Alex Hall

The low-tech approach is to put a couple of orange-gelled lights through one frame of light diffusion - to blend them somewhat -- and wave your hands or a tiny flag (I've sometimes used a magazine but hands work best) randomly in front of the lights, fast, slow, barely covering them, covering a lot of them, etc.

Thanks David, I'll give it a try.

Ill be shooting a scene for a music video lit by fire light. I'm looking for a few ideas on how to accent the fire light with a few sources and any ideas for getting a fire "effect" on the actors face in close-ups. Wish production had the budget for a flicker unit, but that's not the case. Any idea would be appreciated.

I read my first copy of American Cinematographer and had the realization that it was possible to make a career out of movies. I've been hooked ever since.

It sounds like you have a good idea of what your going for and also an idea of how to go about it. I would recommend testing some of your ideas. if you haven't already, and work from there.

Citizen Kane (1941), There is a lot to be learned from that film.

For me it would depend on how tight your shots are. I think as long as the shots are tighter you can get away with smaller lights. If you have to do wider shots you might consider shooting at sunset or sunrise if that works with the commercial.

The corrections never end, we just run out of time. Thanks for all the info.

How much more work needs to be done to the image before you commit to a print? Are there certain things you change about the image that will work better with the print stock?

David,

Are you making a lot of changes in the DI for "Manure" or did you achieve most of the look you were going for in camera and with production design?

This was a very good looking film. The article in AC on the film talked about using mostly natural light on the film, turned out very well.

I would try to find some visual references to show that display the characteristics of what your looking for. When I first read your post the film "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" came to mind.

Thanks Kevin

What is the best way to rig small lights (250w) to a drop ceiling?

You'd need to change the shutter speed to match that of the TV in question or the refresh rate of the TV to match the shutter speed. It often will defeat the purpose of shooting in 24P on an XL2 as 24P changes the shutter speed from 1/60th to 1/48th to better emulate the motion blurring you get with a film camera. Try 1/60th or a second to fix up the TV, though that may or may not work depending on the telly.

Thanks Adrian I'll give it a try.

What is the best way with the XL2 to remove the flicker of a TV? I assume there is a menu setting to change, I just haven't found it.

I would recommend two books to you. The first is "The Visual Story" by Bruce Block; this book explains how to create a visual structure in film and it is really helpful. It's a quick read and very informative. The second is "Film Directing Fundamentals" the third edition by Nicholas T. Proferes. Both of these books will help you develop a vocabulary to describe why something works. These books were assets to me, might help you also. Hope this helps. Cheers

Get you hands on every piece of information you can about film making and devour it. Your getting a head start on most people. These forums are great for getting answers to any questions you may have. Best of Luck.

Depending on what you want the feel of the scene to be, I tend to lean toward the HMI balloons filtering through trees for night exteriors. As David mentioned they are usually used as a soft key.

Are you looking for situations using rear projection and poor man's process or "live" backgrounds, for lack of a better term?

I just got done watching Revolutionary Road and once again Roger Deakins photography is fantastic. I really enjoyed the film overall. There was only one time that i was taken out of the film and that was when Leonardo DiCaprio is looking out the window at Kate Winslet during dusk, there was a drastic increase in grain that seemed out of place. It might have been the print I saw...

Overall it was a really good film, and a master class in naturalistic light.

Thanks David, lots of useful info once again.

Are we talking about using small lights when most people would use small lights, or small lights trying to do the job of big lights?

David,

I was thinking more along the lines of small lights doing the job of bigger lights. Obviously you cant light a city block with them, but what can you do when you are limited to working with smaller lighting units?

Check out some of the articles on my website were I use mostly small lights.

What is your website Walter?

I find myself, on a lot of my projects, working with smaller wattage lights ( below 1k). I thought it would be useful to have a thread that discussed how you guys approach working with smaller lights and also any tips or techniques you could offer to others when working in this situation.

Share the knowledge.

Saw this film tonight and I would recommend it to everyone. I really enjoyed the photography and as was mentioned before the special effects are seamless. The story kept me engaged for the duration. Beautiful film.