Drew Valenti

Hey I just wanted to start a conversation about the new Arri SkyPanels and see what everyone thinks about them. Feel free to point out things to improve on, things it does well, etc. I just bought one of the S60-C fixtures and have been finding lots of ways to use it. A lot of DPs I work with have been digging it too. For me the selling factor is control. Very quick and easy color and intensity tuning, and an extremely wide range of adjustments at that. I try to have DMX control of everything too so this unit fits in perfectly to my Luminair workflow. There are a few small things I don't like: color can be skippy when you're doing through hues. The intensity knob is weirdly sensitive sometimes and very unresponsive other times. Unpredictable. Also I tried controlling my fixture via RJ45 instead of DMX recently and I got no data. Not sure why it didn't work. Let er rip! Drew Valenti Gaffer - LA drewvalenti@gmail.com

I just used the Luminair/iPad/enttec wifi set up on a job and loved it. Some of my other gaffer buddies have built cool kits with this gear. Do any of you gaffers/DPs out there use this stuff? Do you have a cool way of storing it conveniently? Drew Valenti Gaffer Los Angeles

Guy, how much would this system rent for? Drew

Hey all, I'm curious to know if there's an iPhone app out that will tell me the footcandle output of any number of different lamps. I used to have one called CineCalc but it is now defunct. My reason for this app is sometimes when drafting up equipment rental forms I would like to know (for example) how many footcandles I can get out of an Arri T12 at 20 feet away. It is a really handy tool to have. Thanks!

Esteban, really nice work. Something about the aspect ratio throws me off though. I don't know if it's because there's a 1.85 video playing a 2.35 image or what, but something about it seems off. The aspect ratios seems more like 3:1 actually.

I really dig the flickering snowboard shots. The reel looks killer, though my least favorite shot is the restaurant guy.

Eric, I just saw your film at the River Run film festival in Winston-Salem NC. I really enjoyed it. In particular I loved the train scene at sunset and the "I love everything about her / I hate everything about her" scenes. Great work, I look forward to seeing more of your projects in the future.

Light for the shot, Sam. Make each shot look good while (somewhat) maintaining continuity. It's not about moving lights around, it's about making your frame look how you want it to look.

I would really like to see a before/after contrast as well. By the way, I think Helvetica looked great.

Jake, I think your work looks really great. I look forward to seeing more from you in the future.

I just recently saw The Game (Harris Savides) which uses toplight on Michael Douglas' at the begining of the film to to keep his eyes in the dark and toward the end of the movie they opened up to see his eyes more as his character "opened up". I thought it worked really well, you might want to try something like that.

Jean Pierre Jenaut and Darius Khondji Wes Anderson and Robert Yeoman Spike Jonze and Lance Acord Gus Van Sant and Harris Savides David Fincher and Harris Savides (The Game)

Hmm Amores Perros... Check out this guy Edward Olive-- one of my favorite photographers: http://flickr.com/photos/edwardolive/ I can add more references here later when I think of them. I dig the look you're going for though, hope you enjoy Mr. Olive's work.

Wow

I wear Wal-Mart brand velcro shoes-- super cheap, very comfortable, light-weight, simple. If you're the kind of person who is likely to tear your shoes apart on set, you should check these out. They cost about $10 so you can really wear them down and not feel bad about it. They're made by Athletic Works. If you have a sense of humor, you will probably be into these shoes.

I find the hook very useful, like when a light is going up and I know it will need a flag or net. I'll place a c-stand nearby and hook the flag/net on the knuckle of the c-stand. It's for helpful little things like that.