Killian Lassabliere

You should really do an actual film test first.

Yes that's true !

I should of mentionned that the pretext of this shoot is to try out 16mm film, I'm paying for it myself so no clients are involved.

Thanks for the answers,

 

Probably because most productions with the budget to rent Hawks would rent a more modern S16 camera, and PL isn't the standard mount on Bolexes. Also the Bolex prism introduces aberrations when shot at apertures under about f/3.5, which is why it's generally better to use RX lenses on a reflex Bolex, at least for focal lengths under 50mm. Since they open to f/1.5, you might want to test a V-lite 16 on the EBM first to see how noticeable the abberrations are if you want to shoot at larger apertures.

I will do some tests when picking up the lens, ( hopefully I'll be able to spot any aberrations thought the unsqueezed viewfinder )

Thanks !

Hello,

Next week I will be shooting for the first time on 16mm.

I'll be renting a Bolex EBM Super 16 ( PL mount ) as well as a Hawk V-Lite 16 Anamorphic 1.33. ( only one focal length for budget reasons ).

I've been looking all around the internet and I can't seem to find any information on that specific combo.

So I was wondering if any of you ever used a similar setup? I'm mainly concern about focusing on the fly without a monitor desqueeze ?

We'll be filming at two locations, one indoor ( natural light coming thought sheers ), and a rooftop at dawn/dusk.

I'm thinking about getting some Kodak Vision 3 250D. I read that it is recommended to overexposed quit a bit, ( which is the opposite of what I've been doing on digital ). Would you guys have any advice on how to expose in those lighting conditions?

Thanks a lot for your help,

Killian.

That is a big frame. Your M90 will be able to do one beam of sunlight. I would think about one ray of sun coming between trees or a narrow alley. That should allow you to cover foreground talent in a medium shot - maybe even a wide if ambiance is way down. but day wide shots are what they are in terms of what lighting is there unless you are working at a huge scale. Like several 20x20's and many 18k's.

 

depending on your background the lighting might look a bit artificial - especially if you see the sky. Could be ok if you like stylized.

Thanks Albion,

From all those answers I'm starting to understand what I can get out of the M90 ! I won't be able to get anything more powerfull so if worst come to worst we'll keep the frame as tight as possible.

Thanks guys,

We'll have a few "wide" shots ( area of about 10 meter by 10 meter ) so I think I'll stick with an m90. Hopefully the sun we'll be out and we won't have to get it out of the truck.

Hard to compete with overcast mostly because it's flat. So in case you haven't added it to your list, if you have the budget and crew, also consider giant 12x12 frames of black as "negative fill" to help you shape and model the ambient light on location.

Thanks a lot for your answer Micheal !

Neg will definitely be on the list ! At first I actually though about only using those if I had to deal with an overcast day ( and I might still ). But since we should have the budget for HMI's I was wondering how/if I could achieve that harsh sun look regardless of the weather.

Hi guys,

In a couple of weeks I'll be shooting a music video with a decent budget, so for the first time I'll have access to bigger fixtures than what I'm use to.

We've got a variety of scenes to cover, all taking place in a small private garden that has a barbecue and a skate ramp. The artist we'll only be here for 4 hours so we'll have to move really fast.

PS : We haven't done the location scout yet but if you want I'll be able to post some pictures once it's done.

lots of variables there. What are the shots? mediums? multiple actors?

 

how many grips will be on set? fly a 1/2 soft frost, and beadboard bounce (or solid) might be the most versatile for different weather.

 

you could sandwich a bunch of litemats (or similar) behind a 4x4 silk and run it on battery. It will key or edge light at a reasonable distance if it's cloudy. and the shot's not too wide.

There's gonna be a lot of different shots ( to much to detail unfortunately ) but we'll never have more than one actor in front of the camera, so the shots will stay tight. I'll only have one grip.

I will run a test to see how powerfull the litemats needs to be. Otherwise I'll go with the beadboard / 1/2 soft frost.

Thanks a lot for the advices !

Hi guys,

I'm a young cinematographer and I recently moved to Paris to hopefully break into the commercial world. I've been contacted to do DP a really small budget "beauty commercial" for a lipstick brand.

Half of the spot will take place indoor with some classic shots ( product shot, model putting on the lipstick, etc ). I have access to some kinoflows, few tungsten units and a dedo lights. So the indoor part isn't a problem.

The other half of the spot will take place in the streets surrounding the Eiffel Tower, and that's where the problems begin.

So that is why I'm turning to you guys to know how you would handle it ? Would some small LED fixtures make any difference ?

Thanks in advance,

ps : we'll be using the Ursa Mini 4.6k at 800iso + Zeiss ZE Distagon f1.4

Thank you so much for the answers !

For an Alexa Mini you might be better off with an M15 or Pro.

Are you thinking of roundfront Lomos, or squarefronts? Round fronts are better lenses but long and front heavy, and the only options under 50mm are humongous, not very suitable for a Movi. You could look into Kowas which are about as lightweight and compact as possible, or Panavision C or G series if budget allows. None of these are particularly fast lenses, might be worth testing wide open if that's how you'll shoot, anamorphics can get pretty funky wide open.

I was thinking about the roundfront ones.

At first I thought about the Kowas but after watching a few test/review they seemed to get really soft wide open. And then I saw that article of the wandering dp where he's using the Lomos on a Ronin / run and gun setup. http://wanderingdp.com/podcast/wandering-dp-podcast-episode-100-road/

I think the best would be to compare them at the rental place.

Hi guys,

In a few weeks I’ll be shooting a skate video that’s taking place in the street of Paris at night. We can have access to “better” gear than what I’m currently used to as the project is backed by a production company; which is why I would love some advice.

It’s going to be a one night run and gun type shoot, we’ll be using a gimbal for most of it. We’ll have to rely on the available streetlight (paris christmas lights).

We’ll be using anamorphic lenses to really get the most out of those Christmas street lights.

So with all these parameters I need come up with a relatively “light weight” setup that can still perform well in low light.

So far I’m thinking of a combo : ARRI MINI / LOMO ANAMORPHIC / MOVI M10 ( + wireless follow focus ).

Anyone out there that has shot on a similar “run and gun” setup who would be happy to share their knowledge ? Considering that this would be my first time with an Arri camera is there anything that I should look out for ? And finally would you guys recommend any other camera / setup ? ( as a B-choice )

In the meantime I’m doing research online but nothing beats real experience !

Thanks in advance,

I use tungsten to simulate late afternoon sunlight but you usually need more than a 2K unless it is a 1.2K firestarter parcan.

The Parcan are actually really cheap to rent ( not the 1.2k but the par64 1000w ).

Would 2 of those be "better" than the blonde + tungsten ? Or maybe combined them all though a diffusion frame ( Par + blonde ) ?

Dont know your story board or time of day.. but seeing as you don't have the fire power to bash in artificial day light..like the shot you have for reference .. I would agree with Albion .. use the natural day light for your wide shot.. then the Kino and Lite panels for all the closer shots...presuming there are any..leave the tungstens in the van.. (unless you have evening shots too or some area you want to be on the "warm" side.. )

The scenes got a lot of dialogue with wide / medium / closeup.

I would prefer to use artificial light but if it's really not enough power I might go that way. Would the light shift not be to obvious ?

Thanks a lot for your answers ! Very helpful.

I will then use all the tungsten heads though a diffusion frame.

 

You'll probably then need to send them through a frame of 1/2 CTB first and then set the white balance on your camera for 4500k. This will skew your skylight a little cool, but you won't sacrifice as much output from the key light to full CTB.

Really good idea, in that case should I set the kino to 3200k and gel it with a 1/2 CTB to ?

Hi everyone,

I’ll be soon filming a short where main part of the scenes take place indoors at daytime ( in appartement and in a coffeeshop ). The director asked for a "colourful daylight look", reference below

I unfortunately don’t have access to any powerful HMI… so far, here is what I’ve got access to : Blonde 2K, Kino Flow 120 ( 3200k or 5500k ), 2 redhead 400w, 1 redhead 800w, lite panel 300w and fresnel 300w.

My plan is to simply bounce the 2k blonde from outside the window (with some CTB) and fill with the kinoflow.

Now my question is will I have enough power with the 2k? Especially since I will have to gel it in order to match the ambient daylight. If not, do you guys see any way to get that type of look with my gear limitations?

I don’t have any pictures of the locations (last minute job) but they are really similar to the references. The coffeshop is quite small and won’t have direct sunlight (small Parisian street). The apartment has a big bay window and a balcony, it shouldn’t get any direct sunlight to since the weather is going to be rainy / really cloudy.

Regards,

PS : I’ll be using an A7s at 3200ISO T2.0.

Results are great. Just enough fill not to look like a family/comedy movie. What lighting setup did you use in the end?

Thanks Mihnea,

For the kitchen setup I sticked to the original lighting diagram, except that I replaced the HMI by a 1000w Softbox bounced of the ceiling. ( I also added a honeycomb grid to the softbox above the table to control the spill ).

For the lounge I had 1 softbox ( +extra diffusion ) as key light, with an assistant waving is hand to emulate the TV flickering. I also dimmed the other softbox to 500w and bounced it of the ceilling in the background ( kitchen ).

I think the frames look really nice, quite moody and dramatic. I really like the composition of the kitchen shot with the sink in the foreground. And the color temperature choices in the living room work great.

 

If I had one criticism, I think the art direction is a bit cluttered, I find it a bit distracting. Though maybe that works for your story, I don't know. If the edit holds on the wide shots for an extra long time, then it would be less of an issue since the eye will have time to scan the frame and find the subject.

 

Anyway, nice work!

Thank's for the feedback Satsuki !

You hit the nail on the head since no one was in charge of the art direction. My only "input" was to remove all the flashy colored items that would of be to distracting.

Another thing that I'll have to look out for next time !

Cheers

I think they look great!

 

What was the Atmos used for?

We used the Atomos with a Sony A7s to be able to film in 4K / 4:2:2.

 

How did you rig the softbox above the table?

I rigged it with a T-Stand ( on the right of the table / frame ). Since the softbox are lightweight it worked well.

Thanks for the reply.

Hi Dan,

Thank’s a lot for the reply !

I actually just came back from the shoot. It all went well considering the micro budget and the tight schedule we had.

As you mentioned, the biggest struggled was to deal with the different color temperature. The CFL’s gave me that nasty green tint you talked about…

It is definitely something I’ll have to be more careful next time !

I also didn’t had access to the HMI as the director wanted to rent an Atomos shogun plus other bits and bobs. “Instead” I used the other softbox for the ambiant light.

I realised now that the kitchen wide shoot is missing a lot of fill light making it really dramatic. It work for the story but it’s not the result I intended.

For the second scene we decided after the location scout that we would be using an other lounge that was connected to the kitchen, which gave us a nice background.

Unfortunately the practicals started to flickers when dimmed, so it acted more as a fill light. Finally I used the other softbox to get some ambiant light in the kitchen ( in the background ).

While watching the rushes I spotted the reflection of the softbox in the kitchen window … I did angled the window to avoid it but someone must have closed it afterward.

I realised that I still got a lot to learn, any feedback / criticism are welcome !

PS : Sorry for the quality of the screenshots, ( would also take any advice for good website to host images ^_^ )

Thank’s again.

Hi guys,

I’m usually more of a camera operator for documentary, but next month I’ll be dping on a short film.

My knowledge in terms of lighting is quit limited so I would love to get some advice.

I’m also french so I do apologies for my english.

The project is very low budget so I won’t get access to much gear.

The camera is going to be an Sony A7s ( 3200 iso - Slog 2 / Variable ND Filter ) with some Samyang Cine prime lenses.

Light wise I’ve got access to :

• 2 CFL Softbox 1000W
• 1 HMI Cine Par 575W
• 1 Redhead 800W
• Diffusion frames, black flag, etc

I could possibly trade the 2 softbox / HMI for a single Fresnel 1000w or a LED 900 Pannel.

We are trying to go for a low-key lighting look to suits the dark mood of the story.

I’m going to talk about 2 scenes here and try to apply your advice/suggestions on all the others.

The first scene take place at night time in a kitchen: a father is cooking dinner for his daughter while chatting. The father is standing in the bar area and the daughter is sitting on the table.

We didn’t do the scout yet but I've received a picture of the location :

My idea was to place a softbox over the table to act as key lighting, directing the light using black wrap. ( + another softbox directed on the father if needed. )

I can’t decide whether or not to use the down lights as practicals, I’m afraid it wouldn’t match the low key look wanted. Which is why I’m thinking about using some more “classic” practicals placed on the background.

I also thought about using the small HMI thought a diffusion frame ( maybe also bounced it ? ) to add a bit of fill.

The second scene takes place at night in a lounge : the father is on the sofa watching the new, while having a drink.

On this location we are going re-arrange the whole space, probably hang some fabrics on the wall as well as other props to make it look more cosy:

Here I would like to use the TV as my key light. For that I wanted to use a softbox placed in front of the tv and wave some gels in front of it to emulate the flickering.

The other softbox would be place behind the sofa to act a fill, motivated by the practicals in the background.

Finally, I was thinking about hazing a little bit all the interior scenes to have some “texture”.

Having never worked with this type of lighting I found it quite hard to visualise how those setups would look on camera. I’m open to any suggestions / idea, and would love to hear how you guys would go about lighting those scenes ?