Sunbounce

[Matt Workman]

Hey,

 

I just did a music video in NYC that was mainly EXT and the director brought his SunBounce kit. It came with a 6x6 silk and a 4x6 shiny/white bounce.

 

Check out their site to see what I'm talking about.

http://www.sunbounce-usa.com/products.html

 

Also this is a set photo

 

I've used 6x6, 12x12, etc. silks and solids but what material would you use for the shiny reflective stuff in a 6x6? I want to request this for my 6x6 on my next feature and I don't know what this would be called at a g/e house.

 

Thanks,

 

Matt

[David Mullen ASC]

Unless you consider a White Griflon as a "shiny" bounce, generally when you start talking about shiny bounces, people use Silver Lame (pronounced "lah-may") in large frames.

[Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC]

Silver Lame is great for hard bounces. I used it in a club scene I shot a few weeks ago. We would get grips on the bounces panning back and forth reflecting the hard strobes and lekos for some frontal strobe when there was little room near camera.

[Matt Workman]

Thanks guys.

 

Very helpful. I haven't been doing very much Day exterior stuff.

 

- For a soft bounce can a silk work?

- What are the different types of griff and what are they generally used for? There is probably a website out there that sells them all.

 

I'm still a little in the dark about when to use monster HMI's or monster bounce/mirror 12x12 or 20x20. I'm not quite working at that budget yet but I don't think its too far away either.

 

Specifically in a heavy sun backlit situation the silver lame or a stronger/softbounce seem fine. But I wouldn't mind punching a large HMI through opal. I guess HMI's are more expensive with the generator but I kind of like the HMI approach better. What are the factors you consider when approaching DAY EXT shoots.

 

I saw some DAY EXT behind the scenes shots on Akeelah that had an 18k above a picnic table of kids. That seemed to make sense.

 

Somewhere in there were some questions.

 

Thanks again.

 

Cheers,

 

Matt :ph34r:

[Ralph Keyser]

There is also a Gold Lame if you want a warmer hard bounce, and a Checkerboard Gold/Silver that's a little warmer than silver.

A silk will definately work for a soft bounce as will a frame of grid cloth or bleached muslin, although griff gives you a little more punch while still being pretty soft.

As for Griff (I've seen Griflon, Griffolyn, and Gryfolin - I'm not sure what's correct) It's usually white on one side and black on the other. I see it most often as a slightly shiny sort of plastic like material much like a tarpaulin you would use to cover something around the house, but I've also gotten Griff that was flat white on one side and flat black on the other. Check with your grip house. I thought they were usually included when you order a 6x, 8x, or whatever-by set.

[robert duke]

Practically anything can be used as a bounce. I have worked with some DP's that have the art guys paint a 4x4 the same color as the walls to use as a close up bounce. I even worked with one DP that had a Grip take off his shirt and bounced a light off his belly for a closeup.

I like ultrabounce or claycoat covered with a silk for a nice soft bounce. The silk has a nice high reflectance that when backed by ultra, claycoat or griff keeps the light that would have gone through it.

 

Silver lame is nice. Gold lame is nice for people of color. but my fav. lame is the lisa marie gold/silver checkerboard.

 

I think the idea is HMI's let you help deal with time a little easier. large bounces are great for the huge source but are only usable in sunlight for day ext. they tend to sandbag you as the sun sets.

 

The bigger the area of the source the softer the light. The bigger the bounce the wider the shot can be. HMI's produce a point of light unless going through or bouncing into a frame.

 

things to think about anyway.

[Michael Nash]

HMI's help you keep a more consistent light over a longer period of time (as the sun moves). The drawback of any reflectors or bounces is that they're dependent upon the available sunlight, which is constantly moving. The shadows of buildings and trees move throughout the day, and you often can't "catch" the sunlight you need from the right angle, for a long period of time.

 

For movies the sunbounce in the picture would be replaced with a couple 4x4 beadboards, or perhaps a 4x8' sheet of white foamcore. These are usually on most grip trucks and don't cost (or weigh) much of anything.

 

For larger bounces you'll step up to frames of 6x6', 8x8', and 12x12'. Ultrabounce is a smooth white reflector material, and in a pinch most trucks have black on white Griffolyn (tarp material), although griff has a sheen to it that can give a shiny reflection. Diffusion material like silks, gridcloth, muslin and so on can be used but also let a lot of the light go through (unless you back it with another white material).

 

For harder reflection you can use lamay, and of course shiny boards or mirror boards. But the shinier the material is, the more "spotty" it becomes.