David Daniel Doherty

It's supposed to kind of look like the footage is being projected onto the object

Hi all, I'm doing a project based on composites, like in the example.

That white object I'm using has a light inside it, so when night time happens in the video the composite kind of works, because the thing is kind of lit.

I'd like to light other outdoor surfaces up and was wondering if anyone can recommend any kind of quality video light, which can be used with battery for out doors.

Budget around £400 / $600

(p.s, you can also comment if you find the composite convincing or not - early test)

Cheers

http://iplayerhd.com/player/video/fabf382f-2539-4a6b-b499-1f50346c30a8/share

Thanks for that

Hi all, my work often consists of various composites and blending techniques.

This video has roused my curiosity though. Any thoughts on how the ghosting is achieved here, on the people moving, but not their surface?

My initial thoughts are that the people are blended from different scenes. In some cases this is defintiely not true though, they are within the same scene for sure, yet are transparent, and the rest of the scene is not transparent (rocks sand water)

Perhaps with static tripod shots, ghosting can be achieved with a simple echo effect, only effecting things which move?

Helpful, positive replies welcome!

Cheers, David

By the way, chaps. I recommend that player I'm using. Unlike Vimeo or Youtube, you can ''force'' HD.

While you don't have a profile or fancy interface, for quality, it is brilliant.

www.iplayerhd.com

I better delete this post for my good friend sees it

''His nose seems a little big in my opinion''.

Yeah we tried to reduce the size of his nose before the shoot! Haha amazing.

But seriously, yeah, I hear you.

Thanks!

I here you on the solo gigs - super hard to be on top of everything. Its pretty minor but when your working with quite static shots - Its nice if its tidy, others of course may disagree.

 

Like I said its always a negotiation with music gear - but sometimes its worth asking the question. And if you are stuck with a big mic, think carefully about placement it works better in some shots then others. The shot at 1,02 I think is one I'd try and loose - since the 414 piano mic is poking in at the edge - needs to be wider or tighter - include the whole piano mic or crop it out - edges are annoying. I can see its on a push in and it works better later (or earlier) - the cut at that point just happens at an unfortunate time

 

Lots to like though the moves are nice, v smooth (especially for lone operating) and the look the material matches the mood of the music.

 

How tricky is the footage to edit? Are you using audio from different audio/takes or is it all from one angle? Did you do a live take and then mime - how did you work out the coverage. The action looks pretty tight - only the CU of the hands early looked a bit loose syncwise

 

Shot at 1.02 - ha, I’d say you’re spot on, I agree with that crop concept generally. I can zoom back out again, I think!

Wow, most or any issues were due to limited time. I love some shots, but after a minute or so I feel like I’m just trying to fill the thing. Eg. 1.02. It need more angles really, a few more interesting shots, along with all those lighting improvements.

The first lighting set up took around two hours. We couldn’t start till around 7.30pm. By around midnight I had like three angles and the batteries in my head were dying. Final coffee hammered around 1 am, which worked, ha. A few shots were truly rushed, although the work with the general lighting had been done already I guess. So all round I’m pretty pleased.

Ideally I’d set up and test lighting and come back the following evening fresh and shoot.

Edit - not bad to edit, and as you say it’s pretty tight. Yeah, live take at the start and the rest Mimed. Basically lined up the clapper on all the clips and began cutting. Pretty efficient process.

Working out coverage - I simply planned three classic angles static. And the same three as dolly moves. Then the plan was just as many nice improvised shots as time would allow us. Nothing to scientific

Thanks, really appreciate your thoughts. I am inspired!

You can soften the light on the mic and arm using a dot and finger kit. Lacking one, you can improvise a finger with a 2x10" piece of diffusion on a rectangular frame of wire.

 

Kit: https://www.adorama.com/mt219005.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiprvpLmQ2gIVSAOGCh2ErgPhEAQYBSABEgIVCPD_BwE

Appreciated

He sorts the audio, and doesn't have unlimited choice in gear.

It sounds great I reckon.

Ha, I didn't notice that green tape, but yeah. It was an overwhelming shoot, being solo, so it was well down the priority list. Next time!

Here's the set up:

*where

Lighting on the microphone and arm for the piano is a little hot in the frontal view. Might want to soften that.

Yeah, and i was aware of that as we shot. The mic had to stay and, due to the slightly wide angle, I was more limited a to wear I could position that key light.

I'll attempt dropping the highlights on those areas, thanks

''I would say you have some good things going on. For the front angle, the key has a good angle and is flagged off the background nicely. Its a matter of personal preference but I would have softened the key more and brought the intensity down like 2 stops. Since its a dark scene, 30-50 IRE is a good range for his skintone depending on mood. I think the shot is in the 70s. Also he can use a very very subtle edge light to separate his black hair from the background.''

 

OK, good info. Forgive my ignorance, but do you measure IRE as you shoot? If so, how? I kind of did. I ran test shots for each angle, and checked via a waveform monitor on an iMac I had set up. I can now hopefully adjust skin tone levels so they're a little more suitable and consistent, as I shot Raw

 

''For the cutaway on the hands, its a good angle but you can lose 90% of the fill light. Let the edge light define his hands and create more interest with light and dark tones. The fill flattens the shot to much. Its kinda why the shot from the back works better than the hands.''

 

Yeah, one of those hands cut aways is too flat, I dislike that shot. I kind of need to stick it in, at that point of there track I don't have any other useables.

 

''For the profile shot, I think it can also loose a little exposure on the key and the fill light. The background just needs some brighter points of interest. Its a little to black back there. The front shots work a little better because you have those white doors to add some light/dark/light/dark to the background.''

 

Cheers. Yeah, grim enough background. I'd like to experiment in a situation like this again, maybe introduce another light source or two, perhaps create some kind of street light effect.

 

Thanks for the comments, helpful. Onward and upward!

Here’s a rough edit of approx half the piece of music. In reflection, I will make a few adjustments / improvements to my approach.

Time was very limited, I worked solely with the musician. Our last shot was 3am, highly caffeinated. Let me know if I’m headed in the right direction or if it completely sucks?

Thanks, chaps.

http://iplayerhd.com/player/video/574483d7-a5ef-4d0b-b340-95f1af195fdd/share

Hi all, if I want to watch International films (non English speaking films), do you know of any good options or resources or stores for physical copies? (Not Netflix)

Theyre often difficult to find, particularly older films. I was lucky enough to watch this, for the second time, as the entire film is on YouTube. And by the way, I cant recommend it enough, absolute masterpiece.

Thanks, David.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I-N_bmJiO2w&t=2908s

That would be nice, although in theory the key light should be pretty close, so I’ll have to experiment on the day and find a good balance. Probably not that wide though

Hello, I have literally two of these

http://www.litepanels.com/en-US/Shop/products/led-lights-astra-1x1-ep-bicolor

And 3 x 800w Arri Tungstens

Hi all, Im shooting a live piano performance in the attached room. (Excuse horrible image)

At my disposal I have a couple of 1x1 LED Litepanels, day light to tungsten.

The music is dreamy and melancholic, my client would like dramatic, contrasty, low key lighting.

We would like to use some color to influence the melancholic mood. Perhaps a hint of blue in the backlighting, which may or may not be motivated moon light.

We are shooting at night, the shots will range from close up to wide angle.

Id love to hear how you would approach this, with the gear listed?

(Ive some decent tungstens too, but hope to only use the litepanels)

Cheers, David

Thanks for the comment, Vladimir.

We done some tests today. 1 x 800 with softish diffusion, was placed to the left of the piano player, closely.

This created high contrast, low key lighting, which worked nicely. More low key and dramatic of than that of my reference.

Since the musician is playing music which is heavy in emotion, this suits nicely.

A small back light, created a nice contrasting glow, with some tweaking and balancing.

Apologies for blabbering instead of showing you an image. I will link the final product when done.

Thanks again for the suggestions regarding gear, I am still looking into those options and what is available locally.

Cheers

Thanks, Miguel

The close ups of Tony

Hi all, Im shooting a classical musician in an old fashioned hotel event room shortly.

We will shoot the first take and use the audio from that, the musician will then sync over the original audio to shoot additional angles.

The look were aiming for is high contrast and dramatic, and my client likes the lighting from The Sopranos, particularly the Therapy session scenes.

Equipment:

Red Epic, Zeiss Prime set, 3 x 800w tungstens, trace paper diffusion, indie dolly.

Im curious as to how some of you might approach this look and lighting. I understand this is a difficult question, which would involve many factors and experimentation on set, but what basic approach comes to mind?

Were shootings multiple angles and some of them are dolly moves, therefore I require enough DOF to allow for these without pulling focus.

Im thinking:

Camera, F4 minimum, ISO 800, normal shutter

Lighting, 2 x 800w to the right of the musician but pretty close in order to leave the background dark significantly dark.

Any positive contributions welcome.

Thanks, David

Or any other recommended Jib, between $1000 / $2000. Compact. The Digislider motor Job seems to be one of a kind and built for DSLR shooting.

Cheers

Ive been using a Digislider for years, its a motorized slider. I have a fast motor for video, and a slow motor for motion time lapse. Its a great product.

Digislider are an English company, they also sell a mortorized jib. It looks brilliant, however only holds loads up to 5kg, which wont work for me. The price is around $1000. Affordable enough.

Anyone know any similar products, which they can recommend?

Thanks,

David.

I guess it will depend on the model, there are good products and not good products. With a decent product, it shouldnt be difficult to achieve smooth moves.

But, unless you require long moves or curved / arc movements, Id recommend using a motorized slider.

Ive been using a Digislider for 5 years and wouldnt use anything else, Im currently shooting motion time lapses with it, shoot-move-shoot. Next week I shoot a Red Epic on it.

With a speed control, you can slow your move down gradually to a hault, so you have a lot of accuracy and control using a motorized slider.