David Rakoczy

[shutters on a light can work depending on the shot and the technician operating them.] Tim Healy I totally agree Tim. An 'Artist' can get more for less.. no doubt. I (believe) this thread started with a Boat in a Tossing Sea - a Storm... Rain, Lightning, Thunder. ... In that shooting environment 'sound' is not as much an issue for the DP with regard to his/her Lighting Effects because the 'Actual Physical Effects' drown out any Lighting Dept. noise.. so in that environment.. I would push for a Plunger or two... also, there is no 'learning curve' ... just push the Plunger and get what you want.. believe me.. a Plunger 'electrifies' the creative juices of the crew.. it does! Hearing that indescribable sound of the 'arc' really gets people 'juiced'...!

Steve, Keep your head on Straight... I only mentioned that story as it was a long long time ago. A long time ago. I no longer put myself in a position where I hate what I am doing and if the tables suddenly turn and I do find myself there I simply walk... Depending on where the bar is supposed to be located... Smoke can play an intricate part in creating ambiance.

ND gels work great over Neon Signs.. to keep them in the 'range' when needed. Just wrap a large sheet over them... uptight they look like a Neon with a Gel wrapped over it... back off a bit and they look fantastic. Enjoy the shoot. Try to stay away from the Tap! I shot a piece of fece a long time ago with a horrible Producer and Director. While in the bar I kept going to a longer and longer lens and dollying back and back until I was butted up against the bar where my Dolly Grip could begin the mixing process. The Scotch helped (us) get through the day.... and yes to all the nay-sayers... the footage was beautiful despite our (then) happy spirits.

I see, you mean a Pin/ Receiver combo... gotcha.. lot's of ways to skin this cat... it comes down to time vs $.. I (personally) would get the Pin and the Adapter and be done. But hey.. you may have some great machine shop contacts and would enjoy going that route. Best to ya JD

That is why we had a separate Genny just for them. They really are fantastic. Lightning Strikes (tho Great) are more of a 'digital' Strike as the Carbon Rods are very, very 'organic' as they come up and dissipate with each Strike. Very Eerie!

-JD.. you mean Baby 'Receiver' .. not 'pin'... all Baby Stands have the 'Pin'... His Light would need a 'Baby Receiver'. Vincent is going the right route getting the Light back to original operating condition and supplementing with a Baby to Jr. Adapter.

Lightning Strikes are great.. and easily controllable... the old school method of mashing Carbon Arcs (rods) together in a plexi box deliver a more... 'organic' strike. We used Carbon Arc Strikes on Stan Winston's PUMPKINHEAD. I love the mashed carbon arc method.. but you have to designate a plant just for that as it draws a ton of amps. I don't recommend 'Shutters'.. I have used them and they just don't 'feel' real..(to me). If I had a choice, I would use the carbon rod method any day. There is a sample of Lightning Strikes on my Feature Demo Reel (at the beginning there is an Exterior Night scene using Lightning Strikes.

Why would the bulbs show up yellow? - quote So many variables... so little time.. in my opinion, you are lucky those globes appeared yellow. They give you 'color contras't. I would love them... accept them.. and be thankful they are there.

Glad I could help.. it was fun getting Mole on the line with us. But one correction.. you mean Baby to Jr. Adapter. Think of these things from the bottom up.. a Jr. to Baby Adapter is typically called a 'spud' in Hollywood. You can put a Baby Light on a Jr. Stand using a Spud. You need a Baby to Jr. Adapter (the opposite) so you can place that Jr. 2k onto a Baby Stand (or C-Stand). Best of luck on your Night Exterior! Have Fun!

Vincent.. call me. I want to be sure you are getting the right thing. My number is on the website... link below.

That is a replacement piece.. I don't believe it will work.. or work very well. Your Light has a Jr. Pin... you just need a Baby to Jr. Adapter. Call American Grip at 818 . 768 . 8922. Tell them (Lance or Phil) you want to place a Mole 2k (with a Jr. Pin) on a Baby Stand or C-Stand). They have the Adapters. I bought three.. they work great. Give me a call.. my number is on the site.. link below...

If the Light is a Junior Pin and the Stand is a Baby Stand... you can purchase - Jr. to Baby Adapters - from AmericanGrip.com I have several 2ks that have Jr. Pins on them and when interior I usually put them on my Baby Stands with these adapters... you could also use them on C-stands etc... they work great for 2ks but I don't recommend them for 5 or 10s.

You can also affect DOF by using a Longer Lens.. i.e. 100mm, 250mm... 400mm etc.. Most of the footage you liked was Handheld so they were using (wider) lenses... with NDs and more...

I (personally) do it every time. I'll run a Pola (-2 stops) and a ND9 (-3 stops).. I have run ND 18 and more.. to the point where you almost can't see what is in Frame.. you have to Frame with the Matte Box open to see.. then close and shoot.. this happens a lot when undercranking.. Filters are made to shoot through. Stack them... it doesn't matter if they are all NDs.. Softeners, Grads, Colors, Pola.. etc... use them. Stacking a bunch of Softeners can yield a very soft image.. but running a 85ND9 + ND9 + Pola + 1/2 Classic Soft can yield beautiful exposures/ Images. Use them to get where you want to be.

Michael Lehnert, You might want to check your spelling yourself... you are right.. the English grammar IS challenging.. even for the learned Lehnert. With regard to 'when' I post.. you are out of your mind! What a pompous ass! Now, I said it was "my bad and thanks for the correction".. what you don't like is that I did not kiss your ass in doing so. Now that I have met you.. and [know] who you are... I especially appreciate my not doing so.

Michael, that was totally uncalled for... as you can read (on page 8 or 9) I stated that is was my error in confusing you with someone else. You must have missed that in your rush to post what you feel is a clever response. Well now that you have... feel any better about yourself? Mmmm probably not. I believe Mathew (the person I confused your post for) described you perfectly. Well done Mathew!

Another thing to watch for is the Shade's Shadow... when (your) lighting throws a shadow on a wall from a lamp that is 'on'... in frame... Lamps that are 'on' [usually] won't throw a shadow on the wall.. unless there is a bright source out of frame to justify it... emphasis on 'usually'. But if that Lamp is supposed to be the 'source' it had better not be casting a shadow.

I like that Paul! It is like a Ring-Lite but with a much much larger Source.... very cool.. gonna try that. I also use Softlites (Zips) under lens on the older Folks when they need some smoothing out..

My bad. Thank you for the correction. David 'fallible' Rakoczy

I'll second that. I encountered Mr. Lehnert in the DOF Over-Rated thread where he stated "in 16mm, you just have to learn to live [without] shallow DOF". Tell that to my 1st AC's... You can take it from there.....

He sits enthroned above the [circle of the earth], and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. - Isaiah 40:22

2:39 (whether anamorphic or spherical) also lends itself more to Overhead and Under Lens lighting.