John Mikka

Thanks a lot for taking the time to share you experiences. I'll sure remember those valuable tips.

In this case, should I hire a sound guy with boom equipment or lavaliers, if I had to choose? The actors do walk about a bit as the scene progresses, and often not in the same frame.

I'm a big fan of incandescents, but one major downside is that they are not dimmable. But perhaps an assortment of 5w gives me the freedom of not needing to dim at all. just turn a few off if needed to be. Thanks for the input,

thank you. there are occasions they will stand up and walk about but yes the whole scene takes place in one room. Indeed it's performance based, but I'm curious to why ADR will hinder this. I have never shot a short film or done ADR. I have been on sets but not in charge. I'm curious to know are ADRs always worse than the actual track recorded on set, I'm talking about emotionality wise... if so, why is that?

So.... I'm in the preproduction stage of pulling the trigger on my first short film. It's a very simple 2 act story, about a young couple having an argument - est. 15min in length. Everything takes place in the living room/ kitchen area, with only 2 actors involved. So being a first timer, A)am I mistaken to think I can shoot and direct it, maybe hire another camera crew in case I need help with follow focusing or dolly in some shots. So a total of 4 people on set max, is this possible? I prepare to shoot it with Canon 5D MK III/IV with prime lenses. B) I omitted the sound guy because 1) it's a small area, the actors are sitting most of the time. So I can mount the mic on a stand? 2) I have yet to test out how good/bad the sound could be in this still to-be-decided location, in terms of echo and etc.Thus, I have not much confidence in how much the onset audio is actually usable, and thinking ADR and post dubbing will inevitably happen at some point, so why bother blowing the budget on an extra sound guy, unless it's free. C) I think I will be shooting after sun down, so no worries for windows being blown out. But what kind of lighting kit/equipment should I rent for such a living room scene. I aim to create an ambient warm/soft looking vibe but not overly so. These are just things I can think of at the moment. Are there anything I ought to watch out for? The end of the short film consists of a 2 min wedding montage, with no sound. Approx 30 extras, taking place in a backyard, preferably will be shot during magic hour, and at night, but not during the day. For this I will possibly ask the actors to help with setting up the tables and whatnot before shooting. But the actual shoot will be mostly handheld, so no need for that extra grip/focus puller. My one advantage is time, which I have plenty to spend on preparing, and possibly also rehearsing with the actors, but not for the wedding scene. But I'm planning to shoot the interior in 2 days, and another night for the wedding montage. Please let me know what's your thoughts on this. Thanks everyone in advance.

Yes, this is exactly what I needed.. thank you!

I just did some experiment myself. I guess I didn't think it would actually be THAT much of an exposure difference only due to the color itself . But apparently it does... valuable lesson learnt. https://youtu.be/kzdJur5hKRY

Also, I noticed that in this scenario, the llight mainly comes from the window which is behind the curtain, there aren't much light shinning upon from the other side, so I'm not sure if the reflected light from the curtain being white will cause a 3 stop of a difference? help me to understand... i'm so confused... I tested the meter and camera spot meter again, under the sunlight over a surface, and both reading seems to match, so I think there is something I'm not understanding correctly here. My main concern is if this curtain situation were a real life scenario, and my camera didn't have the internal meter, how would I meter it with only an incidence one, am I supposed to think if it's a white curtain I have to +3/4 stops???

So I just got this light meter Sekonic 358, and I was hoping to use it to check the accuracy of my old Nikon FM with a built in spot meter. But obviously it's either I did something wrong or the Sekonic is faulty. Can someone help me? I know the camera is measuring the reflected light, and the meter is measuring the light falling into the dome. But I'm pressing both meter against the curtain, so why is it not in unison? I posted record videos to best illustrate my question. https://youtu.be/SOA8P8an0Y4 https://youtu.be/VUc7fPyQGpI