Dan Stone

So I was curious and threw together a fake Molefay ("Folefay"). Ordered nine 9" 185 Watt LEDs from Amazon (they actually draw closer to 110 Watts each). Ended up only using six because they're insanely heavy. This Frankenstein weighs about 50 lbs. Color is about 6300K and, from eyeballing what it's doing to the inside of the room, it's comparable to an M18 with a 1200 globe on spot in terms of brightness. Total cost (excluding the unused lights) is about $500. Not sure what I was thinking because I would probably never use this on set unless I needed to hang something high up in a tree in the woods. In Billy Madison's words, "I drew a blue duck because I've always wanted to see a blue duck."

Thanks! And agreed on the metal halide lamps. I put together 3 x 50" off road led light bars a while back. It was a good amount of light but for some reason they interfered with everything wireless. They also made a high-pitched whistling sound when on. They were cheapies from Amazon.

We're having a hypothetical debate in the studio this morning around the concept of Jumbo lights (wiring 28V ACL lights in a series). We're not electrics so we won't be wiring anything ourselves but had a question about the concept. Assume we have 4 x 28V/600W ACL bulbs wired in a series. We'll end up with 112V and 2400-ish Watts, which is 21.4 Amps. Not powerable by a 20 Amp household circuit. Is my electrical knowledge correct, here? Thoughts? Voltage and Watts add up in a series. Then Watts divided by Voltage to get Amperage.

Ah, great point. Didn't think about that. I did figure out that I'll need about 1,000 fc. Direct sunlight is 10K fc, daylight is 1,000 fc, and daylight on an overcast day is 100 fc. Thanks for the help!

I've got a 20' x 20' front yard that needs to look sunny (afternoon sun). Problem is it's pouring rain. We'll cover the yard with a 20x20 rain shield and we can put a light on a Condor as the sun coming from the back. Question is how bright a light are we going to need to look convincing? Think an 18K HMI fresnel will do the trick?

Okay, so we got a rigger who took us through a rigging crash course. I'm posting what I learned in case anyone else needs the info. We created a very basic speed-rail "shelf" on the front of my SUV that supported our 230 lb rigger as he jumped up and down on it. The "shelf pprtion was a cheese plate which allowed us to attach the camera and anything else we wanted. Creating the cage with fittings was pretty easy -- the part I didn't know is how to attach it to the frame of the car. The answer is: starter fittings and unibody clamps. Our rigger had a bag full of starter bolts that had one size of thread on one side and a standard thread on the other. He removed some bolts from the frame of my car (in my case, the tow hook bolts) and replaced them with the starter bolts. Now you have a set of threads onto which you put pipe starters. Check out the link below -- it's basically a solid metal cylinder that screws onto your threads on one side and slides into a speed-rail fitting on the other. Another solution is unibody clamps. These are heavy-duty metal clamps that are tightened onto any stable metal part. On one side they have a clamp and on the other a threaded post onto which screws your pipe starter. Once we had the cage built and attached to the frame, we used about 6 ratchet straps as safety and added stability. The result was a rock-solid camera mount that held our Red Epic stable at almost 95 mph with no micro vibration at all. Here's the link: http://www.cinemagadgets.com/productdetail/4376 And a good grip place should have this stuff on hand for rental along with a pipe organ (assorted lengths of speed-rail). I still recommend getting a good rigger for your first time because you'll need to know which bolts you can replace with starter bolts (like which parts of your under-car mechanics don't move) and how to built the cage so it doesn't flex. Hope this helps!

Hey guys, We need to mount a camera to the front bumper of an SUV for a POV driving shot. In other words, the camera will be mounted facing forward, about a foot from the ground. It's a 2008 Nissan Pathfinder and there are no tow hooks under the bumper. I really don't see anything really great to hook on to. Any ideas? Our local grip house is pretty well stocked. Are there any great resources out there that show some good camera rigging case studies? Thanks!

Hey all! I want to create a scale city block but don't have the time to design and build each building. Does anyone know of a place that sells ready-made models of buildings? I found a place that sells metal buildings (which don't look realistic) and plastic buildings (which are too small). Thanks!

I'm placing a commercial on our local television station and they're asking for an ISCI ID (aka 'AD ID'). I looked it up and I have to pay $1500 to get one. I know what it is and what it does but do I really need one for local television?

Very nice for your first film! My first film looked horrible. A few things that stood out to me: 1. The acting. In particular the beginning, where the guy grabs the girl's face and slams her head into the wall. I expected him to say, "why are you following me?!?" - but it turns out they're together. Believe me, I know that, without a budget, you have to work with what you can get. It also seemed as though the girl with the gun was just kind of randomly pacing about until the two 'victims' were in place behind the columns. 2. The picture has a very video-like feel. You may have been going for this look, though. 3. While I love the handheld look, at certain times the picture was a bit too shaky. I found myself having a hard time making out what was happening through the shakiness. This could also be because of the compressed frame rate. At 24+ fps on a real TV it may not be as bad. Aside from these things I think there are many good things. Among them are excellent pacing, editing and some great shots. Again, great job!

Yeah, I agree. 20 minutes of loading only got me about 15 seconds of video ("Susan, I have another call") so I gave up. The photography in the little blurb I saw looked good, though. The guy's over-happiness bothers me a little. He's drumming on the wheel and just trying too hard to seem happy. It feels very staged.

We shot a short on an empty floor of a hospital and did a similar thing. We were on the 9th floor, so there was no way to put a light outside. We set the scene right outside of a locker/break room which was next to the main nurses' station. The locker/break room had a window with blinds, which was perfect. Here's how we lit it: We blocked all exterior windows. We put an Arri 1K Fresnel in the locker room shining through the blinds towards the nurses' station. Since we were shooting on video, this was a tremendous amount of light. It actually made the station and hallway look like day. Then we opened all of the hospital room doors (8 of them down the hallway) and put a Lowel open face Omni in each room shining out into the hallway. We used barndoors to narrow the beam. This created beams and pools of light which looked amazing and gave the shot great depth. We put another Arri 1K Fresnel behind the doors at the end of the hall. When our 'doctor' walked through, it gave a cool look. We then lit our talent with honey-combed 500W softbanks -- one overhead and one from the side. We were ecstatic with the outcome.

I want to shoot a spot where someone is moving at normal speed while everything around him/her is moving really fast. I'm trying to describe it to the client but they can't visualize it. You know, where a guy is walking normally down then street while everyone else is in "fast forward" and a blur. I've seen it a million times but can't seem to remember where. Does anyone know of a sample of this? Thanks!

Hi everyone! Anyone know where I can rent a motion control rig on the East coast in the US? I live in Baltimore... the only thing I can't find around here is a motion control rig. Thanks! Dan

I think you should call the 'Lost' producers and help them. You should tell them that filming some of the scenes in 8mm would help them save lots of money and time. You should tell them that, in your opinion, they're not shooting it correctly - which is why they're having a problem keeping fans happy and "keep[ing] up with demands of being a weekly show". :rolleyes: They'll probably thank you and immediately change.

Has anyone ever shot a film in another country... like Europe? I'm trying to decide whether to go to Germany/France to film or whether to go somewhere around here to 'fake' an European location. Not quite sure what's involved in terms of legality and extra insurance for rental equipment.

Nice job! Here are some thoughts from someone who's watching a compressed picture on a computer monitor: There's something unpleasing about the lighting and the coloring in several scenes that I can't put my finger on. Maybe it's the fact that the whites are too close to the browns - I'm not sure - but the overall picture seems flat. Almost video-ish. The shots where the glass is being filled up and the bartender sets the glass on the counter look great - not flat or video-ish at all. The varying intensities of lighting in a couple of scenes seems to stand out. For example, during the closeup of the guy's teeth, the lighting is not nearly as intense as in the first shot with the bartender. Something that should have probably been adjusted in post. I would probably have used a little bit of powder on the actor's face. That way it's less obvious that there's a light blarring right at him. There are some editing things that stand out as well, but that's probably not you. Again, many of the above things are things you probably don't have control over - in which case, please ignore them. Overall, great job!

Loved it! Very nice. I watched it with my girlfriend and here are a couple of non-technical things she brought up with which I agree that stuck out: 1. When he got shot, massive amounts of blood came out of his mouth immediately, which detracts from the sweet feeling of the video. It would have been nicer to have a closeup of a little bit of blood dribbling. Her response was: "Ew, gross" rather than being sad. 2. He had the picture perfectly placed in his hand when he fell to the ground as if he had been running with it, which is kinda cheesy. It would have been nicer to have him taking it out of his helmet or pocket as he lay there. Or, have it laying beside his hand. 3. Near the beginning at the train station - before he leaves - there's a couple to the right that is a bit distracting. They're standing apart, not moving - and she has her hand on his lapel. They look like they didn't hear the director say 'action'. I must say, though, that the final product was very well done. Your period shots were fantastic and there were many shots that made me pause and say, "that's a really nice shot". Not that I'm qualified to say so, but very nice job!

Is there a typical rule-of-thumb that you share with your clients that would give a rough idea of price difference between shooting on 16mm vs 35mm? Thanks!

Where are you guys getting your 35mm film? Are there places that sell it online? I Googled it and came up with nothing. Can you only buy Kodak film through Kodak?

Leave it to me to ask a stupid question. Thanks very much for the info! All excellent points. I guess I'll just have to go through and price some things out. Do you have a favorite place to purchase film online (Super 16) and for Telecine? Thanks so much again for your input. I'm new to film and really want to get into it. People say that once you go film, you never go back. Dan

I have hears several people say that a 16mm production costs as much as an HD production (in terms of equipment rental and so forth). Does anyone agree/disagree?

It does seem that everyone who owns a prosumer camcorder makes a horror movie. They're the easiest, I guess. The previews are all the same, too: scary music and screaming laid over "creative" titling and shaky footage. I'd love to see someone make something else... a well-done drama or a comedy that's actually funny. Believe me, I know it's hard when you're working without a budget. It's nice to see people getting their cameras out and shooting, though - even if they're all filming cheesy horrors (wink)!

Since the XL2's 24p mode is true progressive, does it have more resolution than the XL1s's half-field 30p mode?

They're open-faced fixtures. I just ordered the first gel I saw on B&H's website. I'll try some of the better gel and see what happens. Thanks for the reply! Just saw the packaging... it's made by Lowel. I'll stay away from them from now on.