Ken Minehan

I think it's a good thing that you are shootnig in a studio for such a scene, as there will be less restrictions. you will not be restricted by space as much as you prob would be if you were shooting on location. You have the use of grids for your lights too. I think you did the right thing by chaging the white door to a darker colour. I would even change the white walls too. Generally i try and avoid white walls in almost everything i shoot, unless the scene calls for it. Maybe you can talk to your Art Director about other colour options. As for the f stops... I think you can afford to shoot the sunlight coming through crack of the curtain 2-2.5 stops overexposed. for the ambient fill in the room, i would go about 1-2 stops under. So the exposure set is closer to the ambient fill rather than the sunlight. The sunlight will be quite hot but not enough to lose detail. It would be a good idea to throw in some prcticals in the room too, so the ambient fill wont be too flat. Ken Minehan

Hello Guys i'm a little comfused. Can anyone tell me what is, and the difference between Gamma, Knee and matrix. By adjusting these settings, what is affected and how, Thank you

OK, great thank you very much. I did a shoot for TVC and wrote all the camera details down for the animator. Then I realised that his program requires the 35mm lens measurements. I shot with the Digi primes. Thanks very much for your help. regards Ken Minehan

Hello guys, i have a quick question with regards lenses. I was shooting a TV commercial recently using Carl Zeiss Digi Primes. They are obviously very different from eg Zeiss Ultra Primes when it comes to depth and lens size. Is there a website with a conversion chart that can tell me the 35mm lens equivalent from the Video lens? I hope some one can help, Cheers Ken Minehan

Thank you for your reply. I think i'll take you advice and get the talents to lean slightly away from the table once again, thanks. Ken Minehan.

Hey guys, i have a shoot coming up where i have to light a boardroom. We are shooting in front of green screen. I was thinking of lighting the screen with a few soft sources of lights, possibly with a few blondies heavily diffused. There are 7 talents at the boardroom table, lit with 2, 4ft kino over head. I also wanted to place a 2k bounced off a white poly board from the head of the table to give each talent some contrast and to fill the face a bit. The table in the boardroom however will be draped with a green screen too. I was wandering how to avoid the green spill that may leak on to the talents. We will be shooting with a digibeta with digi prime lenses. How do you guys think this set up sounds?? Please give me some feedback and advice regards Ken Minehan

hey guys. My company just bought a HVX202 camera with firestore. So far i've been shooting on 1080i/50i. Ideally i want to shoot 720/25p. It seems that the footage is been recorded in to the firestore, but once i bring it into the Final Cut, it can not recognise the clips. Any ideas as to why? Also, this is a problem when we want to shoot variable frame rates. In order to shoot at a higher frame rate with te HVX202, i need to set the camera to 720p/25p or 25pn, and adjust the frame rate in the scene file settings. Apart from the above hiccup, i think this is a great camera. Regards Ken Minehan

Hey guys, I am working in a Production house in Singapore, and my company is thinking of buying a HD camera. We have been doing alot of research on various cameras. We came to a point where we see the pros and cons of each camera we research. So, I would like to ask the advice of DPs on this network who have HD shooting experience, which camera from their POV do you prefer and why. To be honest, I am quite confused as to which one we should invest in. The majority of the work that we do, is Corporate video, TVC, and long form documentaries (as of this year). So far we are looking at Panasonic Varicam, HDX400, and also the HVX200, sony F900, Please give me some advice on this matter Cheers guys. ken Minehan

Thank you very much guys, all these recommendations are extremely helpful. Cheers Ken

By Chinese balls, you mean the lanterns? As practicals? Sounds like a good idea. Is that something i have to make myself? Ken

Hey guys, i have to shoot a Jazz MTV next week. I need to light a bar, quite big space, with some extras seated as the audience. I want to light them quite evenly, but in a subtle dim manner. There will be a spot light on the singer on stage, but need to seperate the audience from the singer. Any ideas on the type of lights to use for the audience? ken

Thanks Tim. That is very helpful.. I shot something with the DCC on. I couldn't work out why the Shot looked so hazy. I think it was due to the DCC. Cheers Ken

Hey guys, i was wondering, how the DCC function affects the dynamic range. What is the finction of DCC? Is it recommended if so for what circumstance? Thanks guys. I am having trouble looking for info on this. Hope you can help. Cheers Ken

Hey guys, it seems like i have a question for you guys every day. I recently shot a TV commercial for a skin care company. I was wandering how you guys go about beauty lighting? I used 2 x day light 4ft 4 bank kino, and a 575 HMI for a shine on the hair. for the back ground a 1.2kw HMI. The conditions were a little bit difficult as it was not shot in a studio. It was a pre-existing house. Also the budget was tight. How do you guys light on a shoe string budget for beauty products. PS: It helped that the model was stunningly, jaw droppingly beautiful though. I think she would have still looked good with a red head directed straight at her. haha!

thanks glenn. that is very helpful. what if it's not a studio shoot? any ideas?

Ok. cool. Thanks for your help. The space light looks very much like a ruby 7, except hung and difused. The pics were very helpful. I now realise The mac 2000. i have seen them for stage lighting. Once again thanks guys. cheers. ken

Hey guys, i have a question about lighting the interior of the car. I have a shoot coming up where i have to light and shoot actors in a car. I want a very natural look. I often see car scenes that are overlit. I need to get quite heavy contrast as well. Are microflos or mini flos positioned strategically around the car a good way to go? How should i achieve the lighting for oncoming traffic? I would appreciate your help. cheers ken

Hey guys, i was reading AC recently, and the DOP Rousselot was talking about lighting the set of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Space lights. What is that? Is it just a strong form of fill? He was talking about the Mac 2000 as well. Can anyone help me explain what these lights are and how theyare best utilized. cheers ken