Albion Hockney

What is the shot your trying to achieve? I can't image a need for overhead mounting of a jib unless you are trying to do a 360 degree move around a space while the camera is booming up/down. And even then, probably better ways. It would have to all be motorized too which makes it incredibly complex. I'd work with experienced grips or jib ops to work out what you need for your shot.

light your background to a stop you like (generally 2 stops or so underexposed) then add in a bare direct light from the cameras direction. A good way to learn how to get what you like is just practice with a real strobe on a still camera balancing background and flash exposure levels. Its no different on film.

In general people protect a little extra knowing the footage can be manipulated. Its creates a little safety net to for example overexpose a dark shot .5 to 1 stops from what you want the final result to look like. But you want to get general feel of the shot in camera. You can only manipulate things so much in color grade —I wouldnt push a shot around more then a stop or maybe 2 in any direction.

Often you do manage shadow contrast by adding a low level fill so things hold some detail and don't fall to total darkness. That said sometimes underexposure is a stylistic choice (as is over exposure). One trick I learned is to bring stills from shots you like into a program with scopes like premiere or resolve. This can help you see the levels DP's work with or tries to achieve for a certain look.

if your getting a mini van you can fit 4x4 frames in them.

if they had a lot of setups in the space and this is a million dollar + movie I would guess they could change out the fixtures. All you have to do is pop out the panel and put either your own color corrected fluro tubes or led tubes in there. with maybe a few hours of prep in that hallway a couple folks could knock that out for you. that said working with the tubes there can be ok. most of them have a lower cri then you'd like and can make the scenes color a bit muddy.

I would just get 600'ds over the "super hornet" they are often requested as a rental item. Lit mat 4's are pretty soft as is, don't see the benefit of the curved soft box but maybe a personal pref? I might swap one lit Mat for a 2L so you have 2 sizes if you need something small like in a bathroom or small room. I would get a 6x6 kit. 6x6 frames are easy to fit in most vehicles and quicker to setup as a T-bone for interior shots then the break apart frames.

I feel like I shoot about 50% on a basic tripod/head setup. sometimes the camera is static, but maybe 25% of shots have some pan/tilt.

Rarely do I see a light attached to a stand picked up and moved, usually the head is taken off first. I'm not sure what industry standard practice is with smaller fixtures though for gaffers. Its not something I've ever thought about to be honest. I work with my gaffer and discuss what we would like to accomplish in a given time period. they turn to the producers and tell them how many people they need on their team to accomplish it. If everyone has a good level of experience there is never an issue in accomplishing what is necessary. Safety and well being of everyone on the crew should always be a priority.

I'd go for Montreal if you speak french. Toronto is where most of the industry is though, so if you really want to get to a higher level that's where you'll need to be. Vancouver is like a 20hr drive from LA, I wouldn't say its close at all.

unless its for very tight close ups or specialty shot those lights are not powerful enough for a natural effect for day exterior. I wouldn't even waste time bringing them or a generator to set. in the 2nd shot of your scout photos the light is very flat, I would try to find another time of day to shoot that. 1 12x12 silk overhead is good for shots up to medium width so if you intended to shoot shots that wide that should be done with natural light. the references you shared utilized large HMI's. likley an 18,000W light which is comparable to more then 20 of your 500W LED's

update. https://apnews.com/article/alec-baldwin-rust-movie-shooting-charges-decision-8c76eddb8a6418419078903d24ec3813

this may help: https://dofsimulator.net/en/ at 25m to get an ECU you would have to be on an impossibly long lens, so it would need to be VFX at that point.

for whatever reason I was under the impression 35mm negative film didn't come in till the 70's, 80's. Can anyone name some examples of 35mm films shot on color reversal through the 70s, 80s, 90s?

with the renewed interest in color reversal I was just curious when we transitioned to negative film. What were cinematographers thoughts about it at the time? Did anyone still prefer reversal for the rich blacks and saturated colors?

Just use something nylon like griff or ultrabounce w/ black on one side. for sure a 12x black rag will get really heavy and soaked if its pouring rain on it.

First I'd say the age of the scan and color correct makes a major impact. Also the format you watched them in. But I think mostly what you are reacting to is the style of the films. These are totally different projects. Tarantino likes the look of B-Films that use harsh lighting techniques and you can see that at play here. It was also 1994, so the large soft source lighting of the mid 2000's and 2010's was not popular yet. Lord of the rings for sure used softer more contemporary lighting techniques and had a DI color correct (early digital process where the film was scanned, color corrected digitally and re-printed to film) so the color is much more manipulated. the speed and size of the film negative really only impacts grain and neither of these projects show much grain at all. personally, I think Pulp fictions looks way more interesting and you are now seeing a return to some of the harsher 90's lighting techniques now in newer work.

I dont think you have the lights to sell this in wide shots with complete control and all your own lights. I would shoot during the day and use natural ambiance from the windows then use the brightest light/s you have as an isolated direct beam of sunlight and then roll in light diffusion over it. shooting tighter will help.

I'm sure this was shot on a sound stage, just because of practicality for a tv series. Often times sets are built with ceilings, but they can build in mounting points or in some cases even remove sections of the ceiling if needed for lighting a certain shot or scene. I just saw the trailer and its clear they are using a lot of practical lights, the DP probably worked closely with the art department. That said you can also see that there is lighting to manage contrast ratios and light the talent in some shots, its likely most of this is coming from the ceilings or units outside of frame from the ground on stands. All the techniques you mentioned are possible to use in different ways to create a similar look, but yea Litmats would be a popular choice for soft light motivated by lamps and to create low level soft fill light.

ask david attenborough

If you start getting called for union gigs and have to permit in that is a good time. I feel like most DPs these days get an agent before they go 600 so that gives you an idea. depend on the type of work you do though

Every AC works different. Not every high end AC uses a focus assist tool and those tools are only aids anyways ...some do like working off monitors. most veteran AC's have a 9 or 13' 1080 display these days.

Both the techniques you mentioned along with a handful of others are regularly used for just this...very popular for the long lens b-camera side angle. it helps to have time to play with it on set and its easier on longer lenses. usually you just use vasaline for the filter thing, but it really does just blur the frame. sometimes people just to place a glass of water in the edge of the frame, that gives a similar effect to prisms. backlit helps with all of this sorta stuff usually. There is even some kit you can buy of prisms and various objects you can place right on the edge of frame

most of the time its a vfx comp

I don't find this to be true. LED to HMI efficiency seems pretty similar. I find the 600d close to as bright as a joker 800 a 1200D is like an M18 bulbed with a 1200W bulb...again maybe a touch less?