Anthony Powell Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 Does anyone have any ideas on a situation I have been confronted with on a film that is due to be shot on Super 16mm with a Bolex EBM? Their is a scene where a beam of light is to shine through a crack in a wall and transfix an old man who is caught in it's beam. The effect that the director wants to achieve from either a neutral angle, or from the side, is that the beam of light should appear to have an almost 'material' quality to it, and that instead of just instantly enveloping the old man who is in it's path (as say a torch would when switched on and pointed at something), it should appear to advance slowly towards him. Been scratching my head about this for some weeks so any help / insight would be greatly appreciated. Must stress though, that this effect must be achieved IN CAMERA if possible. Thanks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickson Sorensen Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 If I understand what you are trying to achieve I will suggest 2 things. the first is that you need a very directional source of light. The best start with some sort of arc lamp with a parabolic mirror, check your local lighting rental for a xenon spot light. What you are looking for is a lamp that will give you a highly directional beam. I have also used aircraft landing lamps which have a very tight pattern. The second thing you will need is smoke or a fog machine so that you can see the shaft of light as it comes through the air. Position the light so that the smoke is backlit and the shaft will be stronger. I once saw a setup where mirrors were positioned to reflect sunlight from outside into an interior set. As you can imagine the effect was dramatic though the production was at the mercy of the weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Powell Posted November 22, 2005 Author Share Posted November 22, 2005 That's really helpful, thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted November 22, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted November 22, 2005 In the future, don't cross-post the same question. Now the replies are spread out in different discussion forums... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Powell Posted November 24, 2005 Author Share Posted November 24, 2005 Thanks for your reply to my question -also, does every member read every forum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted November 24, 2005 Premium Member Share Posted November 24, 2005 All the new posts appear from different forums on one page together, so there's no need to post the same question in multiple forums. We all just see the same question repeated on the "View New Posts" page if you do that, but not necessarily right next to each other, hence I might answer it the first time I see it posted only to realize that it has been reposted further down the page and everyone else has been replying to that post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscar jimenez Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 I think it would be easier to use 3D volumetric light and maybe in the end look more "Elegant". This can be achieved using After FX plug ins, soft image or 3d Max. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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