Adrian Sierkowski

Sounds like my nearly every day. Though it tends to be 12xs more often than 8xs unless space is an issue.

Locations, go to 2

Helium is not flammable and it's non reactive. It is a very finite resource though

Photofloods are incandescent, but they aren't your typical bulbs as they burn at 3200K. Specifically the 211/212/213 bulbs (75/150/350w respectively) . There is also the 150W BCA Photoflood which is 4800K as well as the ECW which is 500W 4800K. On the 200 series, yes they get hot and can cause a fire if mishandled - such as coming into contact with a paper or even fabric lantern, or left on in a practical for too long a period (depends on the practical) but to be honest, LED, especially as 3200 really is no good replacement for them in terms of quality. They are, sadly, becoming harder and harder to find, and yes, LED is a lot easier, but when it comes to quality, they are often worth it. (I'll be using both 200x and LED bulbs this week on an alcohol spot-- the LEDs for times where we don't have the product in it, but with product, we really want the quality of tungsten light)

There's the Lightstar stuff, whcih is nice as it doesn't require helium (which is very expensive) but does have a pump which has to run from time to time: https://lightstar-lights.com/ Sourcemaker is helium https://www.sourcemakerled.com/led-balloons Grip clouds as welll https://www.skylightballoon.com/helium-balloon-lights but there's a bunch of options around.

Thank you that's exactly it!

So I know I have seen these before, but I of course don't have a photo, or a memory of what they were called-- but it's essentially a much longer version of a K5600 Soft tube---- I think all fabric, and i think I saw them (or fever dreamed them) on something like an M18. They probably had about a 24" Diameter and a lenght of a few feet--- kinda like a non-floating version of the helium sausage lights. They may have been @ cinegear a few years ago? Am I crazy? What was this thing called.

I personally enjoy the Amira, a lot, and find it much easier to hold than a classic, with better recording options as well, as it's a new system beyond the sensor. It may or may not be lighter depending on your build out, but it's certainly not a lightweight camera. ENGs are lighter, but probably not as rugged-- but the Amira works well enough for the NFL to use them. To be honest, regardless of camera weight, I'm pretty much always using an ergo rig when hand held. Literally best thing I've ever bought for any camera on my body-- and works wonderfully with an Amira

I don't know if it has an advantage or not, but personally, I really like to get it in camera as much as possible, especially so everyone on set can see and adjust things as necessary. This isn't true for color balancing filters (85 for example) which I haven't touched in ages-- and even then, I tended to stick to an 81EF-- that I just do with white balance or lighting.

Oh that's something that hadn't crossed my mind. Will certainly back pocket that for future. Though hopefully I'm not doing any more underwater perfume commercials anytime soon

We actually had it, but the output wasn't nearly enough for our shoot.. We wound up going with elation artise Monet's and Picassos which worked well but even then wasn't really as bright as we would like.

Having seen Dune in theaters, and remembering that scene in particular, the posts here are not really representative of how that looked in the proper viewing environment. Chernobyl, however, yes, was a little dark at times. It's got nothing on game of thrones, of course. Maybe it's a HBO thing. As for in camera or in post. Expose as close to the final look as you are able to. If you want it dark, expose it dark. Be mindful of where you have light, and use the exposure tools you have. Also maintain consistency. I find that is really key-- if you are doing your night at (insert iso here) and (insert stops under here) at (such and such color temp) don't suddenly do a shot, or scene, different than that. Also it's really important to keep in mind where the intention of view is. A show to be see in theaters, on netflix, or on my laptop are 3 completely different worlds of exposure (and framing!)

Hey Will: The issue with dimming will be the change in color temperture of all of your tungsten units. Maybe that works, though? Perhaps the cheat is to use the 2 daylight fixtures as constant "skylight" (with perhaps a slight dim up when the "sun" is behind a cloud) and a dimming down of the tungsten fixtures creating the sun-beam and to hell with the color temp change (honestly it might not matter, depending on the style you're working with) Not knowing what you have at your disposal, this is a very easy effect to program into something like blackout and send through DMX. I also wouldn't shoot it at night, but I would probably cover the window with a solid topper to keep the real direct sunlight out and bounce the daylight fixtures into something like an ultrabounce.

You're paying for the reliability, and the better QC. It is a thing that needs to be made of the best bits, so there is waste that you pay for. It's the same reason an Alexa35 is more than a BlackMagic 4.6K. They both have similar specs, but the Alexa is going to be a hell of a lot better engineered, tested, and have tighter QC.

If you're diffusing then you won't really ger the hard shadows. This sounds like a job for a Fresnel to me. I would probably look into 10Ks, honestly. If you are on a stage with proper distro, then they will be pretty cheap to rent. Warm is a function of your white balance, and whether you choose to color them with gel. Dinos would give you multiple shadows, and by the time you rent the multiple Pars and stand etc for them, you probable have spend more than the cost for a 10k, probably. I tend to think better to go with the BFL (Biggest F_______ Light) you can get/afford/power as you can always reduce output of a light.