Shooting in Rain

[Markus Lanxinger]

Hey guys,

 

I wasn't planning on it but it looks like that it's going to rain this weekend at our shooting location. As some of our scenes are night shots and thus require electrical lighting I wanted to ask you guys for your advice on what to look out for, how to protect the lights from rain, how to safely handle the power lines, camera, etc.

 

thanks

markus

[Chris Keth]

Lucky you. Shooting in the rain sucks. Everything needs a rainhat from the camera to the lights. Camera and video often get a 12x over them that everyone huddles under.

 

Smaller lights usually get a 2x3 covered in visqueen over them. Make sure to tilt those covers so that the rain runs off of the back side of the light. I usually see the grips put those on the same stand as the light so when you move the light, the rainhat moves too; it just takes a cardellini, a gobo head, and a c-stand arm.

 

I can't comment on what is usually done with larger lamps. I have never worked on a show with them directly.

 

Running your power is even affected. Use apples to get cable connections off the ground and then cover those with visqueen to keep them dry.

 

Someone with more G&E experience will surely comment in more detail. I haven't worked that much G&E and am kind of commenting on what I have done in smaller crews or watched from beside the camera.

 

One last thing, for the sake of your back. Sandbags gain a lot of weight when they are soaking wet. DOn't surprise yourself with a backache trying to grab a wet one really fast. Not that I have done it or anything...

[Brian Drysdale]

I checked with sparks about using Redheads and other lights in the rain on a short that I was doing. The advice was don't switch them off, the safety glass will stop water droplets directly hitting the bulb and the heat will vaporise the rain. We had quite heavy rain one night and only one light blew, which couldn't been due to other causes.

 

However, I'd ensure you have waterproof industrial connectors on your cabling.

[Walter Graff]

Blame it on the rain (rain)

Blame it on the stars (stars)

Whatever you do don't put the blame on you

Blame it on the rain yeah yeah

You can blame it on the rain

Get

Ooh, ooh (ooh)

I can't, I can't. I can't, can't stand the rain

I can't, I can't. I can't, can't stand the rain

Yeah, yeah...

 

 

:)

[Bob Hayes]

Just make sure everyone knows how dangerous water and electricity together are. Large GFI?s are a good idea to protect the crew. And if you think it is going dump be prepared. If your gaffer says it is not safe you should relay this information to the production company and back you gaffer. The only times I have shut down a set have been over electricity issues.

 

I shot a series in New Zeeland and there if you trip a GFI in the rain the set must be shut down until a fire marshal shows up and authorizes it is safe to go back on line.

[Chris Keth]

I shot a series in New Zeeland and there if you trip a GFI in the rain the set must be shut down until a fire marshal shows up and authorizes it is safe to go back on line.

 

That's not a bad idea. Here a spark would probably go flip it back on without checking into why it tripped.

[Paul Bruening]

Good one, WALTER.

 

 

Shooting in the rain,

Just shooting in the rain.

What a glorious feeling,

I'm haaaaaappy again.

[robert duke]

Having shot in the rain multiple times and even shot in fake rain while it was really raining ( "I want that rain from American beauty"), there are several things you can do.

 

1 get a large GFI Shockblock for the Generator.

2 get some swamp boxes ( I like using half milkcrates with rubber matting as a topper) to cover all distro boxes and get them off the ground.

3 put all cam and bates connections on apples and give them a visqueen cover.

4 make some rain hats out of Celotex

5 make some 2x3 open frames. I often just use what gel is on a frame instead of making ones with visqueen.

6 buy some storm socks. the best $30 I ever spent. that and a good rain suit.

7 keep a couple towels in your car for the end of the day with dry socks.

8 tungsten lights under 2k are OK uncovered unless it gets really nasty. Their heat dries them out faster than the rain.

9 BE SMART.

10 Cheap pop up tents are not designed for rain. rent the good ones.

[Markus Lanxinger]

Having shot in the rain multiple times and even shot in fake rain while it was really raining ( "I want that rain from American beauty"), there are several things you can do.

 

1 get a large GFI Shockblock for the Generator.

2 get some swamp boxes ( I like using half milkcrates with rubber matting as a topper) to cover all distro boxes and get them off the ground.

3 put all cam and bates connections on apples and give them a visqueen cover.

4 make some rain hats out of Celotex

5 make some 2x3 open frames. I often just use what gel is on a frame instead of making ones with visqueen.

6 buy some storm socks. the best $30 I ever spent. that and a good rain suit.

7 keep a couple towels in your car for the end of the day with dry socks.

8 tungsten lights under 2k are OK uncovered unless it gets really nasty. Their heat dries them out faster than the rain.

9 BE SMART.

10 Cheap pop up tents are not designed for rain. rent the good ones.

 

thanks for all your advice guys. We ended up being lucky and only had to break for a 3 hour rain/storm period which we used for

lunch and getting some of our equipment organized and to get set up for an interior shot.