Dane Cannon

Check out the indie dolly column for booming up and lowering. Anyone ever used it?

I just finished reading a book on George Hurrell, and was surprised to find out that the very first light he set was the rim light, hair light, kicker, whatever you want to call it. In fact, he invented the boom light stand (though he failed to patent it). Just wondering what preferences people have for this (and yes, I know it's situation dependent and medium/camera dependent). Horizontal angle? Vertical angle? One thing George Hurrell really did a light was to have the hottest part of the overhead hair light right along the subjects part. If it's just a sliver of a rim, I don't mind if it's totally blown out, but if it's bigger, I try to keep some detail. How many stops over key? Soft vs hard? Soft rim lights tend to be a little more forgiving in terms of placement. If they spread too much, I'll throw on an eggcrate. Anyway, it's something that I've found particularly tricky, so was interested to hear how others approached the rim light.

Take a look at the "stupid light" detailed in this post by Shane Hurlbut. The principle is the exact same as a beauty dish, no direct light, only bounced (honestly, you could probably even just throw a silver tipped bulb in a Home Depot clamp light). If you're looking for a less harsh light than what would be reflected off of shiny metal, you can paint the reflector matte white.

http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2011/11/11/building-the-perfect-key-light/

For cosmetic ads they prefer seeing very sharp eyes, eyelashes, and hair, so they usually shoot sharp and diffuse in post so that they can isolate what they want to soften and what they want to keep sharp. A common trick would be to pull a luminance key of just the highlights in the frame and blur that area, and then overlay it back over a sharp frame.

Look up any glamour photo retouching tutorial for more in depth instructions (especially as to what blend modes to use). It all translates to post, especially with Resolve now supporting blend modes. Additionally, put a tracker on the eyes, and add a mask with sharpness to really make em pop... same for the lips.

I've seen lights shot into a kiddie pool with a mirror in it, grips pushing the edge of the pool so the water moves around a little.

I liked doing that because it seemed sort of old-fashioned. The low fill on Jack's face was from a Rosco Lightpad hidden behind the seat.

What size Lightpad were you using? For that matter, what size Lightpad do you find yourself most going for? Something bigger like a 12" x 12" for fill or something smaller like a 3" x 6" for an eyelight?

You can spot and prevent problems before they happen on set and you can extend the lifespan of your equipment dramatically. If your going to own gear, expect to maintain it.

What type of maintenance do you normally do on tungstens fresnels? Oil the track, check for frayed wires, clean the reflector and the fresnel... anything else I'm missing? Also, I do own an Arri kit with 300s and 650s, but for the inkies I prefer the Moles.

Another option that I've seen quite a bit...

http://www.harborfreight.com/router-speed-control-43060.html?utm_campaign=SEO&utm_medium=Inbound_links&utm_source=linking

Do a quick search on DVXuser in the DIY forum and I bet you find loads of stuff.

I've made several of my own and they work fine for lower wattage lights. I bet there's even a youtube video that shows you how to do it with parts from Home Depot. Watch out for buzz if you're capturing sound. True film dimmers don't have that problem. Also, be aware that dimming a tungsten light makes it warmer in color. Sometimes that's a plus though.

Although at my studio we compared a Mole 10k to an Arri 5k, and the Arri just about doubled the output. The Mole is also about 70 years older

The 5k was a stop higher than the 10k? Or are you saying they were equal?

I know about price differences and weight differences and durability differences, but am wondering if people have a preference for one brand of fresnel vs another, based on the quality of the light. Also -- I read that Arris are generally a brighter light than Moles, any truth to that?

Okay, while we're at it (it being things you wouldn't want to buy 20 of), the new induction retrofit bulbs are bright -- real bright. http://www.shineretrofits.com/neptun-lighting-80w-u-type-self-ballasted-induction-retrofit-lamp-28080.html

Okay, I know that practically this is not something you would want to do, but if it were just a single china ball -- would you be able to use something like this HMI ballast bulb combo? I've heard of it being done before.