Joe Turrentine

Depending on how fine or rough the concrete is, a pole cat may or may not work. If the concrete beams are only 6" wide, then you can use a simple 10" or 12" C clamp to rig fixtures, and it would work just fine, so long as you could run safety chain somewhere solid. You could also rig some aircraft cable for a group of instruments. A lot of ways to do it, hard to determine what would be safest without being there. With a good set of cribbing and a proper safety system, you can rig a C clamp most anywhere that it will fit and have it be secure. Problems occur when you need to be gentle to some drywall or the ceiling is too low. Just my two cents.

If it works with the story, i.e. main character who is walking, I would also try and get a cutaway of the feet walking on the water, just to show that he "really" is walking on the water. I think this could be done with a green screen shot. Once you show off a bit to the audience you can do waist-up medium shots and they won't mind. Good Luck!

They do have them for sale, but as was said, very pricey, 900 dollar range. Here is a link for a 50w one for almost 1000 bucks. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/4616...or_50_Watt.html Then again, 50 watts goes a long way in the dark. I hope you are remembering to over expose to reduce digital noise. I've never used the xl 2 in the dark, but you always need to shoot some serious test footage before you jump into anything. I've worked with a DP who uses a LED light setup but that was because he could run it off a battery. Pricewise, you would probably better off spending 150 for a bunch of 500w flood lights. My two cents.

What Tony says is true: Unless you are the DP, what the heck is he doing? Twiddling his thumbs? If you are the DP on the other hand, then it's all good. I have had good luck with a 4' x 4' plywood with two handles on one side and aluminum foil on the other(or if you can find it, get a ball and socket clap with a 5/8" adapter and you can put it on a stand). You can make that setup for 25 bucks at any hardware store. Just get some drawer handles and wear gloves. If you want to get fancy, cut it in half, and then put hinges on it and it can now fold in half for easier storage and/or portability. Works for me...

Wow, thanks a lot. That was really interesting. I will be persistent. Joe

Good package my friend got. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller...8513&is=REG Dimmers... http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller...3607&is=REG Now c-47 some wax paper to the reflector, and it's diffused for your fill, and then you have a three point lighting setup. Just remember the color shift when you dim. And remember the audio noise if you put a xlr cable too near a dimmer! Cheers Joe

Not to contradict Jonathan, but it would seem to me that if you shot in color, looking at a B & W moniter, you have the most versatility because then you would still be able to change the colors in post, and then convert to black and white. Shoot some test footage and take out all the, say blues, and then turn it to B&W. Or, you do this in the real world with a filter as he said. Just a thought. Joe

Thanks for your thoughts and explanations! Joe

Well, I acted when I was 3, and was into still photography when I was 11 or so, and then was into making movies about 13, and then specifically cinematography about 15. So yeah. And I'm 17 now, so I've been making movies for a while, despite my youth. I'm right handed, but I make up for this averageness in other ways... Joe

Well, theoretically, if you set the ISO/ASA rating control for the still camera as the same as your stock, set the shutter speed the same as the big boy's, then it should be go. Then make adjustments to your aperture on the movie camera according to the readings from the still camera and then it should work. At least, I think it should work. Oh, and focal length would get in the way. If you had a wide prime lens on your still, and then a telephoto on the movie camera, even if they were at the same aperture, a light source wouldn't be able to expose the film because of the telephoto lens. That seems like a hell of a lot of work, but I guess I'd be inclined to do it too if I was having to spend 200 on a light meter. But I mostly do digital... and when I do film, I can borrow a nice incident meter from a friend! My two cents. I hope that was helpful. Joe

Hello, my question for you guys is not something technical, but rather, a question on relationships of positions on the set. I am an aspiring DP, and have done about 15 or so shorts here and there over the last 3 years, and usually have been acting as Director and DP, sometimes co-directing with someone, but more recently, I have shot a few shorts acting solely as DP. I'll be shooting my first feature starting in April and wrapping (hopefully) in August. For my question: I know that the DP has creative control(Unless explicitly told by the director) over technical things like aperture, film stock, frame rate, depth of field, lighting, lenses, focal length and so forth. But what about camera angles and movement. I hear a lot of conflicting opinions and "facts" about this. How much does the relationship between director and DP vary from director to director? How much control does the DP get over camera movement and camera angles? Thanks Joe