Phil Rhodes

Coemar Centros are physically smaller than most lekos, and they're not the only small type. There are miniature Source Fours, too. Small optics do start to suffer a quite noticeable efficiency falloff, though. P

Mired shifts better represent the apparent difference between colour temperatures. Divide 1,000,000 by the CT to get the mired value of any light source; compare two by subtracting them (order the calculation so that negative values mean bluer.) The exposure value required to properly expose a scene is the binary logarithm of the light level in lux multiplied by the ISO, divided by C, where C is the meter calibration constant usually equal to about 330. For 1000 lux at 100 ISO, calculate: 1000 × 100 ÷ 330 = ln ÷ 2 ln = 8.24 The exposure value of a camera setup is the binary logarithm of the the aperture squared over the shutter time in seconds. For 1/48s at f/2.8, calculate: 2.82 ÷ (1 ÷ 48) = ln ÷ 2 ln = 8.56 (The calculations above are given in reverse polish notation, that is, that's the order you'd hit the keys on a scientific calculator.)

I'm not sure if there's a practical difference between a beam projector and a profile (er, ellipsoidal.) The results are arguably fairly similar, but a beam projector like a Molebeam where the entire optical system consists of a single parabolic reflector (and perhaps a few baffles) is, I'd think, likely to be quite a bit more efficient. Less flexible, though. From what I've seen, a Molebeam or similar is designed to project as near to a parallel beam of light as possible. Most Source Fours, Dedos, etc, won't really do that, although I suspect that in many situations that might not matter too much. However, I have often seen them used to do things like sunbeams through windows, often in haze so it's visible. In this situation it is much more correct to have a near-parallel beam, given the effectively infinite distance of the sun. The limiting factor is of course the diameter of the reflector; for really correct results the reflector should be larger than the window (for instance) you're projecting the light through. For that reason I'm not sure if a small beam projector really makes that much sense unless you have a specific application in mind - you might just as well go and buy some Source Fours. I bought old (late 90s) Coemar Centro and converted them to 150W ceramic. P

Saw it today. Noticed that it does actually look like a film, and I mean that in the best possible sense of the word, rather like a film from the period in which it is set. There's actual contrast, a bit of bite. Frankly, it reminded me how gutless a lot of movies look these days. There's darkness without suffering mush and muddiness. Many technical things I could obsess over, but in general hats off to all involved.

I'm always quite amused by the concept of 500-speed 35mm and it somehow having lots of resolution. It doesn't. Then push it? Ouch. P

My view on this is that if a production company kept on doing this, there would be something to complain about. If it was clear that this sort of situation were being created deliberately, it would be worth raising a question about it, politely and gently in the first instance. If it were to go on long-term, then fine, if you insist, if you really must, if you can't solve your own problems, that's what the union is for. To give someone a hard time for solving an immediate-term problem, in the absence of these things, is absurd, asinine, and the behaviour of a clock-watching apparatchik whose sincerity I doubt on principle.

Isn't it really the production's problem more than yours?

I like the first image, but the second one looks clipped, both in saturation and gamut (yes, you can clip a camera by going outside its colour range, as well as its brightness range.) This can be hard to avoid with LEDs which tend to create colours by mixing red, green and blue primaries. This means that you can theoretically mix pastel shades, especially with the addition of white, but in the end you're still usually mixing red, green and blue spikes and they may still be out of gamut no matter how dim they are. This is the dirty underbelly of colour mixing LEDs which isn't much discussed. In my view if you want this to look its absolute best, gel white lights, or at least compare the results you get with various types of gels and LEDs. Some LEDs use phosphor-converted colours and are better. P

I'd love to know if anyone (not on big TV or studio features) was making that sort of money in the UK. From what I've seen it's either big money TV and films or it's stuff that's so low paid you feel like you might as well do it for free. I don't think the £1000/week level really exists here.

I'd think of 24 (or 21) as fairly wide, I guess. I had to get an old 17mm Tokina lens to round out my motley collection of stuff. The shortest I had otherwise was 28mm, which is fine for most purposes but I found more was required particularly on things like architecture. Not something you'd use on a conventional interior, I think. P

Be careful about the fire and heat situation, though. I'm not sure if the stuff used in light control textiles is any different to the commercial grades. I would assume not, on general principle, but it's as well to be sure before risking a safety issue.

I have seen at least three different types of fabric referred to as "bobbinet." Some of it was just tulle, the stuff they make ballet costumes out of, and you can buy it under that name by the yard; that's what the U.S. film industry seems to mean by the word. I believe the proper textiles terminology requires that bobbinet has hexagonal holes, though the size of those holes varies widely. Other stuff was cotton with larger holes, and then there's the elastic stuff that's used in fibreglass fabrication. That last type, I'm pretty sure, was misapplied as a lighting modified because it is sold as "bobbinet," but in the end you can use whatever you like - so long as it's fireproof. Yes, it is difficult to stitch, but not impossible. Trap it between two layers of cotton tape (not polypropylene webbing, which is much harder to handle) and use a fine pitch. P

Do the Panavision Ultra Vista lenses even look like Cs or Es? I can't find any reference. P

There are various calculators available online which allow you to enter all of your system components and determine the total power consumption; I'd use one of those before committing to a purchase. I set up an 8-disk RAID10 using a Highpoint 2720 disk controller. You can probably find as much information as you need online. If your motherboard has enough SATA ports to accommodate the amount of disks you need, you might not even need that. Physical installation is straightforward; how you set it up software-wise depends on specifics. P

Yeah, but then you'd be basically shooting Red, so...