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Adrian Sierkowski

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Everything posted by Adrian Sierkowski

  1. As for it not being in post, my main argument would be that of control and intent. Often I am not in the room when they are doing coloring, for a myriad of reasons, so being able to get as close to the final look you intend on the day is rather important. Not on Arri, but I did a series of videos with a director in Canon LOG, and the final edit, put out.... was still in LOG! These types of things happen, often because those in post just get used to looking at the image as is, and sometimes make choices based upon that. This said, I'd rather give them an as is as close as possible to what we wanted it to look like. As for the black arts that go into Arri image processing, perhaps it's nice to still have some magic hidden from our minds (and besides they'll probably never tell us what the parameters are. Perhaps we should take to calling Arri Textures the "KFC" pack, for the secret herbs and spices.)
  2. My pleasure. If you're interested, here's a simple day int set up with just 2 lights. Natural sunlight on the large paper windows camera right, then a totally naked 600X for the hot spot in the background. On the close ups, just a 300x with a Litedome 150 played right off of camera at I think something like 10~15% FX3, Base 800/ Cine EI 500, and something like a 2 or 2.8 with 1/8 bpm. I think white balance was around 6500k, but i don't really remember. This also really isn't the right LUT for it, but it's all I had to get it out of SLOG since I don't have studio resolve. This is through lightworks which somehow plays back XAVC and with whatever Venice LUT they had built in the free version of lightworks
  3. Hey Robin. Sadly just saw this. Given the crazy schedule we have for shooting and a rather over ambitious shot list I don't know if I will have any time this week. But if that changes I'll certainly look you up. Hope your shoots are going well. Was told over at capsule rentals that you're an "o g" here in Tokyo.
  4. Really depends on the interior and the intent. I generally like to have soft lighting somehow and then will often want to add some hard light slashes in the background often with a jolekos type thing. These days I've gotten lazy and lucky enough to be able to do a lot with 1200ds, specifically so I can easily dim them, but if I'm working with the right budget and manpower I'll start opting for 4k/6k/9k hmis and scissor lifts ( if possible). One of my east coast tricks is I'll often want to add a 2L or something similar right above the window to push soft light further into the interior from the same direction as whatever light happens to me there. Another trick that I sometimes like and sometimes hate is CLRS with something like a joker 1600 or a m40 from the ground into them for a hard kick but also throwing a 8x8 or 12x12 UB behind to give some softness as well. Really all comes down to the reality of the location and budget you're working with.
  5. If the audience is questioning the validity of the image then it's probably not because of an errant eye light here and there lol
  6. I’m personally of the mind to leave as little to the grade as possible. Often you won’t be in that room, and even if you are, you are saving them time. I work by the notion of “do i care about _____?” If I do, I make sure it has the right amount of detail, if I don’t, I don’t. I also look at the image to see if something, generally a highlight is distracting or not. If it is, I remedy it, if not, then that’s ok. Some things are incredibly bright, some dark. That said, for windows, I generally try to hold some detail in the outside and will often ask for sheers to be put over a window in the frame. If possible I’ll also try to ND or net it.
  7. Hey all Looks like I'll be over in Tokyo for a few days (tomorrow through the 17th) for a bit of shooting, and possibly some down time. I haven't really gotten a schedule as of yet, but if anyone on the forum is around and wants to grab a coffee and hear my god-awful attempts to ask "if you undertand" english in Japanese, don't hesitate to let me know. I'll be around Nakano City as far as I know and close to the train there as well. In any case, I hope all are doing alright as we head into the holiday season. -Adrian
  8. Travel friendly gets kinda hard since you'll generally want a few heads. I would certainly go LED and bi-color since you can adapt it to many situations. Aperture is alright-- it can break, but is pretty durable. I have seen some green shift in their "x" COB lights with use (generally in tungsten). The real problem becomes budget. In an Ideal world, and I know a few DoP friends who travel with something similar to this, I would have a Hudson Spider kit, a 600X, and a Lite-mat 4, perhaps a 2L instead. And that would be a goo base, but it's essentially 3x your budget. That said, the slightly cheaper option might be: FX22 or the upcoming Godox 4x4 light. The FX/FC (I have a 21FX) is a little flimsy, but small and packable. Also relatively affordable. The battery power option has been helpful in a very under-budget tv series I'm day playing on and it has held up reasonably well so far. The Godox (F600bi I think?) I haven't yet used but is on par with the apurture stuff. It's probably a better bet since it's a larger source, and can be a quick and dirty key. I would perhaps get that (1700) and a FX21 (about 400) and you're at around 2000USD. This doesn't leave much for a brighter and harder source which you'll probable want, but maybe you can find a used 600x? New it's about 2K so you're over by $1000. A Fora 500B Might be an alternative, but I haven't personally used it. You can find them for around 1500 ish, which is still over and it isn't as bright, but will do in a pinch. TLDR Best I can think of Godox 600Bi 4x4 Panel (key) Amaram FX21 (accent/hair) Forza 500B, you're BFL with dome and fresnel accessories. You're still over $3000 when you add it all up, and have at least 2 cases to travel with plus stands and such, but it's what I would carry for running around If I wasn't trying to spend 3x as much for a Spider and some litemats.
  9. Yeah for something like that you work with what you have, and adjust what you can to get it as good as possible. Sometimes you really can't do anything. I once shot in a market where every light was green and all we could do was throw a flb on the camera, and shoot. When you are in that type of situation , production design, shot and lense selection, and wardrobe can really save you. Same with blocking. For example --.ugly wall over there, ok throw in some background in wardrobe that helps hide it!
  10. You many times get into a situation where you can't change out the fixtures in a real location Depending on how bad they are, in terms of floro, often I would gel my lights to match the "badness" (generally with +green) and then add a - green filter to the camera (on film) to get it back to "normal." Generally the floros aren't really lighting the scene as much as they are lighting the space. You'll bring your own lights in to modulate what's there, and employ flags on stands to kill a floro fixture here or there (or roll the tubes if you can). Also, depending on the tubes, you may replace specific tubes with kinos. In reality there are so many variables in working in real locations that you have to get in there to scout so that you can have a plan of action. There are multiple ways to attack this problem which don't involve removing every tube. The biggest problem I get into these days are cheap LEDs which may have OK color, but flicker like mad on camera.
  11. I think a lot depends on if you are in a studio or not, or someplace easily dolly accessible without laying track (which then slows you down)
  12. There is something to be said about the reliability and easy of set up of sticks as well. Camera control sounds great until batteries die, or computer doesn't compute.
  13. It seems, as Jacob said, that most new cameras are going with adaptable mounts; I think even the LPL from Arri can take standard PL lenses with an adapter. As such, I wouldn't get rid of any EF Glass. It's a lot cheaper to get a good adapter from say L mount on the new pocket 6K to EF, or RF to EF, or E to EF than it is to get all new lenses. That said, when you do eventually upgrade your camera, maybe then it's time to replace some lenses with equivalents in native mount. If I grab the new 6K FF, for example, as I'm tempted to do, I might well look into a set of L-mount primes to go with it. But I'll also want to grab a PL and EF adapter since, well, sometimes you want or need to use glass in those mounts.
  14. See if you can find an L508 on the cheap or a Minolta IVF. I have both and they are lovely. Be advised though they will be about 1/10th of a stop off as I believe Sekonic is set to 12% grey (or the Minolta maybe?) Though that's a trivial discrepancy. As for LED lights; I have no qualms about getting light quantity on any format from any light with a meter. However, if I was shooting film with cheaper LEDs I would really want to use a high end color meter as in that particular case (where you can't easily see a final image) the discontinuous spectrum of some LED lights might be problematic if you're going for a neutral color look. If you're going for something "ugly" or "urban" or "rough" then this is much less of a concern (akin to the old days of pure sodium vapor lighting at night)
  15. A lot of your exts are very strong; but I feel like in your INT work, you need to control the light more, to really focus us in on what we should be seeing. The shot at 031 is a great example of well controlled light vs 043 where it just feels muddy, and 055 where the background is detracting from the subject (it's so bright and similar in color to his shirt/skin that the eye tend to wander, but there's not much to land on. ) Framing has a lot to do with story points, I feel, and yours is fine. there's nothing inherently bad about it, but perhaps try being a little more bold in compositions, and try to work in scale and depth whenever possible. it's certainly not bad work, and you seem to be at a point where you have the basics pretty understood; now just get out there and see how far you can push things to develop your own visual style.
  16. The flat diffuser helps but isn't really all that necessary I find. Generally I'll cup my hand behind the lumisphere to shield ambient light and get a more directional reading. The IVF has cine, you just have to cycle through all the shutter speeds to get to them. I think it's 8fps though something like 175fps, though may be 360 fps, I haven't changed mine from 24 in a long long while since most of my work is on digital these days.
  17. I have a 508 zoom spot and it is fine; though I have found that you need to hold the read button in for a few moments to get the actual reading. it reads true compared to my Minolta IVf and 758. As long as you're not getting whacky with shutter angle or high fps, the non-cine will be fine. Personally I do a lot of those type of calculations in my head. I would recommend the 758 overall, but starting on a 508 and keeping it around as a back up isn't a bad idea. I would send any used meter to be calibrated though. I much dislike the 858 touch screen. EVERYTHING took longer to do on it vs the old scroll wheel.
  18. If i'm doing a wide living room, I would want to get practicals in the scene to motivate the lighting. Then, generally, I would put lights overhead of those practicals (possible litemats with 40 degree snap grids) pushing the light to where it needs to be for the wide. Or maybe, we are doing an "overhead" light and It'll be a jemball with muzz and skirted off the walls. or a light from another room which could be anything, really, going through a frame (6x or 8x generally) using a doorway as flags and letting it fall off. It really depends on what you're doing with the shot. Sometimes it might just be best to have 2 lamps next to a couch giving off just enough light to make it right and cheating with something to hit talent just off of frame on either side. I think the approach you choose really comes down to your budget in time and money as well as the overall look you're going for. For some reason I always first think of Gregory Crewdson photographs for night int living rooms, but want to make it way more natural feeling. Basically take something like this: And tone it down to be more natural (which in my mind would be dimmer, on the whole, warmer in color, and less directional in lighting, softer perhaps is the right word). But in this type of photo, for me at least, I can sort of hyper see what the lighting is doing, and then work it to something that suits my personal taste.
  19. It's most likely the bulb being too old. Generally, before I went to mostly LEDs, we would color meter each HMI at the start of a show and make up it's correction pack to get it to 5600 and not be green (or purple).
  20. Generally your limitations will be space, power, and time ( also budget ). You kinda do the best you can with the time and space you get. I tend to large led sources since it's more even and generally I've already got those in the budget.
  21. I have had issues with strip before. Here in the states, we would just rent a litemt 8 which is essentially that. If I wanted to do it on the cheap; I'd get a few Amaram F21x or C lights (or the F22s) and zip tie them together and to the frame. But that's a lot clunkier. I guess you could source good enough LED strip and affix it to coroplast (maybe even white coro?) with little sides and make essentially a litemat 8 type fixture.
  22. Could and has been either; though I think to a certain extent that comes down to budget and which department has more leftover in it's budget. Hell, I've had CTO and Tokyo blue come out of the camera budget before because, well, that's where there was some money left on the table. Generally, both your lighting and grip order are going to the same rental house, who will stock it on a truck. On my orders, I personally keep ND/colors etc on the electric side, as theres a greater chance they will be doing cuts of them to go on fixtures. But I also might have some pre-skinned 4x4s on the grip side. It's really an academic distinction and not really worth getting too caught up in. (and with ND especially, we are moving pretty quickly into an LED world where ND isn't as used as it once was, as even on HMIs and larger tungsten heads it's often easier to just throw a scrim in from the bag vs cut and affix ND or bring in another stand to the forest)
  23. Generally most trucks will have them pre-skinned; at least the popular flavors. I've found when getting to bigger or more specific things, it'll come out of the lighting budget for expendables for color, or the grip for diffusion. Since it's going on a frame, the grips will skin it/manage all that, and you'll work with them to make sure you have enough empty frames for what you're doing. But a lot of what I have done has been of "ton" trucks, be that 3, 5, or 10 ton which generally have a fixed package. For example: https://cinelease.com/wp-content/uploads/CL_TruckPackage_10Ton_D1.pdf that particular 10 ton has 10 empty frames, ready to be skinned. ( and a 10x12 lavender which I can almost guarantee is never used outside of food/beverage lol)
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