just saying I wouldn’t take up too much time or brain power being overly concerned. There’s a lot more potentially dangerous stuff on the average film set.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

[John Cummings] “Todd, be very sure you know what you’re saying”

Umm…. thanks, but yes, I do know what I’m saying.

I said I know several DPs who use Glass Plus.

They use it. And I know them. True statement.

I never said I had used it myself before, and I never said it worked or gave it a recommendation. Three DPs I personally know use it and swear by it. And one is ASC. And all have expensive lenses (yes, coated… can you even get an uncoated lens now?).

As I said, it’s not a recommendation… just the passing on of info of what some others do. The reader may take it, test it, ignore it, do as they wish. I wouldn’t use it myself without testing it on an old coated lens that I don’t care about, but I wouldn’t discount it.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Yes, they will work….

That particualar Avenger is what is known as a “junior stand”…. meaning its primary attachment is a 1 1/8” female receiver (usually for mounting medium and larger lighting instruments, mid-sized HMIs, etc.)

However, it has a little “pop out” stud on top which is a standard 5/8″ stud, which is what you will use for mounting grip heads, smaller lighting instruments, etc.

The only problem I have ever run into with these kinds of stands is that the pop-out stud is sometimes a little short… and makes mounting a grip head or whatever not quite as easy as if one were mounting it on a regular C-stand. Yours may be plenty long enough, it’s hard to guess whether it is, I’ve never used that exact stand.

If it is, you can still use it with a stand adapter, which is a piece that fits into the 1 1/8″ female receiver and terminates in a regular (and usually much longer) 5/8″ stud….

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/3601-REG/Avenger_E200_Stand_Adapter_1_1_8_.html

Hope this helps,

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

[Timothy J. Allen] “Just make sure that it’s over a smooth concrete floor”

No, you do it outside, or in a shack by the docks. Work smarter, not harder, people.

But seriously… what are the legalities of an after-the-fact non-compete? A contract would have to have consideration, and unless you are paying him something specifically to sign the non-complete, there is no consideration in this case.

You could argue that you have paid him for years of work in the past, but he would argue that money was for other work that was already done… and he would be right.

I’m just not sure if an after-the-fact non-compete has much legal standing. Perhaps it does, but what is his incentive to sign it? If I were the employee, unless I was leaving on the absolute best best of terms and the employer was a close relative…. I wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Oh, yeah, I’ve had those conversations.

It’s just amazing to me that callers (whether they be sales people, job applicants, or whatever) don’t remotely seem to listen…

Case in point from last week:

I received a cold-call email from a lady (actress) inquiring about our casting process, and what she would need to do for consideration. She didn’t email me directly, she emailed via a feedback form from our website. The form that is on the SAME PAGE as the link to all the info she would ever need about casting here.

I wrote her back and gave her the link directly.

Next thing I know she has dropped off in our lobby a giant leather-bound portfolio stuffed with her pictures…. DESPITE the fact that we CLEARLY say do NOT hand deliver materials and do NOT give us anything that you expect returned.

I didn’t even look at it, because she didn’t listen. I don’t care if she looks like Halle Berry and can act like Meryl Streep, she’d be nothing but trouble on the set.

Sheesh…..

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Personally, I don’t take cold calls. Not to be a grump, either… but like Brendan, I’m usually just too busy to deal with them. If I happen to answer the phone myself and find myself with a cold caller, I’m polite, but they usually don’t get too much of my time. Those at my place who normally are the first to answer the phones usually do a pretty good job of screening the calls for me.

When I get emails, sometimes I click on the links, sometimes I don’t… largely depends on the tone and professionalism of the email and what I’m doing at the time.

However… if someone mails in or drops off a reel… I always watch it. Maybe not right away, but within a day or two. They took the effort to get their actual reel in my hands, so I give them the courtesy of a viewing. And you ever know when it might be good (or have an idea thats inspiring).

This is not a hard-and-fast rule or even a company policy or anything… it’s just sort of the way that it works out and the method that we have fallen into.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Finally found the right set of hoops to jump through… now getting good results….

Thanks,

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

It sorta depends on what kind of “stuff” you want to hold.

At minimum you’ll probably want a couple of grip heads… Avenger makes some (seen on that same page) but I personally prefer Matthews. You’ll probably want at least one grip arm as well.

With those, you’ll be able to hold most lighting control equipment… flags, scrims, cutters, fingers, dots, etc… anything that has a normal 5/8″ post.

To hold something big and flat (such as a reflector, 4×4 bounce card, etc.), you’d need a duckbill clamp, also known as a Quaker clamp (it’s basically an adapated pair of ViceGrips).

And, of course you will want a sandbag, most all stands get a bit tippy if you put them up high and put heavy or off-balance things on top.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com