rufian84

Not exactly... The reason why is politically incorrect to call Asians "Orientals" is because the earth is round. So they are oriental in relation to what? The term "oriental" comes from the times of the European conquests all over the world around the 1400's. If we were to look at it from a geographical point of view, for Asia we would be "oriental". DAMN, I'M OPINIONATED!!!!!! Anyway, we should write about lighting dark skin and not about political correctness of the words used. I only say this because there was a lot of racial tension in this country for centuries and it's still a very sensitive topic. There...!! BEING OPINIONATED AGAIN Cheers, Rafael

Hello Filmgirl, It looks like the consensus here is on where you see yourself as a filmmaker regardless of the school. I can tell you that film school is a great experience and that there is where you will meet most of the people with whom you'll work with your whole career. I can also tell you that is your character what will determine how good a filmmaker you are, not the school. If you want it bad enough you'll make it at USC, UCLA or at your local community college.

Richard, If I'm not mistaken, the way USC works is that just a few faculty selected students get to direct and the rest of the class specializes in other areas to form a whole crew. Those chosen students will have their projects paid by USC and they can only submit the films to festivals because USC owns the rights. I heard that from someone that went to school there and I decided to not bother applying.

For my introductory cinematography class at NYU we used The book "CINEMATOGRAPHY" by Kris Malkiewicz and for Studio Lighting we used "FILM LIGHTING" by the same author. I heard also that in the undergraduate program they use "THE FIVE C'S OF CINEMATOGRAPHY" by Joseph V. Mascelli. The ASC Manual is a must, this the the one you'll go to for everything. Try doing some AC work also. That's the best training in my opinion.

I understand that your lights are 1250, yeah? With that power and having the gel attached at the end of the barn doors, your gels will last a long time. By a long time I mean months of re-use (true for rosco, lee filters have a thinner base and show discoloration and warping much faster than rosco). As for the original question about the sizes in which gels are available, you should check with your local film commission to find out about suppliers of expendables. Companies that cater the film industry carry the gels on rolls. You can "rent" the roll and, when you return it, you get credit for the unused portion. I hope this helps you. Cheers, Rafael Baez Mole Richardson doesn't make any 1250W lights but there are some smaller manufacturers that doSmith Victor and the IFF Qlites are 1250.