Hemant Tavathia

Thanks for those descriptions. Airstrip might work. Wanted to check these posts sooner, but was bombarded with work. Thanks again.

Thanks. The location pictures you sent me might work well with the right camera angles, lenses, and lighting. Are you a local around that area?

Thank you.

I guess this can only be fixed by shooting out of Jersey. Well, thank you all for the advice.

Hi All, Wasn't sure where to post this topic but this seemed like a good place. I have a 12 page script set in Afghanistan. The 8 pages of nighttime can easily be cheated, but 4 pages are set during Daytime. Some daytime exterior scenes call for medium to wide shots. I'm based in New Jersey. In your expert opinion, what would be the best way to cheat the daytime exterior shots, so I can somehow get the feeling of being in Afghanistan. Some suggestions and possible options available to me are: 1. Shoot in a Quarry (how do i get permission?). 2. Shoot out of state (expensive). 3. Shoot low angle, so you mostly see sky (I don't want to lose the feel of the terrain too much) 4. Shoot in a studio and build a set (expensive) 5. Shoot green screen (too much post required, possibly expensive) 5. Stick to close-up (easiest way to go) I know the ultimate solution is to find a good location to double as Afghanistan. But, if you have any suggestions as far as camera/lighting/other tricks that might be useful, please reply. Thank you.

I am based in New Brunswick, NJ. I work all over the Tri-State area, mostly manhattan and north jersey. I have a car and can travel for out of state shoots. Thanks in advance. Cheers.

Dear All, When the economy went south earlier this year, I took a long 3 month vacation to Europe (went to Poland, Czech Rep, and Ireland). Now, i'm back and I am looking for work but with little luck. I would like to team up with any up and coming DP's who wants to team up with a gaffer. I have some lighting packages available since I have good relationship with a rental house. some of the stuff I have shot myself is at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmJpV-jWAfc thanks.

My approach would be threefold: 1. Creating overall Fill for the room: I'd probably put 2K Mighties through softboxes wrapped around them- then have them rake the ceiling- assuming that the ceiling would not be seen. This should create an overall fill in the room. The editor can take it down in post if too much is seen. 2. Production Design and Wardrobe: Work with my production designer and Wardrobe people- Light colored walls for background and light colored wardrobe on the actors that is darker than the wall in their background. 3. Eyelight/backlight: For Eyelight- A soft source that the actor's pupil would reflect. For Backlight- nothing fancy, just enough to give some separation.

The Director wants the audience to feel the tension in the story- all these characters have their lives threatened and could be killed at any moment of this scene. By using the "One Long Take" placing the audience inside the car, the Director was able to draw that feeling of helplessness from the audience. You cannot get away from that action. You are not driving the car to drive whichever way you want, you are stuck as the passenger. If there were a lot of cuts in this scene, you wouldn't get the same feeling from the audience. If the camera's "One Long Take" was outside the car, for example- in War of the Worlds (Steven Spielberg's)- in the car scene on the highway, the camera is outside the car for the most part- The audience feels the "action" of the scene, but they don't feel the "tension" that the characters feel like they do in Children of Man.

I would recommend one of these two arri kits: Arri Kit with 3* 1K Arri Fresnels or Arri Kit with 2* 650 W fresnels and 2*300 watt fresnels. Either of these kits would take care of a lot of shoots without problems. They are more expensive than Lowell, but totally worth it.

if you only have a 2K Junior available, you are going to need some kind of snoot to cast a sharp circular shadow. I'd recommend using the light without its lens, so, open the fresnel lens door and turn on the light. This will give you a good punch. Then Cut a circle on foamcore and place it at a distance from the light using a C-stand to cast a sharp shadow on the canvas. This will also allow you to block light on the canvas. For the canvas, you should go with a bleached Muslin.

One thing I've noticed in the three pictures are the backgrounds are not interesting. I think you need to breakup and separate your backgrounds more. The actors in the foreground are ok lit. I think with time you can learn to finesse face lighting. My main advice while lighting actors faces is to never forget to backlight them, and also shape their face with a side light.

Mostly on Corporate lighting jobs, we rig Kinos to the ceiling with scissor clamps. Another helpful light for wide shot office setups are Image 80's for a good punch to the foreground. Basically, Kinos work best in office spaces. Since its a short 'film,' you can be a lot more flexible and creative with the look. I'd recommend breaking up the space by strategically positioning smaller units to highlight parts of the room. use a 1200 HMI with a breakup pattern on a open frame to further break it all up. Use practicals. Good Luck

Hey Stephen, thanks for the post. I also checked out your website which was pretty cool. I have one question and please explain to me in as much detail as possible, how do you calculate the ASA of a digital camera. For example, if I was renting an HVX from a rental shop, how would i go about calculating its ASA. Thanks.

If its not too much of a hassle, can you explain the gripping on the condor. I see you have a 20 by griff? on a frame mounted, and then a 20 by double hanging secured with sandbags. I was hoping you could explain all the grippage involved with illustration if possible. Thanks in advance.