Zac Halberd

Hey ya'll I just launched my new site and would love to share with the world. I specialize in wildlife and documentary work. I have a lightweight and portable Scarlet package. Please visit www.zachalberd.com Thanks for your time. -- Zachary Halberd Director of Photography 908 759 3823 www.zachalberd.com -- Represented by The Right Eye Agency

Shooting some tests on the RED using superspeeds. Getting some soft shots, and am wondering if I need to back focus these lenses. I didn't know you had to back focus a prime lens. Sorry for the stupid question, but this is my first time using these lenses. Thanks Z

Thanks for that dude. I do remember from the short we shot last on the Red that the DoP was complaining about the shadows being noisy. Fortunately we won't have to worry about that as it's all going to be very white, with no shadows. perhaps rating at a higher ASA will work in my favour in more ways than I thought. It looks like I'm going to have to go with flicker free HMI then. I wanted to stick with tungsten, as then I could use the house lights, as well as avoid the paranoia of flicker from HMI. I've not dealt much with high speed shooting. What if I replace the 2k's with 4k HMIs? I want the light quite soft as well, so we're talking full diff here. That's basically three 4ks hitting the model from less than 15 feet away but through full diff. This is going to cost a bit.

Shooting some models jumping on a trampoline in a small studio in slow motion with the Red Cam (windowed mode) using superspeeds. The backdrop is solid white, and the room is 30ft by 30ft and about 20ft high. Basically I want the models to be evenly lit and quite fresh and bright with a slight rim light. However we're shooting at 120fps HD. Am going to be booking the lights tomorrow, and I'm at a loss for how much firepower I'm going to need. I always like to start with more watts than I think I'm going to need and then work from there, but we're on a very tight budget. I thought about a 2k on each side of the model through a silkscreen, a 2k above and slightly behind the model clamped to the ceiling for rim, and then another diffused 2k to fill. I also have a redhead kit standing by. For some reason, I'm thinking this will not be enough light. That old gut feeling is nagging at me. I know HD is quite sensitive, but I've never shot at 120fps before. Anyone here have any experience shooting high-speed HD? Z

Is it just me, or is it kinda cool seeing a 13 year old on this website asking legit questions about lighting? A decade ago, and this would have been a bit rare. Shooting is becoming accessible to everyone. Just my two cents.

I'm just a bit worried because we only have the budget for something like a 1.2k HMI, and I'm only worried that it won't be strong enough to do what I see in my head. I'll make it work though. If you don't mind, I'll post some stills of the film once it's finished. Thanks for all the advice.

Just wondering if anyone can recommend a solid one-stop shop resource online for camera assistants in the UK. Just need some more tools, tape, and various other poop. I find literally hundreds of sites, but they're all American. I can make the trip to Arri or Panavision, but I'd have to remortgage my house to afford the stuff. I'm based in Cardiff by the way.

Really? I would have thought that the depth of field issues would be different for 16mm vs. super 16mm??? Isn't the CoC different between the two formats, not to mention the lack of the same lenses available for 16mm. I don't work alot with 16mm, so I'm no expert. Could someone please explain. Z

Brilliant help guys thanks! I've never heard of the CTB swatches in front of the lense for warmer white balance before. That's a crafty idea. I think I'll try using the 1/4 CTO on the HMI first. It kinda makes sense now that I think about it. lol Thanks again. Z

Just wanted to post an example for you guys, as to what inspired the imagery I'm going for. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cneQ7H1UZM...feature=related I love this advert. It makes me really want to drink some OJ. Which I guess is the point. Anyway, if you look at around the 11 second mark, as well as the 14 second mark, this is the light I'm talking about, although it's not as prominant in the 14 second shot.

Hey guys, Lighting a short in Bristol Next weekend, and wanted to ask for some advice. I've read through the forums and although I found similar posts, none of them answered my questions. Basically the location is a hair salon with a massive window at the front of the shop with those long vertically rotating blinds (handy!) The salon has no practicals, except a number of manky flourescent lights in the ceiling. They have a nasty tungsten colour. I really want to just forget about the house lights, and make use of the fact that the script calls for a morning scene. I thought about blasting a HMI through the window and rotating blinds to hide it. I want the light to look a bit yellow, just like early morning light. (not twilight early, but sunny early) Do I need to gel the light to get that 'yellow' look, or can I just roll the White balance on the DSR-570 up enough to make the light warmer??? If it's a gel issue, what would you recommend? Thanks again. Z

What would be cool, is if they invented some sort of goggles that the focus puller can wear. In the center of the view through the goggles, there would be a crosshair. SO basically, whatever the focus puller was focused on, the goggles would emit an infra red signal to the subject and back giving a highly accurate distance reading to the camera's auto focus unit attached to the 19mm bars. Kinda like auto-focus but a bit more sophisticated. It would kinda take the fun out of the job, but at least you could use it for really tough shots that would basically be impossible otherwise. Bit geeky I know...

I would think that using the remote focus whilst standing on the actors profile would be a much more efficient and accurate way of measuring the actors forward and backward movement. I would think that any DoP would be nuts to try and hinder a focus puller's work as long as it produced sharps. It's always good to stay close to the operator or DoP, but you gotta do what you gotta do. If I'm on a dolly, I use a little laser pointer and measure the distance between the camera and the 'dot', so that I have a rough idea when the actor is closer or further. I just grip it with a magic arm onto the front of the dolly and voila! If I was really anal, I could use two laser pointers to mark in and out or two 'grace' measurements. This doesn't work on a bright day though as it's hard to see. So I use a stick off the side of the dolly, tied to a piece of string or tape that drags an exact distance from the camera. I can then mark on the tape the incremental distances from the camera.

Thanks for the clarity Satsuki. I guess I never really thought about it. With regards to the Zen, I sometimes find myself in a really intense concentration whilst pulling for a shot. I had an operator ask me the other day if I was pissed off at something because I was concetrating so hard on a shot, I was frowning and didn't realise it. Although it was 1600, and we hadn't even had lunch yet. Maybe that had something to do with it. I have ruined a take before with a stomach growl... RooooaAAR!!!

FIrst off, I thought that the 35mm adapters projected an image onto another piece of glass which the camera then records. SO I would think that the CoC would be calculated for the size of the screen and lense setup, not the size of the XL2's 1/3" CCD. Granted you will pick up less detail with SD CCD's, if blown up, you would definately see if the image was soft. Secondly, I'm really confused now. Stephen says that depth of focus and depth of field are inversely proportional? So are you implying that these are two seperate things? I have always thought that the two terms were one in the same??? I think I see what you mean. The Depth of Field is the amount of distance that the subject will be in focus, but the Depth of Focus is the actual mechanics implied to rotating the barrel of the lense to find your sharps? In other words, the closer an object, the less depth, therefore the more you have to rotate the lense to find focus? That would be inversely proportional.