David Calson

Hey, I'm trying to better my A game when it comes to shooting corporate videos. I need some inspiration. Does anybody know of some companies that shoot really cool, dynamic corporate videos. I've tried googling this, but the results haven't been all that interesting.

Why do Grips hold flags on both sides of Steadicam operators? Is it to break up wind hitting the operator?

Great, thank you Mark!

What gel should I use to match tungsten to indirect sunlight/cloudy color temp? Thanks!

How do clouds affect color temperature and towards what color? Might be a bit of a newb question, but I notice on my camera that it has white balance setting of daylight and cloudy.

I'm glad we're having this discussion. I only knew about fog machines before. Seems like a Source 4 with a hazer would make some pretty awesome results.

Awesome, I've gotta get me a Par64 then. Thanks for the speedy reply!

Good to know! What about fresnels? Do those also give a beam of light?

How do you squeegee gels onto a window? Just wet the gel and it sticks to the window?

New to cinematography and I'm trying to get into the mindset of a professional cinematographer, apologies if this comes across as a vague question but... Do you have certain protocols/procedures/steps you stick to when lighting a scene? Pretend we're in a studio. The set is an abandoned nightclub. Two gentlemen meet at a table. One of them turns out to be a hitman, but the other one doesn't know it. Eventually, the hitman slowly screws on his silencer under the table and pops the other gentleman. /Scene. What would be your first steps towards tackling this scene? If it were me I would decide what I think the scene should look like by... 1) Use the zone system, I would decide what the tonal values should be for the background, the parts of their faces, etc. 2) I would decide what color those tonal value should be 3) Figure out where the light would be coming from that's motivated 4) After positioning the lights I would use my meter to check that the values are where I want them to be, ND/scrim/flag accordingly. Something like that. Anyways, just trying to see if there's a better way of doing things. Thanks

Hi, I'm filming an interview. The client wants a window as the background. The subject is a young female. I want to light her with front, soft light, but the big umbrella will be in the shot. The ceiling isn't very high so I can't raise the light until it's out of the shot. Perhaps I could put some white cloth on the ceiling and aim a light at it? Any other ideas?

Are there inexpensive lights that can give you that sunlight shaft look?

What would you consider to be the top 3 best green screen material that you've worked with? Both fabric and paint suggestions would be appreciated.

interesting, thanks!

I see this a lot on film cameras. It's like two microphone looking devices on the front of the camera. Notice the photo.... http://www.imdb.com/media/rm420716800/tt1408101?ref_=tt_pv_md_1 What is it?

Sounds awesome Chris, thanks for your tip. I'll def give that a try

I need to create a 360 degree shot of an actor. I want to put him on some sort of lazy susan for people (something to brace his footing would be nice too). Anybody have some ideas for parts I could use to make this? It doesn't need to be motorized. Thanks!

I'm having a bit of difficulty determining the difference between fluorescent, warm white and cool white. I mean, I know one is more green, more orange and more blue than the other. But with our eyes always adjusting to make every light look pure white I just wanted to make sure. I know this is an inexact generalization, but can we talk about some places that employ each of these different lights? Like your average Walmart, that's cool white probably right? When I think of just a straight up fluorescent light I think dingy and green, like in a Saw movie or like in some old automotive repair place. Also, when it comes to gelling tungsten to fluorescent, I read in one book it said use plus green and Full CTB. While another source said just use plus green. But what if it's tungsten to warm white? Or tungsten to cool white?

Excellent, thank you sir

Can someone recommend the correct gels to use to match Tungsten to Cool White Fluorescents?

capital idea! Thanks

I've got a scene that requires the camera to be above a bed looking down. The camera's not to be too far from the bed, just enough to get a medium shot. I'm an indie filmmaker without a lot of dough. I've got 1 c-stand, some light stands, gaffer's tape, some sandbags, a tripod. Can anybody recommend a safe, cheap way to achieve the effect I'm looking for? Thanks. Oops forgot to mention, the camera is a 5lbs video camera

Thanks Adrian, I just checked the official Lowel website, should have done that to start with. They said it fits Omni's and Pro's too so I'm in business.

I hear Lowel umbrellas/lights are proprietary. I have a couple of Pro's and Omnis, but I don't see any umbrellas for them, only totas and DPs. Does anybody know if either of those will fill a Pro or Omni.

Thanks Robert!