Shafts of Light - M18's good for the job?

[Chris Parente]

Hey everyone,

 

So for this low budget commercial I'm shooting, I'd really love to have a stronger light at a distance to get a "shafts of light through window" gag with haze. It's just not in our budget so I'm trying to find the best way to get a large parallel beam into a small space (the room is only 15'x19') and I feel like the M18 could be a way to do this. I'd also consider using a Joker Leko setup but I'm just afraid it won't produce as large or powerful of a beam as the M18.

 

Arri describes the M18 as having the best aspects of a par and fresnel - personally I love this light and I've been able to produce some venetian blind gags in small spaces with it before. I know an ordinary par wouldn't work at such a close distance. My question is, do you think the beam of the M18 is parallel enough to make a gag like this?

 

 

Thank you,

Chris

[David Mullen ASC]

In a short distance throw I don't think the M18 is any better than another fresnel for parallel rays. I'd go for a Joker 800 Source-4 Leko if I want that Xenon beam look. But a Leko won't have the spread unless you cluster a couple of them for a series of parallel beams.

[Chris Parente]

In a short distance throw I don't think the M18 is any better than another fresnel for parallel rays. I'd go for a Joker 800 Source-4 Leko if I want that Xenon beam look. But a Leko won't have the spread unless you cluster a couple of them for a series of parallel beams.

 

 

Thanks for the quick & informative response David, I was actually looking at your work from this thread about light shafts from a while back for some inspiration: http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=34654

 

You said the M18 wouldn't be any better than another fresnel for the job... could I take it then that it's also not necessarily any worse than another fresnel? Or is that wishful thinking...

Edited July 19, 2015 by Chris Parente

[Satsuki Murashige]

 

Here's a "shaft of light" setup done with an M18 about 10' away from the window. A Joleko 800 would have a tighter beam with less punch so you could walk it in much closer to get more out of it. But in the end I think you want a unit with more output unless you can use a camera system with high ISO to compensate. Another idea is to put a 4x4 mirror where the M18 would go and pound the M18 into it to increase the distance for more parallel rays.