michael a brierley

Thank you David. So one would suppose that in theory, all the lamps in the hall work on the same frequency - so no flicker? Shooting on an ST and an LT, so both cameras are crystal sync. I was out shooting tests of street lamps tonight and building sites and tracts of desert lit with sodium vapour lamps, will view the results tomorrow. Thank goodness for Master Primes, Kodak 5219 and a Nikon D3. Michael

Hi Daniel, Hope this reads okay, zoomed into one of the pics Andy shot, not good at downsizing images! Michael

I am shooting a scene in the arrivals hall in Dubai Airport next week and I am unable to test the lighting in there due to security issues. There are many light sources in the place, ranging from LED's to fluorescents to metal halides - like most new airports, it's big and the director wants to see the place (that's why we are there, right?) I am shooting film @ 24 fps @ 172.8 degree shutter angle on 500 ASA, we will carry a smallish lighting package to supplement the existing ambience rather then try over power it. What are my options here? Does anyone have any idea if there is a safe shooting window to eliminate flicker? If I shoot @ 25 fps with a 180 degree shutter, would that eliminate the flicker issues? The power in Dubai runs @ 50 hertz - I am a DP not an electrician! Obviously flicker would be a disaster for the company (and me). Help, please... Thanks and best, Michael B

Sorry Daniel, no wider shots - Andy Gribble the Key Grip took the pics and he didn't zoom back enough to see that the ally pipe was actually strapped to the crane hooks (there are two of them, crane hooks @ some ungodly weight to stabilize the cable in case of excess wind). Anyway, the movement works really well and the crane operator can boom it up as fast as we need to. Its going to be a great shot thanks to grips Andy and Tigger. Best, Michael B www.cityoflifemovie.com

Tested the crane today. Put a 435 with a 15.5: 40 mm zoom lens onto a construction crane (forget the exact size- but the grips told me the camera was over 100' up at top height) We used the Flight Head which stabilized the camera very nicely and up it it went, nice and smooth. It's going to be a great shot, we recorded it on Mini DV to show the director and producer- now to run some film through the camera. Michael B

Thanks everyone for all for the insight. We are going to shoot a test next week with the Flight Head and a construction crane- I'll aim my grips at this thread. As I said, we do not have a Strata crane here in Dubai, and sorry Sanjay, although I would love to, flying one out from India isn't really an option (I reckon those crane weights weigh a ton!) Nice site: www.thegripworks.com, and right on our doorstep. Will certainly bear you guys in mind for any future projects. Best, Michael B

I found two examples of what I believe we are trying to achieve. Quality's pretty bad, but you get the idea. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=MfqWb7RMdts&...;emb=0&aq=f http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=sSFWJrnhLuM I believe both scenes were shot 'dry for wet'- the actors hair looks dry in both clips and the way they keep their eyes open makes me believe that they were not under water. The bubbles coming out of their mouths really sells it- guess the post supervisor should be there on the day. Michael

A Strata crane, in Dubai? No way! We have an oldish 30' Techno and thats it. To reduce the swing/pendulum effect, We were thinking of two sturdy 'guy' ropes which would be pulled through a block and tackle system on either side of the rope cable. I am getting the production to import a Chapman vertical vibration isolator as we have many car rigs, I'll get the grips to add that on. I'll be doing a test in the next two weeks with a small handy cam attached, I'll post some images when we are done. It's the end shot of the movie, and the Dubai skyline is pretty impressive at night, so we want to get the camera high as possible. Thanks, Michael

Back in Africa, we used to make them out of car tire tubes, worked pretty well, got a good, snug fit over the lens.

The final shot in the movie I am prepping for calls for a shot of a man finding a winning Lotto ticket in a Dumpster/skip. He scratches the card and after a cut in to see the lucky numbers the camera jibs up. And up. And we see some land with torn down houses and the rubble etc, and then we see the Dubai city skyline in the background. It's a night shoot and I'll have two Musco's to light the derelict land (it's a big area). I was thinking of asking the grips to rig the stabilised Flight head (to iron out bump in the take off) onto a really high/big construction crane (no shortage of them here)- and depending on the power cable we have available here (no wireless) I would like to go at least 100' high. Anyone done this before, rigged a Flight head onto a construction crane? Thanks, Michael

Thank you for your insights. The actress will be shot against a darkish background. I was thinking of building a black tent over the camera and shooting through a 'thin walled' fish tank filled with fairly dirty water, perhaps with some kind of floating seaweed stuff in it- that will give the audience the impression that she is under water, and to further the illusion, I agree that we need to hang her from harness's and blow her with a wind machine and add in some 'floaty' elements. I think Mr Mullen's suggestion of using a Mac/night club projector beam bounced into a suspended curtain of mirror tiles might work to create the scattered light effect. Now... wind and smoke, those are two elements that don't go well together. Thanks again, Michael

Hi, does anyone have any knowledge/experience about shooting 'dry for wet'? We are shooting a dream/fantasy sequence and the director wants to shoot a Bollywood actress as though she is underwater, we do no have a tank out here, and frankly, shooting underwater is just not an option. I assume smoke and wind machines and a lot of film are required? (guessing we will shoot at 150 fps) I believe there was a sequence done in this way for one of the 'Lord of the Rings' films. Any suggestions appreciated. Thank you, Michael B

I don't know if this is the right forum for this topic, forgive me if I am posting in the wrong place. I am scouting for locations for an upcoming feature to be shot in Dubai. The city streets are amazingly lit at night especially downtown, problem is the traffic (and of course the crowds/lookers on-but we will surround our principles with extras). There are a lot of 'walk and talk' shots in the movie that we will cover on a Steadicam and with a handheld camera from across the street (we cannot lock off traffic). How sympathetic should I be to the sound man when pushing for certain locations?

I am shooting some big ext nite scenes in Dubai soon. One in the desert and a couple in some vacant land with the city skyline in the background. I am going to get my grips to rig the 100kW Soft Sun onto a large crane and gel the lamp with Chrome Orange, this I will use as a 3/4 backlight. For fill, I am using a 'clean' tungsten 20kW Helium Balloon. Lucky we have a budget. No way to do this day for night as we have the night skyline in the shot and also some small fires in the desert. This will be the first feature entirely shot in the UAE.

I am directing/shooting a commercial in Prague later this year, and I want to shoot the entire spot with a couple of 435's and a time slice rig. Any idea who the best guys to do the job are? Thanks, Michael