chris kempinski

Hi everyone, Just giving a few pics from a musical I just shot last weekend. The story line is crazy, as are the people in the heros head, that break into song and dance. We had a 60 by 20 green screen to light as well as an 80 by 20 blue sky. When the main character goes into his fantasy land I changed the lighting from a flat white bank, to an amber light background and more contrast in the foreground. Take a peek and let me know what you think. cheers chris

most industrial lights are cool whites. a quick run up a ladder for a visual will let you know the type of bulb and, would give you an idea of what temperature you need to ballance to. secondly about the windows, my suggestion would be to meet in the middle of the window and the flouros. the window will be around 6000 degrees K and the flouros around 4000. so, I would suggest warming some blue tubed kinos (so you get more output as blue gel takes away more light) with half straw. Again, I would use staw because there is a natural green in the gel already. The great thing about the 7218 is that the green spike is very minimal and the straw should balance out just fine in post. thems my two cents. good luck Chris

Canada is a big place. The west boasts some of the best. Rainmaker and Technicolor.

This may have been done before and if so...... sorry. My question is for everyone out there from the pro to the mo. What mistake was the one you remember the most. Or the one that changed your style, or way of doing things. I know learning from my own mistakes is part of the process, but would appreciate a "heads up" about errors I have yet to make. Cheers Chris

why not use 2 1200's instead.? Or find a stove or dryer plug rated over 30amps. A rental house should have a Bates to dryer pulg adapter laying around. Both these options are way safer than what you are talking about. Breakers are there for a reason. cheers Chris

hi there, put CTO on the windows with tape (neatly) or squeegee and smoke up the room just a bit to emphasize the light separating. if you can get a 1200 outside that would help. anyone else have ideas?

I have had the privilege of working with Ellen Kuras for two weeks in the freezing cold. She has a fantastic vision and is always pushing the envelope. As a side note....... She also lives in France. Cheers Chris

with a 2K? that is more of a menace arm... and that is a grip thing. you need a counter weight and cantilever. A goal post is a better idea. a menace arm works for kino or lighter lights.

We call it a Goal Post. Others may have another name for it. You need a good sized piece of pipe and something a bit beefier than C-stands. you can get ears that will fit 2" pipe, normally for large 12X or 20X frames, then something like a hi-roller or hi-hi to hold the weight once it's in the air. I like hi-rollers cause the legs have a lower profile and you can move the entire rig somewhat easily. cheers chris

That is exactly what the loaded question should have been. Thank you. Just checking, through history, what's to happen next.

So would you say that HD is the new Beta, or the new broadcast standard? Or do you think film will survive? I love film and would hate to see film go away, but with Kodak laying off staff, and still cameras embracing digital, how long do we have? It bothers me to see the average viewer "happy" to have everything in focus, all the time. Most people don't care. That makes me sad.

I guess my question was more geared toward the threat of betacam-SP and what is was going to do to the film community at that time.

Not to date anyone here, but I was curious...... can someone compare the introduction to Beta in the late 70's and 80's, to the big push towards HD today? :unsure:

I think it's about intensity, I think that's the answer you are looking for. because kino is already a "soft" source, you are going to get a softer and more subtler effect than hitting the same foam with an open fresnel. and a far greater f stop. lighting can only be controlled 5 ways, and as David said, it all depends on the situation at hand, what looks real and works.

nice to know info Thanks.

it's used all the time. I once worked with a DP who would bounce an image80 and put 2 more diffusion frames in front. not a whole lot a light........ but very soft.

Thanks Dennis That is exactly the answer I was looking for. Cheers

what is the compression rate of uncompressed DVDs and much can you put on a 4G DVD? and what kind of running time do you get from that?

It's all about reflection, and lighting for that. Usually, if I have a budget, I would bring in large (12X12) silks, 2 or so, seperate them with a 12X12 black to cover the entire reflection. if you bounce and fill the frame it would be better than pushing the light straight through as you will see the source. basically big and soft is your answer, if you can make it look like it's all coming from one natural source. The other answer is find something interesting to light in the reflection and use that to it's atvantage rather than as a hinderance. To hide the camera..... a couple of 4X4 flops with the lens pointing through the black usually works. good luck. Chris

This is super interesting. I would be curious as to how it would effect focus and aperture on a zoom lens. Perhaps a diopter would have the same effect on amount of light vs focal length?

someone please correct me if I'm wrong here, but 220 vs 120 is more or less just a bulb thing. My guess is that an HMI is different as there is no filliment (resistor) meaning perhaps just a ballast thing. 120 has a neutral vs 220 where as the neutral is hot, yes? that and the power sorce, I have seen the opposite and made a piece of 3/6 208 with an electronic ballast and run a 4K wich is normally 120. (though all of it Italian gear) I guess my final solution is ballast + bulb + proper power supply = light.

here is my opinion, I agree with Thomas about a 2500 not being enough. As long as you get a powergems electronic ballast, you can run a 4K at 208V (sometimes the europeans do have it right). You do need the correct addapter for the gennie, 4 pin to joy, or a transformer to drop you from208V back to 120V but it is wise to check with the rental house and test it all before you show up on the day. Secondly, If it turns out to be a sunny day..... use a 20X20 silk or full grid to heavily diffuse and block the sun, then, get about three mirror boards and bank that sun stright into a 12X12 or 8X8 diffusion. it's almost as good as an 18K and the color temp stays the same as well. the problem arises, if the sun isn't there, or the clowds roll in (this is when my idea turns to junk) you don't have the 4 18K's to keep shooting the look you've just established. good luck post your results when it's said and done so we know what you ended up doing. Cheers Chris

I have found lighting is a far better way to learn. Camera assistants work too hard and don't really have time to look around, or examine too much, or ask questions. (unless it's whatt kind of frap do you want from starbucks sir) Lighting is like a game of horseshoes, as long as it's in the general area you're golden. This gives you a ton of time to eat a sandwich and sit by the dolly, while the grips and such run aroung and fine tune. I know what lens, filters, even what the "important" folks did the night before for fun. I find most DP's most generous in answering questions or taking the time to explain something. An internship is all about experience. It takes years to learn all the gear, tecniques, ratios that work with different stocks and so on..... get your hands dirty in another department and get paid while you learn! Chris

Data flashers are great but be worned, They don't have a great lifespan, meaning, if your shot is longer than perhaps 10 seconds the gas becomes too hot and you have a hot strike situation, they stop working, and take a considerable amout of time to cool down. The output is great though, we just shot a commercial for a remote control toy, built a grand stand with 108 zenon flash bulbs on a nail board to fake a stadium of people and used the data flashers for the photo flashes. We shot at 150 fps with a snorkle lens (minimum stop of a T8), we needed enough light in studio to achieve an f22 at a 50ASA. Wew, that was a tough show, it was all like that. High speed and an 8 stop. Cheers Chris

I have done this before. we used mini brutes (9 lights) three of them, you can run 2 soca lines into the basket, this means you can have control from the gound and are able to "off" or "on" three bulbs at a time. rigging the condor takes a ton of pipe and hard 90's a good key grip should be able to pull it off and have a bit of fun wrapping their brain around this little teaser. I dont' have any photos but the best of luck to ya. Chris