Nicholas Jenkins Posted January 1, 2007 Share Posted January 1, 2007 No pressure :blink: 12 page script which is a narrative piece about gambling addiction. We'll be doing some exterior night shoots in JANUARY IN MONTANA!!! I'm most concerned about our DVX100's locking up as we're usually seeing temps around 10 degrees. But in between takes my A.C. will be taking the camera inside to warm up. I'll also be lighting most of this with clip on flood lights and a couple Arri kits. Really looking forward to it, has anyone dealt with extreme cold on these Panasonics? WOOHOO! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Brown Posted January 1, 2007 Share Posted January 1, 2007 (edited) No pressure :blink: But in between takes my A.C. will be taking the camera inside to warm up. I'll also be lighting most of this with clip on flood lights and a couple Arri kits. Cold won't bother the camera as much as condensation produced by temperature extremes from taking it from the very cold into someplace warm. Keep the cameras in the cold and try to keep your batteries as warm as possible as the cold certainly will zap their juice. Edited January 1, 2007 by Timothy Brown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted January 1, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted January 1, 2007 Video cameras tend to be heat generators, so they handle cold (dry) conditions well. I shot a feature on a Sony F900 in winter in St. Petersburg, Russia, once in the middle of the night on an ice lake, and it worked fine. Freezing sleet and snow may be a problem if you can't keep it out of the camera. The real problem with cold isn't with the video camera, it's the batteries, which don't perform their best in the cold. You'll need extras and you'll need to find a way of keeping them from getting too cold, whether to keep the spares in your pockets or something. The other issue is lens fogging/condensation when moving from a cold into a warm environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicholas Jenkins Posted January 1, 2007 Author Share Posted January 1, 2007 Awesome advice guys, thanks. I'll have three 2 hour batteries, but those will be kept inside the heated set. I won't be taking the camera in and out of the cold to avoid condensation. GREAT! I probably won't have to worry about sleet/snow/rain, BUT we have a bag for the camera if these situations come up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Kevin Zanit Posted January 1, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted January 1, 2007 Also, if you plan to keep the cameras in a heated room overnight (as opposed to a truck), try and give your camera department a bit of a pre-call to get the camera out in the weather as it will take an hour or so for any fogging to go away. If you can keep the gear in a garage or some other place that it will stay around the outside temperature you can avoid this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Feldspar Posted January 1, 2007 Share Posted January 1, 2007 Also, if you plan to keep the cameras in a heated room overnight (as opposed to a truck), try and give your camera department a bit of a pre-call to get the camera out in the weather as it will take an hour or so for any fogging to go away. If you can keep the gear in a garage or some other place that it will stay around the outside temperature you can avoid this. Why is that? I'e learned that if you leave a camera overnight in a cold car it's going to have condensation when you bring it inside someplace warm to shoot and with a lot of video cameras, you get a "DEW" warning and it shuts down! However, I've taken a camera from inside a heated room and shot in 10 degree weather for hours without fogging and also even briefly into a 5 degrees below Farenheit cooler and been okay. I understand condensation (water vapor in the air attaches to colder surfaces) but what causes fogging? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicholas Jenkins Posted January 12, 2007 Author Share Posted January 12, 2007 Well, the first two days of shooting are done and it's been a challenge. My first time as a DP is important to me, not because I think I'll work as a pro DP really, but rather because the more I know about this incredibly important job, the better I can make my own films. At least that's the hope. Anyways, the challenges. I had a long, narrow appartment with the windows blacked out and exactly TWO practicals at opposite sides of the room... *shiver* I did the best I could and I've watched all the dailies. It looks ok, but I think I ended up with a little too much light going on to avoid parts of the room falling into darkness. I think the biggest problem we had was the ceilings were so low, any light we put up threw a shadow. That took FOREVER to correct. We never really got it completely figured out, but we got it... better than it was. It ended up looking similar to what Khonji did in The Ninth Gate. Allot of the interiors just had way more light than the practicals dictated. And I went in with no story boards or even a shot list. No matter how much I asked for them, the director just didn't have the time apparently, and he wanted his vision so he told me I shouldn't bother making my own. So I had to work on the fly... which was tough. On the first day, he brought in a "game plan". WHEE! Been a tough two days. One 11 hour day and another 8 hour day. Still have six more days of shooting... :blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Mullen ASC Posted January 12, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted January 12, 2007 One 11 hour day and another 8 hour day. That would be considered almost luxurious on many shows, to go home before 12 hours... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicholas Jenkins Posted January 12, 2007 Author Share Posted January 12, 2007 That would be considered almost luxurious on many shows, to go home before 12 hours... Yep, I shouldn't complain. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Feldspar Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 That would be considered almost luxurious on many shows, to go home before 12 hours... Also, eight days for a 12 page script about gambling addiction? That sounds pretty luxurious too. Eight days for twelve pages of battle scenes with thousands of soldiers or car chases might not be so surprising. Good luck and stay warm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Bartlett Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 Also, eight days for a 12 page script about gambling addiction? That sounds pretty luxurious too. Really luxurious. My production class only allots us 30 hours for a 9-12 page script. We had to push for 30; originally we were told 24 hours. Anyway, good luck. Would like to see some frames, if you can post them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicholas Jenkins Posted January 12, 2007 Author Share Posted January 12, 2007 Hopefully frames will come soon. Keep in mind that allot of these days won't be full days, rather three hours here and there where our director can get businesses to let us in a couple of hours before they open their doors. But we're figuring that since we have a couple of weeks off before the semester begins, it's better to use as much time as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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