timHealy

“Don’t try to light your talent with only practicals“

 

Try telling that to Roger Deakins. He’ll do that whenever he can.

Any loose connections in any plug will increase resistance which will increase heat which starts to burn up. A perfectly wired 15 amp plug will last a long time even on a 2k. But one where the connections arent made well or has screws that have come loose will be toast.

 

While I do like Magic Gadget products, dont use a 2k light with a 2k magic gadget. You are maxing it out every time and itll eventually heat up and short out. Better off with a 2k variac or a 2.4k dimmer

 

Tim

I’m sorry, it’s spelled Prein

 

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0695823/?ref_=nv_sr_2

Helmut Priene is in Hamburg. He works all over Germany.

Do what JD said, figure it out.

 

The three things that affect line loss or a voltage drop are length, load (in amps) and diameter size of your cable. If you have a long run but are only powering up small load of electronics, you can get away with small diameter cable.

 

Some things will work regardless of the voltage drop. If you have several 10k’s or maxi brutes at the end of a 1000 foot run, the lights will turn on if you have too small cable. But they will be warmer operation at a lower than optimal voltage.

 

If you need 3-18k hmi’s to work at the end of that 1000 foot cable run you had better do your homework or your lights won’t turn on. You may get one or possible 2 to work, then when you turn on the 3rd, the amperage draw will knock off the first 2 lights.

 

The Harry Box book does cover calculating line loss for detailed info.

Why do most people diffuse daylight? Are hard shadows on actors' faces too distracting?

When you say daylight what do you mean? The sun? Or just overhead daylight?

 

If sunlight you may not like the angle of the sun and or harshness of the sun. Generally speaking a guy can take harsh light better than a woman. A cinematographer takes control reduces and takes out the bad natural stuff, and use the artificial stuff to create nice lighting or a particular look for the story.

 

In a scene with actors especially for close ups, one thing photographers do is reduce the amount of light over head to make the background appear brighter. A cloudy day could look bright and sunny if needed.

 

Have you studied Portrait Lighting or the Hollywood glamour days photography? A perfect hard nose shadow at the right angle and the way it crosses a cheek is a lost art in a world of large soft sources.

If you are shooting really wide shots just find a time of day that works for you. Man cannot do what Mother Nature does naturally. Sometimes doing nothing is best.

Hey Justin,

 

To reiterate what Joshua just said in a way I learned early on, don’t confuse “dark” with low light. You need more light. You can make something look dark with @f22 by the way you choose your light source, color, and how you use cutters, flags and nets. Electricians light sets but the grips take it away and shape it with toppers siders and bottom cuts.

 

Best

 

Tim

Whats do you mean by "cons"? They seem like advantages.

BTW It's not 208, it's 230 nominal- our UK standard used to be 240V and mainland Europe 220. No-one changed the voltages, they just changed the tolerances. But they're all interchangeable of course.

A chap posted in here a while back because his old US charger wouldn't work. That's because he'd plugged it into 220V, in Moscow.

Oops I mistyped. I meant pros.

Also I mistyped 120/280. That should read 120/240v. Single phase runs hotter between phases here than 3 phase where it’s 208. I would love to do one movie in the UK and/or Europe to really get a handle on the difference between here and over there. I never get invited to work abroad.

Most chargers for phones and computers can work on a range of voltages from 100 to 240 volts and just need a plug adapter. Negating a need for a proper transformer. I guess that chap didn’t read the specs on his charger before he toasted it.

Even hinting about a temporary tie-in to power a movie light borders on irresponsible - people have died, and homes burned down because of this. It may also be illegal to do where Berry lives.

 

A tie in is part of the electric department aresenal of tools. It’s part of the business. Sometimes you may not be able to get power from a generator into the building you are shooting in. I’ve done them for 30 years. In the subway, on top of skyscrapers, in businesses and shops there was no other way. I’ve even done one in a yacht (with the help of the manufacturer and one of their technicians). And although it’s brief, tie ins are covered in the Harry Box book.

 

They can be can be done safely by qualified technicians. The op could hire someone like me to do one. Or a local licensed electrician to set one up. And I have already mentioned I do not think the op should do it. No one without electrical experience should ever, ever do one. No way in hell.

 

Do you have any link where a home has burned down because of a film tie in or where someone who has tried one has died? In 30 years of filmmaking in NY, I know of no home that has burned down or no one who has died, but unfortunately I do know of one film electrician who experienced an arc flash where he was burned about his arms face and chest, but he is alive and well working in the film business here today.

Extraordinary, it's like a blowtorch.

I suppose we're luckier here with 240V domestic mains. You can run a blonde- or a 1.8- off an ordinary wall socket, and 100A altogether.

You could light a small feature in our house.

277/480 volt three phase like the one in the video is more industrial service. Residential homes are typically serviced by 120/280 volt single phase.

 

But I do like the European way where you have 208 volts. Higher voltage, smaller cable, less amps are all cons.

 

Best

 

Tim

Well worth watching. But note based on the labels in the box this is a 277/480 volt panel

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6hpE5LYj-CY

Let me just say before anyone else says it a million times, you should not do the tie in. You as a student are not qualified. Tie ins are mainly done with cables attached to the electrically live panel. When possible and much preferred it can be done through a breaker and bare end tie in cable.

 

So to sum things up. Don’t do a tie in. You will not know what you are doing. You can kill yourself if you do. Besides simply electrocuting yourself, you can cross hots and a gigantic ball of hot flaming plasma will sear the flesh right off your body. You will not have time to duck out of the way.

 

Do a search on you tube for arc flash or arc blast.

 

Does 2500 dollars still seem expensive?

 

Best

 

Tim

You can do a tie in if there was a large enough panel nearby, but that would require an experienced electrician to do one and you would still need a truck or at least a large van to pick up and transport an 18k. You would also need manpower to put it on a stand or rig it to a lift.

 

I would try and think smaller like mark suggested. An 1800 or two, of perhaps a 4K or two. They are much more manageable if you don’t have resources like money and manpower. You can get intensity from those lights for exposure. You just won’t have a large even spread like one off an 18k.

 

Some people sometimes prefer a 12 k fresnel as it is a much smaller unit and more manageable light. With ASA ratings as high as they are with Alexa and Reds sometimes it works just fine.

 

Best

 

Tim

Are you trying to replicate the shot from Lincoln? I don’t think there is much of a top light but it does look like there is a lamp on the table hidden by Daniel day lewis’s Head. If your not trying to replicate Lincoln then you can do what you like.

They could be useful as are the Phillips cue. I haven’t had the opportunity but having a set with a whole bunch of practicals controlled by an app while one is sitting by dit could be helpful at times.

nevermind

Very nicely done

I agree with Adrian that it’s hard to tell without specifics but all the floros together can make a large soft source and you can shoot whatever you want and get the same look, especially if you have a high ceiling. Two things I would look out for is if any of the existing fixtures becomes too toppy or gives the actors raccoon eyes you might want to turn those fixtures off, pull the bulbs, cover with show card or duvatyne etc. and second if you shoot the actors at the extreme front or extreme back of the laundry matte you may need to add a fixture by either putting The same type of fixture with the same bulbs and drop into a drop ceiling of the location, if it has a drop ceiling, or rig it or put it on a stand.

David, in the mid 90’s I was at Paskal that had an old beam projector that someone rescued from a studio junk pile. I had never seen one before and asked about it. I was able to turn it on and if I recall correctly it had a much cleaner look. When moles beams came out a few years later I never thought it was as clean as you can see the pattern. If you find yourself at Paskal, maybe you can ask about an old beam projector and see if my memory is accurate.

 

Best

 

Tim

Battery operated light gear light mats.

I went straight to the source Seamus told me it was a 10K Molebeam.

I’m surprised it was a mole beam as mole beams can’t seem to create a perfect and even circle of light like a super trooper, moving light, or Leko. I feel like you can always see a pattern of the filament. But they made it work.

 

Tim

I think its all about what your shot sizes are and the locations you choose.

 

You can light a largish location (for a student film) with one or two Honda eu 6500/7000s and bunch of 1k par cans or Etc 575/750 watt pars. You can get a lot of punch with relatively cheap tungsten pars.

 

You can easily light actors near the camera with led lights or cheaper tungsten lights.

 

Im in and around the NYC area.

 

Where are you shooting?

 

Tim

Lots of step printing at lower frame rates by Robert Richardson in JFK. They also experimented with lots of film stocks and formats.

 

Best

 

Tim

Moving lights are great if you got the bucks to rent a moving light or two as Phil suggested, but you also need a board and a programmer. If you want the lights to move you may have to build a commutator for the lights to spin endlessly. Or build a circular ring of cloraplast(sp?) and cut out sections and that could spin around a light.