J. Lamar King IMPOSTOR

Yes, it will be plenty strong at sunset. Keep in mind that uncorrected it will be blue compared to any orange-y light from the actual sun at that time so bring some CTO/S along.

The problems you have when not striking at MAX are 1) Sometimes the globe never reaches temp and is very blue until you turn it to MAX and 2) The Gaffer might have you walking the lamp in or swapping the lens/spotting because he assumes it's MAX but it's dimmed or saying "That doesn't look right!" :angry:

I have to give credit to Mr. Mullen for that one. I'm pretty sure he told me that trick on this very forum a few years back.

The only safe way to do it is with underwater specific equipment and shock blocks. Even the LED pool lights aren't safe in this application. They are meant to be installed in recesses in the sides of pools where water doesn't get to the wires. An underwater par with a wide lens and facing down to bounce off the bottom can work nice. Especially with a good dose of water jet bubbles.

Hi Sean, Just met you the other day! How many windows and how big are we talking here? One solution I've found to work good is to flag the window close in but not on, so only a small amount of ambiance comes in. This ambiance will glow some sheers nicely. You can even part the sheers and dust up the window a bit to obscure the black outside. If the set of windows isn't utterly massive then you can get away with dancing a couple of 6 or 8x blacks outside to suite the frame. I've attached a frame that shows a window behind covered by and 8x on rollers about two foot back from the window.

I usually use one or two 750 zips with diff and gels run through a magic gadget for a TV effect.

Hi Mike, that's what Slim, our Key Grip has on our crew. I usually use two and hit 'em with a Leko and it works great.

Of course it all relates to how sensitive your camera is and what stop you are shooting at etc. Also how white is that white wall to begin with. If you put up some brand new bead board, white card, etc. as a back drop I would guess minimum would be a couple of Tweenies or better yet Teenie Moles. Personally I would start with a couple of Red Heads or maybe a couple of Blondes through diff frames to even it out.

Though not an AC I have witnessed many a time where tail sticks were needed and the operator forgets and cuts. Happens a lot on B cam it seems. The smart AC's will yell "Tail sticks!" the moment cut is called as they are walking in to clap 'em.

You answered your own question. You are only limited by how much area of white you can light to blow out. It's easier than you think.

That's my question too. It all just depends on the situation you are in. I work off a 10 ton electric truck and all the time find myself lighting INT. night scenes with Inkies, tweenies, red heads and EAL's.

I did notice in a recent BBC news story that it said tungsten globes could be replaced with CFL's or Halogen globes. I could live with halogen.

Hey Phil, I'm just relating my experiences so far. I'm not in the union yet. Union guys do work non-union jobs all the time. I believe that they are supposed to report what they are working on and that could lead to a production flipping. If the union does try to flip a show the producer might shut it down. It does happen, I've seen it happen twice in the last year. As far as getting work from the hall, I don't know how it's done exactly but people can and do get work by calling in and notifying they are available for work. The union's usefulness might not be noticeable at first. If you've worked in L.A. on a few months worth of non-union production you will understand. It gets old working for 14 hours before OT yet through the magic of accounting it looks like you got it, grace being called for 45 minutes every single day when they don't need to, skimping on the turn arounds, crap per-diems from 1940, poop dangerous, dirty, sub-standard sound stages and the big one safety. You really got to watch your ass and everyone who works for you on that one.

You know I wonder how this will affect Photo Floods? Will there be some type of exemption for professional use? I can see this coming to the USA soon. They've already started in Canada. The CFL might save energy but so far from my experience it is the most ugly, flickering, non-continuous spectrum POS invention ever. They give me headaches! Have you ever been in a house that was lit with only CFL's? It's painful. Wonder if these things will mess up your eyes if you grow up with them? :blink:

If you own that building and this is going to be a studio space for a while you should consider seeing what is above that drop ceiling. If it gains you a couple of feet and sturdy rigging points why not remove it or a portion of it?

From my experience it seems that for a show to flip it really has to come from the crew. Like another poster here mentioned I've seen $500,000 films flip and $3 million ones that didn't. The crew members have to be very active in getting the unions to actually do something. It seems to go faster if some of the crew are already in the unions because they don't have as much to loose of the production shuts down. They can notify the hall that they are available for work whereas a non-union worker has to hustle another job on their own.

Recently I really liked the greenish soft 'moonlight' in "Lady in the Water."

Hi Kevin, Looks good. Man I hate parking structures. I've been through the exact same thing. Driving up a stake bed, dropping stuff and there it goes! I had Frank come in and juice for me one day last June I think, on a feature I was Gaffing 2nd unit on. He's a good guy, haven't been able to work with him on anything else though.

If you can't move things around to solve the problem. You can also try putting several blade flags right up on the source. An example would be if you had a 4x frame that you flagged on both sides plus put a blade or two up the middle. It also works in a horizontal arrangement. It does the same thing as an egg crate only better. Drawbacks are it's time consuming and does cut down on light output a bit. I'll even draw it for you...

Unless there is a scripted reason to go from day into night you are just asking for unnecessary trouble. Do it all at night or in a studio. I don't know how big your screen is but you can light a 12x screen OK with two bounced or diffed 5K's or 9-lights if you can live with the level.

Going into that situation I would take an 18K fresnel and a 12K PAR. They will do plenty if you expect to be buried in shadows of buildings. Use the 18K clean for cross/edge light and put the 12K through an 8x for fill if needed. In direct sunlight just use one through a frame for fill/eyelight if you want. Probably better to get the grips to use a 12x Ultra or Gold lame if you just need fill. It's quicker. If you use a silk/single or double overhead you could then get more contrast out of your guns for closer shots. The advantage to having these two units is you could use them both as back/edges if needed. If you know you are going to just diffuse the light use the 12K because it's lighter and a little easier to move around. If you want a cleaner light with a harder shadow use the 18. Get it? I highly recommend American Roadrunner stands for 6K and above. Safest, quickest, easiest and most robust stand on the market. A little shorter at top stick than a supercrank and costs twice to rent but worth every cent. As for crew in addition to your Gaffer the minimum is going to be a BB plus 2 electrics. If you are loading in and out of places you'll need 3 electrics minimum. You can figure around 1 hour for globing, heading up and pulling cable for those lights each morning for your BB+3.

Last time I saw Xenon's I think they came from Hollywood rentals. You might check out AC/DC too.

You could certainly do that with a 1200 HMI Fresnel. If you need to light more area than that in the picture, you'll need more or larger fixtures.

I recommend dropping scrims into any HMI or big Tungsten unit before turning it off in the cold. Just be sure on the PAR's that the scrim doesn't rest on the lens, that almost guarantees a crack. If possible put the lights away in a warm truck or building. Even the scrims won't help if the light stays out and allowed to keep cooling. I've seen 18K's that were cooled off to the touch, left in a stakebed and the lens cracked sometime over night.

I am an experienced creative Gaffer. I have worked with small to large (multi-million dollar) budgets. My feature work has been on 11 narrative features. I have also been Gaffer on many other short form projects, commercials, music videos and corporate work. I have worked for clients such as; Atlantic Records/Fall Out Entertainment, ION, Hallmark Channel, RHI, G2 Records, TLC and HighNoon Entertainment. Projects I have worked on have been accepted into film fests such as Sundance, NYFF, Houston International WorldFest and Hollywood DV Fest as well as found current distribution in the U.S. and International markets. Experienced in all aspects of production lighting. Studio, location, process trailer, green/blue screen, large generators and cable distribution, HMI, night EXT/condor operations, etc. I can also supply experienced electric crew. Jason Lamar King jlamarking@gmail.com IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1904364/ Resume: Recent Credits- Feature work: "The Wildeness Family". (2008). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1324060/ Director - Bradford May DP - James W. Wrenn "A Kiss at Midnight". (2008). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1272019/ Director - Bradford May. DP - James W. Wrenn "Meteor". (2008). 2 Unit. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1260995/ DP - Al Lopez "The Glass Seagull". (2008). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1225826/ Director - David S. Cass Sr. DP - James Wrenn "A Gunfighters Pledge". (2007). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1146439/ Director - Armand Mastroianni DP - James Wrenn "Backwoods". (2007). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1153100/ Director - Marty Weiss DP - James Wrenn "Un Dia a La Vez". (2006). Director - Rey Cantu "The Judgment of Weeping Mary" feature. (2006). Director - Andy Rush. "North Starr" feature. (2006). 2008 SUNDANCE FILM FEST OFFICIAL SELECTION DRAMATIC COMPETITION. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1157688/ Director - Matthew Stanton. DP - Peter Levermann. "Un Pedacito de Cielo" feature. (2006). Director - Miquel Marte. "Familias del Fuego" feature film. (2005). Director - Eleazar "Chelelo" Garcia Jr. DP - Santiago Barerrio.