timHealy

Arri once made shoulder pads for the SR that had a screw that screwed into the under side of the body. Don't know if they still make them but you could give them a call directly. Maybe they have one laying on a shelf somewhere. best Tim

Yeah Tungsten is easier in so many ways. HMI's can have so many issues. With tungsten there are less technical issues and even if your voltage is low, a tungsten lamp will still come on, though it will be warmer. Best Tim

from Fox's best http://www.amazon.com/Glenn-Becks-Common-Sense-Control/dp/1439168571

Hi, How tight was the rain cover? Could the ballast been too hot with no ventilation? Did you check voltage off the genny? Hertz? When you tried to use other lights do you mean other HMI's or you went to tungsten? Did another 2.5 work fine on the same genny? Did you have another 2.5 that you could have changed one part at a time to see if that caused it? Change the header, then a ballast and then a head? Was the bulb connections tight? Was there a spare bulb around to try that? How did the original bulb look? I think it was the light and the genny was not at fault, but without going through some on location trouble shooting steps to narrow down the issues, it will be impossible to figure out. Best Tim

That should work, but I would get the bulb and test it with your genny before your shoot to make sure your wiring works. Having said that, I'm not familiar with a B and M 5k, but a typical Mole 5k would not be as punchy as a bunch of 1k par cans with 1000 watt narrow bulbs or 1200 watt fire starters. I'm just saying. best Tim

You really don't have any light that would light the whole house with a night look. So having said that, I would light the house with practical lights, architectural lights, and landscape lights doing the bushes and such. Light the windows from inside if someone is suppose to be home and if it is appropriate to your story. And try and do you wide shots just past magic hour so there is a bit of blue in the sky. I would try and avoid shooting that ugly beige building in the background if it has nothing to do with the story. Then use your 12x for close ups if you even need something that big, but it really depends on what your doing. Best Tim

Your other ideas are OK, but 2k's don't really flash. They kinda take a long time to run up to full and then a long time to run down. Smaller bulbs would be better for a cop light effect. The 2k would work if an operator was panning the light through the set. I forget who makes it but there is a spinning cop gag that utilizes a 1k par bulb into a spinning mirror and has a dimmer to control light intensity a control for the speed of the spin. And has gel frames to stick whatever color you want. It is about a 12 inches by 12 inches by 24 inches or so. Great gag. Led lighting bars work nicely to if you want to emulate modern cop cars with there flash packages. Best Tim

Care to explain what you mean. I have never heard of the term. Not around the parts where I work anyway. Best Tim

http://www.litepanels.com/lp/products/ringlite_line.html I believe it attachs to typical rods so you'll have to figure something out at a rental house I don't know if someone makes a clip on ring light

I would just expect to listen to the DP. Do what he or she asks. But also keep a low profile. Don't usurp your boss. Listen to the conversations the Dp has with the director. Or you may catch something the directors asks for when the DP is off lighting. Focus on your framing and operating. You may be asking for the stand in's and rehearsing the shots without the DP. Get along with your camera assistants and especially your dolly grip. And just keep the equipment out of the shots. Most of this stuff you probably already know. Have fun.

Good ol fashioned animation techniques. best Tim

If it is not too late batteries are considered "expendables" and usually paid for and ordered through the production office. best Tim

I agree that you don't have much of a choice if you need a light to come through it. I would try installing a real one for the shoot and then repairing and repainting the door when done. Or just leave the peep hole in if appropriate. Or take the old door off the hinges and use a another door with a real peep hole. replace the real door when done. best Tim

A friend has been raving about them. Used them instead of 4k's. Don't recall if they had a tie in, generator, or wall outlet. I look forward to using them. Tim

hey, What ASA are you rating your camera at? is this day or night? You may need more for day, less for a night look. 6-7 could do it, but there are some variables. Sounds like the windows are very big. Usually we hang a row of sky pans on a grid to take care of the high parts. If you don't have a grid you may have to put some on high stands and some on lower stands. Of the top of my head I would think you'll want a few more sky pans. Than 6 or 7. Maybe 12. If each window end needs a high and low light and then you'll need 8 tight there. and then to try and cover the end of the trans light that's two more on each side for a total of 12. I'm trying to play is safe though having not seen your set. It is easy to have too much light and turn units off than not have enough. Or maybe you can try and build in a pre light day and see if 6 or 7 works and have time to get more if it doesn't. don't forget to ask for skirts, gel frames for additional softing with diffusion and scrim sets. Also since sky pans use 5k bulbs too, they are wired with 60 amp plugs (US). If you try and use the 2k method with tie in's you will need a means to plug in a female 60 to a male 20 amp hubble. Best Tim

Wow this news hurts. DuArt has had such a long history and has helped so many filmmakers over the years. Especially low budget, independent, and young filmmakers. They scaled down their operations years ago and that was disconcerting but stopping all together.

in addition: You usually want to light more than you see through the windows so that it appears even and that you are covered if you start doing raking angles. Some usually rig their translights on a track so that the may be pulled down one way or another if it is not big enough. And you don't want your translight to be too close to your window. It helps to have it as far back as you can so that it helps it go out of focus. But if your set is not on risers, you have to be concerned about seeing the stage floor so you can't go too far back. Best Tim

Is it night or day? You shooting film or video? what ASA ratings? I would do a tie in if it were available to avoid any issues. A generator would be better. we mostly use sky pans to light trans lights. They provide big broad source. From the front if it is a day look or the back if it is a night look. Also for night you can use lekos to pump through a practical window on the trans light to make it look brighter. Skypans can use 2k or 5k bulbs. so it depends on how big your set is and what ASA rating you are using. When lighting a back drop we usually put a row from the top usually about 8 feet on center or so. Then have a row on stands or turtles from below. Cyc lights could work too but you would need more units all end to end. Good luck

not any one person can consider all the possibilities and concerns of the myriad of mindsets we all work with. in this particular case the onus was on the dp or production to mention a dress code before you arrived. And I hope you said that to him. It is easy to criticize after the fact. I would have dressed similarly thinking about the heat and being outside on a farm all day. best Tim

I bought a used Minolta Color Meter II for 200 bucks on Ebay a few years ago and it works great. Best Tim

Try these: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/273879-REG/Mole_Richardson_2621_8_000_Watt_Molequartz_Super_Softlite.html

Their are plenty of producers who would rather pay one guy for the day, and his health and welfare benefits for the day. If one introduces shifts, where is the first guy going to find another half day of work? And do you think producer wants to spend twice as much for health and welfare for every job position? not.

I don't know a single person who does under over for any electrical cable. The video video and sound guys do but their cable has no relative weight. Over over works fine as long as the kinks are being twisted out as u wrap and lay the cable into a bundle in it's natural wind. When laying out the twist comes out naturally. But use what ever works for you. Best Tim

I doubt van drivers are getting 1500 bucks a day unless they worked a 24 hour day. Then they deserve it, but who would want to ride with them if they did not get a nap somewhere durning the day. As opposed to grip electric trailers or campers, van drivers can have the hardest teamster job. They are picking up crew and actors and hour or two before general crew call, then make pickups and drop offs all day, then drive people home and to parking lots, and then drop off film and sound at the end of the day. Who came up with that first number and where did it come from? A payroll accountant or heresay?

let someone else do it :)