Trevor Trombley

I live in a place that doesn't have a lot in regards to Lighting and grip... Anything over a 2K is non existent, forget 6K's, 12K's etc... If you were to be filming a night shoot. What's the word on a 9 light maxibrute... Would two of these lights be good. What are the pros and cons? These lights are worth 3000 dollars, and I'm thinking about purchasing them... That way I can also rent them out to whoever else needs a solution for night exteriors. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hello, I'm a producer/writer/director who wants to better my DP and Gaffer abilities. Recently I have been working away at hunting down financing for a million dollar feature I co-wrote. But since that kind of money doesn't just fall out of the sky, and I am eager to get a film made I decided to make a ultra low budget film in the mean time. I feel the script is strong, but being that I can't afford a professional crew. My crew will be fresh out of film school and Volunteers. I'm ponying up the cash so I need to know how I can get the best bang for my buck. Two scenes in particular have me stumped as to what lights I should use. (Note: We are using the Panasonic HPX 170 with the M2 Encore.) EXT. BACK ROAD SCENE - NIGHT This scene has a girl hitchhiking along the highway alone, and she gets picked up by a jacked up truck. (NOTE: There are no street lights for practicals) Most of the scene would be of her speaking to the driver. as she debates if she should go with him or not. (behind her you can see the lights of the town.) Possibly motivation for a tungsten rim/back light. What about the motivated light source coming from the cab of the truck on her face? Key light, possibly a small kini flo?? As for fill, what would motivate that? Headlight spill from the truck? Maybe the red light from the tail lights?? What should i use to define the background? a couple 2K lights with 1/2 CTB to simulate moonlight? These solutions seem the easiest to play with, but what about the wide shots? I'm considering no more than three wide Master shots. Should i film just after the sun has set before it's too dark and use available light. The Headlights would silhouette the girl on it's approach which will look good I think. But what about when she is talking to the driver? I'm sure these questions have been asked a hundred times. But I appreciate any input. One last question. I bought a book on film and Video lighting, which talked about Maxibrute Par lights and how they used to be the work horse for night exteriors. Are these lights a great solution if budget restricts using 12K HMI's? I looked around and the price of a maxibrute is 3000 with the bulbs costing 26 dollars compared to a 12K HMI being 30 grand. Thanks guys.

Hey guys I'm a new kid on the block who is eager to learn everything I can about the digital medium. Right now I'm trying my hand at achieving the "film Look" in camera as much as possible before moving on to post where I'll do color correction, Deinterlace blend etc... Right now i don't know if i should plunk down money on a matte box for my camera so i can use ever filter I can get my hands on, or use step up rings and varied sizes of filters to fit on my Telephoto and Wideangle lenses. Right now I have a UV and a Circular Polarizer. Currently I own a sony trv-950, (not a high end cam, but a relatively cheap one with some good features.) Other's tell me that soft fx filters, Diffusion filters, and Pro mist filters are a waist and that good lighting can achieve the right effect you're looking for, and that post production can garner the results I'm looking for without the hastle of costly filters. But what about Shallow depth of field? What are the best techniques to achieve that? Tell me everything, I'm a piece of clay, mold me. CINE