4 36 Dinos

[James Steven Beverly]

Hey David, I found out from my DP that the lights I discribed in the anamorphic primes vs zooms thread we had been discussing were Dinos, 4 36 Dinos. Apparently he still owns them and they're availible whenever we want them, though he said they draw a tremenous amount of power and he may have to dedicate a genny to them. Have you (or anyone else for that matter) ever used them and if so what do you think? Just to bring everyone else up to speed who didn't follow the Anamorphic prime vs anamorphic zoom thread, I'm trying to light desert landscape at night for anamorphic for the different kind of horror film I'm planning, Blood Moon Rising. B)

Edited April 11, 2007 by James Steven Beverly

[David Mullen ASC]

Dinos on condors sound exactly what you need to light those sand dunes at night. Yes, obviously you'll need a full-size gennie for those.

[Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC]

I've operated them from condors before. They are a really good light for casting light over a large area. They are comprised of an array of Par-64 lamps. They usually come in pan able vertical rows of 4 lights. Allowing you to aim each row. Just like any PAR array fixtures they are referred to by the number of lights on the fixture.

[James Steven Beverly]

Dinos on condors sound exactly what you need to light those sand dunes at night. Yes, obviously you'll need a full-size gennie for those.

 

Well, we've got a monster diesel ultra quiet one. I think it's like 200 or 250k as well as a 10k gas and I've personally got a 12k and an 8k. I think he may want to rent a second gennie and dedicate it to the dinos, at least that's the impression I got. I'll have to ask him. We don't have condors though and I don't know if we can afford them or if there's anyplace close enough to rent them. We do have some super big crank o vators though.

 

I've operated them from condors before. They are a really good light for casting light over a large area. They are comprised of an array of Par-64 lamps. They usually come in pan able vertical rows of 4 lights. Allowing you to aim each row. Just like any PAR array fixtures they are referred to by the number of lights on the fixture.

 

Yeah, these are 36 globes per unit, I remember him telling me that, I thought they had more than 4 rows though, but of course I could be wrong. He said they were 4 36s which makes sense if they were 4 rows of 36 lights. He eather has 2 or 4 dinos, I'm not sure which. I know 2 of them were stored at my studio for a long time. B)

[Hal Smith]

Yeah, these are 36 globes per unit, I remember him telling me that, I thought they had more than 4 rows though, but of course I could be wrong. He said they were 4 36s which makes sense if they were 4 rows of 36 lights. He eather has 2 or 4 dinos, I'm not sure which. I know 2 of them were stored at my studio for a long time. B)

Geez! 4 X 36 X 1kW! You'd better get the cops out when your doing the sand dunes shoot, someone who's been a bit deep into his tequila is sure to freak out and think the martians are landing over the dunes. :D

[David Mullen ASC]

Geez! 4 X 36 X 1kW! You'd better get the cops out when your doing the sand dunes shoot, someone who's been a bit deep into his tequila is sure to freak out and think the martians are landing over the dunes. :D

 

What's great about a big light is that you can back it off and get a realistic fall-off over a large space. But that's also why it should go higher in the air than on a crank-stand. The cheapest method would be to get some well-built & safely-secured parallel towers if you can't afford a condor or scissor lift. But then you'd have to haul that Dino up the parallels somehow.

[Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC]

But then you'd have to haul that Dino up the parallels somehow.

 

Two brave lamp ops? Hehe Your going to need a scissor lift just to get the light on the parallels, hehe. Sometimes when we need to get a light onto a parallel we use a crank stand to send it up most the distance... but then it takes some strong guys to lift a light that heavy onto parallels. Then on the parallels we put the light on another crank stand and send it up. Gotta strap that sucker down tho.

[Hal Smith]

What's great about a big light is that you can back it off and get a realistic fall-off over a large space. But that's also why it should go higher in the air than on a crank-stand.

I hauled 2X800# of truss and lights up 24' last year with a pair of Genie Tower Lifts rented locally from Toucan Lighting. Their outrigger system makes them pretty stable if you set them up correctly. It wasn't fun to crank the whole rig up but that's where a couple of IATSE 112 grips came in REAL handy.

[James Steven Beverly]

What's great about a big light is that you can back it off and get a realistic fall-off over a large space. But that's also why it should go higher in the air than on a crank-stand. The cheapest method would be to get some well-built & safely-secured parallel towers if you can't afford a condor or scissor lift. But then you'd have to haul that Dino up the parallels somehow.

 

Parallels, we got. I think there are 4 or 6 sets on the truck. We could probably wench the dinos up with a chain hoist on an A frame if need be. we could probably get ahold of a pair of scissor lifts as well but we'd have to find ones designed for the field. The indoor ones would get stuck. We'd definately have to stablize them, we get horrindous wind storms around here, in fact there's one raging outside right now. How high up would you figure we'd need to get them, I mean condors go up to like 80 ft don't they? B)

[David Mullen ASC]

The only question is whether you feel that two-sections (12' at platform level) or three-sections (18' at platform level) are possible and safe. Three levels is sort of the max, safety-wise. Talk to your Key Grip; it's a real safety issue.

[James Steven Beverly]

The only question is whether you feel that two-sections (12' at platform level) or three-sections (18' at platform level) are possible and safe. Three levels is sort of the max, safety-wise. Talk to your Key Grip; it's a real safety issue.

 

Yeah, my DP, Mel Kekuewa ( www.imdb.com/name/nm0445373 this list does not include the litterally hundreds of commucials and music videos he has done) said the same thing, I spoke with him this morning. He seems to think we can ge ahold of some condors, he likes the idea af being able to move them easily. I'm just not sure we can afford the rental fee, I guess we'll find out. I also mentioned your gel suggestions. He said he had an idea of what he wanted to do along those lines and I would be very pleased. He really does a beautiful job with lighting, you outta see his reel, it's really terrific. I told him some of your recent credits and he was duely impressed. He wants to see Northfork and D.E.B.S. as well as The Astronaut Farmer which I still haven't had the chance to see eather. I want to see how you handled the desert which is vertually identical to the terrain around here. From the stills and trailer, it looks like an absolutely gorgous job. Our lighting sceme will be totally different of course because the mood and atmosphere we'll be trying to create being almost the polar opposite of what "Farmer" needed, but there may be some ideas I can gleen from your work. I case I haven't said this before, I am a very big fan of your work. B)

[Kevin Zanit]

Dinos are great for lighting large spaces. Another trick is to mix in VNSP globes with the traditional MFL globes in the Dinos. This gives you a bit more output without loosing too much spread.

 

They are 9 rows of 4 globes high, thus they are very wide (like 7 feet), and so if it's windy you have to be extra careful.

 

Also, if you are in sand dunes, I don't really know a safe way to build parallels unless the ground is solid. You maybe can go up one level on the parallels, and then get a "road runner" crank stand to get extra high.

 

Kevin Zanit

[David Mullen ASC]

You can put the spottier globes at the top row so that they throw light a little further than the lower rows in the Dino, if it's pointing slightly down.

[James Steven Beverly]

Dinos are great for lighting large spaces. Another trick is to mix in VNSP globes with the traditional MFL globes in the Dinos. This gives you a bit more output without loosing too much spread.

 

They are 9 rows of 4 globes high, thus they are very wide (like 7 feet), and so if it's windy you have to be extra careful.

 

Also, if you are in sand dunes, I don't really know a safe way to build parallels unless the ground is solid. You maybe can go up one level on the parallels, and then get a "road runner" crank stand to get extra high.

 

Kevin Zanit

Thanks for the tip about the globes Kevin, I'll pass it along to Mel,

We could probably lay out sheets of 3/4in ply, that would keep them from sinking into any sandy area and then tie the parallels off with anchors driven into the ground and cable to keep them steady, we could use wire to tie the dinos to the parallels so they wouldn't blow off, course if it did get THAT bad, I doubt if we'll shoot under those conditions. Most of the desert isn't the Arabian desert kinda sand, it's just normal desert terrain but there is one section called Red Sands over on the far eastside that looks just like the Arabian desert except that the sand has a red color to it that if I can get permission, I'd love to film in. There's an old, now somewhat abandoned dragstrip near there that I'd love to use too. It's out in the middle of nowhere and very creepy at night. We've also got some 16th century missions I want to use to, San Elizario is increadible and has a lot land around it for a film company. There's also a friend of mine who happens to be the effects makeup and costume artist on this picture, that has a ranch in Chapparelle New Mexico about 15 miles from here which has a great look to it and we'll probably end up using that as well.

 

You can put the spottier globes at the top row so that they throw light a little further than the lower rows in the Dino, if it's pointing slightly down.

I'll definately let mention that to him as well, Thanks Dave. B)