Thomas Burns

My experience has been that image quality with the Canon zoom deteriorates markedly when shooting at aperatures wider than f/4. I won't use the lens for this reason. Best, Thomas Burns Novice DP Los Angeles -- www.thomasburns.net

American Cinematographer Manual, 8th ed. Hardcover. $40 plus shipping (from Los Angeles) I bought this book new several years ago and read it once. It's in fantastic shape. If interested, contact Thomas at (323) 387-2125

Scottie, A flickering effect on commercial flourescent fixtures can be achieved by using a variac dimmer. Start with the unit at line voltage and slowly begin dimming down until you find the "sweet spot" where it begins to flicker. Good luck! Best, Thomas Burns Electrician/Novice DP Los Angeles

Adam, The big question here is what the weather will be like, as a sunny day at the beach could require substantially more light than the overcast alternative. I would feel uncomfortable competing with a sunny beach on video with anything less than a 6K PAR, and even that could be dicey. You might try some grip lighting (a 12 x 12 bounce), though this option has its own set of variables (wind, changing sun, intermittant cloudcover, etc.). All of the day exteriors I've worked on at beaches have involved multiple 18Ks, but I understand that this approach may not be an option. A 2500 HMI will not be sufficient. You will do well to make sure whatever head you choose is a PAR and not a fresnel. Lots of putt-putt generators won't support a 4K, so be sure you inquire (and test!) at the rental house first. Beach shoots can be . . . challenging. Good luck, and let us know how it goes. Thomas Burns Electrician/Novice DP Los Angeles

I bellieve the new generation of Barger Baglites have better rear ventilation, though they still run pretty hot. I agree that it's not a good idea to point them straight down. Barger also makes a "3K" baglite that runs off one 20amp circuit. It's worth mentioning that although the different models are generally referred to as "3K" and "6K", the globes are actually 650w FCM's. All in all a very good lamp if you need a large, soft source. Might also be worth mentioning in light of your previous post regarding sodium vapors that you're only gelling options with the Barger baglites is to gel the front of the Chimera. Hope this helps. Thomas Burns Electrician/Novice DP Los Angeles

Jonathan, What you are trying to shoot? Are you photographing an empty warehouse? Are actors involved? Are these one-off shots, or are you trying to build a scene (master, coverage, etc.)? The answers to these questions are the single most important factors influencing your lighting decisions. If you have control over the native sodium vapor units you could turn them off and start from scratch with your tungsten heads, but why fight it? If you need "great looking wide shots", as you say, then you'll need the light to cover most of the warehouse, which is what the sodium vapors are doing for you already. With the little information I have, I recommend gelling your tungsten units to match the sodium and then white balancing as needed. The blue looking fixtures you mention are most likely mercury halide lamps. If there's only a few of these, I would try and find a way to prevent them from contaminating your set (i.e., turn them off, or flag them off if they're not too high). Or perhaps they provide an interesting addition. What you should aim for here is a level of control over the lighting. There have been lots of posts on this site regarding which gel cocktails will balance tungsten to sodium vapor--a search will give you lots of options. 1/8th CTO on a tungsten head is not a good match for sodium vapor. Unless you're dealing with daylight through windows or skylights, or a preponderance of mercury halide lamps, I don't think an HMI is what you need. It's true that HMIs are much more efficient than tungsten lights when it comes to footcandles per watt, but after you correct them back to your warmer color temp it's almost a wash anyway. The presence of windows or skylights presents an entirely different scenario, as you would then consider moving over to a daylight lighting platform. 110v lights come in all shapes and sizes. Most 10Ks run on 110v power, but that doesn't mean you can use them on the factory's house power. The name of the game here is amperage, and without a generator you're most likely stuck using 20 amp edison circuits. Generally speaking, a 2K is about all you can put on a circuit and feel safe. In a pinch you could run a 2K and a very small unit (a 2K draws 16.6 amps), but I don't recommend it. This is a great lighting exercise, and it won't be the last time you encounter this kind of set-up. Enjoy it, and let us know how it turns out. Thomas Burns Electrician/Novice DP Los Angles, CA

If you're on location, a wall spreader would work well here. Cut the wood to fit the room and mount baby plates and gobo heads where you need to rig. For power you can either run head feeders down one side together to the ballasts (for easy access) or house the ballasts up top with the heads (if it's just a few heads you could cube tap off one stinger run). If you need a lot of power up top, consider running a stick of 100A or 60a to a lunch box rigged to the spreader. Thomas Burns Novice DP Los Angeles

Scott, I've always heard that using location tubes (e.g., cool whites, warm whites, etc.) in kino fixtures causes an additional green spike do to the high frequency at which the kino ballasts run. Can you confirm this? It would be nice to have this issue settled once and for all by an expert. Thomas Burns Novice DP Los Angeles

I had a telecine colorist complain to me once about how some DP's will ride the iris to maintain exposure on faces as the sun goes in and out of clouds. He said that it's better to let the exposure go--that way he has a better chance "fixing it in post". I'm not sure I really understand why that is. Any ideas? Thomas Burns Novice DP Los Angeles

Looks good. How many stops over is her face? Thomas Burns Novice DP Los Angeles

Hi all, I'm wondering if there are any organizations out there that offer group health insurance plans geared toward folks in the film business (I'm in Los Angeles, CA). I know the unions offer great coverage plans, but I'm still trying to get my days. Any thoughts? Thomas B. electrician/novice DP Los Angeles, CA

What was the motivation for the vertical black stripes on the edges of frame in the black and white footage at the beginning? What caused it? I like it--seemed to spice the frame up a bit. I agree that the first half of the reel is much more engaging and dynamic than the end. I thought the final footage was the weakest (though it still looked great). Also, what song is that? Thomas Burns Novice DP Los Angeles, CA

Looks great! What did you do to the color pallette on the shot of the woman sitting in the driver's seat of a parked car toward the beginning of the reel? I love the colors. Thomas Burns Novice DP Los Angeles, CA

Hi gang, I'm going to be shooting a sit-down interview on location and the director has asked for a black background. We're shooting in a hotel events room with 10' ceilings. I plan to kill the house lights, use my own tungsten package, and fly in an 8x8 solid on a frame for a background. Has anyone had experience shooting black backgrounds? Will 8x8 give me enough background to shoot comfortably (dip and dodge with the subject's movements)? We're shooting on the new JVC HD100 camera. Any thoughts? Thomas Burns Novice DP Los Angeles, CA

Hi All, I'm about to shoot a series of sit-down interviews with the JVC HD-100 and the producers have asked for a greenscreen background. This is my first time using this camera and I wanted to know if anyone has shot greenscreen with it and whether there's anything funky I should expect. My understanding is that this camera has a 4:2:0 sampling rate--does this effect greenscreen shooting at all (I usually shoot on 4:2:2 rigs)? Best, Thomas Burns Novice DP

Yes, 70% has always been the magic IRE number for skin tones on Caucasian faces. So why doesn't the DVX100 let us set zebras below 80%? Is the technology that allows lower zebra percentages more expensive? 80% just seems like an awkward number. I think 70 and 100 would be ideal settings for zevras 1 and 2. Thomas Burns Director of Photography Austin/LA

I've recently worked on a number of shoots where the gaffer placed a 4x4 of diffusion in front of an illuminated 4x4 bounce card. The intention was to create an extremely soft source, softer than the bounce card alone. I'm having trouble understanding the physics of this: can diffusion make bounced light any softer? Is the diffusion ensuring that the light hitting the subject is coming from a source that is evenly illuminating him/her (as opposed to a bounce card, where there is often a hot spot in the center)? Any clarification would be much appreciated. Thomas Burns DP/AC, Austin/Los Angeles

I recently worked as a camera assistant on a low-budget feature. The production was divided into 3 five-day shooting periods. We were paid in cash for our time and overtime at the end of each period. At the end of the third work period (picture wrap), the producer said they're waiting on more money and would have to wait on paying us. That was two weeks ago. THey keep telling me to wait a few more days. I signed a deal memo and have a record of all my in/out times. I'm concerned that they are planning not to pay the crew at all for the last week worked. Any suggestions on how to go about getting my money? Outside the industry I would file a compaint with the Better Business Bureau and consider litigation. I'd like to avoid litigation if possible (that would get nasty), but I'm prepared to do what it takes to get what I'm owed. Any thoughts? Don Davis AC, Los Angeles

A common film school mistake with some older cameras is when a student jumps in a car to hurry to the next location and doesn't realize that they accidentally turned the camera on. Assuming that you transport your camera with the lens cap on, could this have happened before you started shooting (meaning that the film was already shot out before you began filming)? Did you run the camera at all before commencing the shoot? I'll admit it's strange that you wouldn't be able to hear the roll's tail turning inside the camera, but at a noisy location this could be the case. Sounds strange, but I've seen it happen on multiple occaisions. Thomas Burns DP, LA/Austin

I'm interested in buying a used camera cart, preferably a Magliner junior or Liberator junior (the Film Tools equivalent). I'm located in the LA area--please contact me directly at burns_thomas@hotmail.com. Best, Thomas

Anyone know the ASA equivalent of the XL1s? Seems notably less sensitive to light that cameras like the DVX-100. Thomas Burns

My understanding is that because neither cameras have native 16x9 capability, one must either crop or squeeze the 4x3 image in order to arrive at a 16x9 image. The DVX100 only allows me to crop. The XL1s allows me to either compose for 16x9 in a 4x3 image (through the use of 16x9 guides in the viewfinder) or digitally squeeze the image to be expanded in post to 16x9. From now on I plan to use the guidelines in the XL1s viewfinder to compose 16x9 (while recording a 4:3 image), but that still doesn't explain why Final Cut is showing me two different aspect ratios for what I got from the two cameras. I agree, I must be missing something. Any thoughts? TMB

Does anyone know the strength of the in-camera ND filter on the XL1s? I'm in the field without a manual and I need to match exposure to the DVX100. Many thanks in advance for your help! Thomas

I've got a two camera shoot going with the XL1s and the DVX100. Both are set for 16x9 mode (I'm cropping the image on the Panasonic and digitally squeezing the Canon image. When I import into Final Cut the aspect ratios are slightly different. Anyone had this experience? Suggestions? What am I missing? Thomas