Dimitrios Koukas

I have some technical pages to send you if you are interested. Dimitrios

U will loose too much light with the CTB on the redheads. Dimitrios Koukas

Gels usually come with a standard 1,20m width, if you do the same in thin polyesteric material maybe you will gain some less weight, I agree with the opinion that this idea is bulky ''heavywise''.Also make some tests about the life of it, you know that producers trying to ''cut'' from everywhere.If it is expensive and just a day life then it wouldn't appreciated so much. Very nice idea m8, work on that. Dimitrios.

Chris You can just add two small sealed beams on a car's wiper motor, u will need the whole thing though, both the motor and the wipers arms, also the arm that connects the wipers mechanism.And clamp it anywhere u can with any means available. I hope my drawing will help, please note that u can adjust the tilt by lowering the whole thing as u like(it doesn't need to be as it is on the car). Dimitrios

I can't understand why u want to shoot anamorfic? Shoot directly on HD using your whole CCD anyway, it has nothing similar to the anamorfic squeezing that u de-squeeze in the final copy of film. Just go with 16:9 all the way, and get two copies, one 16:9 and one 4:3 leter box. After the post. Dimitrios

Tim, Why not use a mini DV cam, that will help you experiment with all the angles of the same set -up? Find one that has manual Iris that u can lock it to the same f/stop, U can see the light in relation to the camera movement like this. Dimitrios

Christopher You want to have the Van inside a studio and make it look like it's in the highway? Sorry my english are not so good, so I didn't get the poorman's process one as well the gag shell. If I got it then, u should use moving heads, something like the mac 500 or similar, and maybe use 4 or six of them, some in an accurate program and some from behind, to do the cars passing by trick Dimitrios

Then m8, use 2 mac500 heads in a random prgram. This will do the trick. Otherwise if you cant afford this, then try to use 2 parcans with 2 assistants rotating them. Do you only want to light the back of the car or the front, or all?mac's are great for the whole car if well positioned. U can also simulate stores lighting form down the street by switching kinoflo's on and off. If you want to simulate a car /or cars following your car and then dissapear then use 4 mac500 two for the top and 2 for the rear. also a car turnning behind is very well done by adding two small sealed beams on a car's wiper motor! Dimitrios

What do u neeed the IV for? Shooting a tv screen? Or just different fps? Dimitrios

You just need a maglight with five or six batteries?, (you know the long one) and sensitive film stock or fast lences. The trick that will do the job for you is smoke.Just smoke the set. For the clos-ups just move the torches closer to the subject u want to be lit and also u can use some spun or diffusion, to spread the beam more even and not with hot spots. Dimitrios

Sorry I wrote aaton XLR but I ment XTR.

Eduardo, 1/48 in the strobe, doesn't match with the 24 fps, even that we set the photometer at 1/48sec. This is with the shutter on. When the shutter is off , imagine that u will have a negetive running without anything to block the light off, wich means u will also have upper and down frames overlapse. 1/48 speed in the strobe means double flashes at your actuall speed. 1/24 is the more accurate but with even that u will have frame overlapse. U see the stobe will continue light your frame, even that u see it flash! The shutter blocks away all the light so that's why we have frames Do your tests, maybe you will like the result and maybe this is what you re actually need, so why not go for it? I am sure you knew all this, it's just I am doing your check list. As for the photometer reading, either use a flashmeter, or just a photometer. Both will see the strobe, if you set the strobe rate 1/48 or above. Upper and down side overlapse is definately what will happen. Dimitrios

Instead, they send me five rolls of 16mm tri x. I paid for super 8 prices, and the invoice says super 8, but the film they gave is 16. There were some simple 8 cameras that they used double sided perforation on 16mm that u shoot twice, one forward to tail and then u swap the reel to tail out to head. Maybe they gave you double side perforated 16mm? Or maybe I am too old and this film doesn't exist anymore? Just call them and explain, they will appreciate it. Dimitrios

I need more details, Is it a backscreen projection in a studio with actors? or just the car itself? Dimitrios

Also there are some small halogen lamps like the ones u use in the dedolights, that go up to 150w. and are small enough to fit it in a small fixture.(u just need to change the lamps base to do this).Also u can use a small dimmer pack, single channel to do the effect. I think this will work well and give u a bright look, in case you have too much light in the medium shot with both actors , then use some diffusion or some well placed ND gel inside the fixture,from the side that is facing the camera. The idea of having three lamps two of them on other tables left and right from the main table also looks good in the close ups of the actors, if tyou plan to do any. Good luck, Dimitrios Koukas

both replies will get you there, Print a test and overexpose.Also go for a screenning, you will also notice how much of your actuall frame you will loose,(some facilities have not so accurate gates, so you might loose some of your frame in the procedure.Use a test chart with the format you will going for, let's say if it's 1:85 shoot some 1:85 lines. Dimitrios Koukas

M8,this is happenning only with your camera on? or with any source? If it's only with your camera, check the male plug it has on board(the one u plug your BNC at) usually the monitor out, video out or test out. If it happens with any source then check your bnc cable, replace it, and also check the video in at your monitor. Regards Dimitrios Koukas

Image ''breaths '', is usually caused by two things: 1 insuficient loop, or 2: the pull-down claw hiting the negative, so check if there are any small marks by the perforation that indicate this.I hope that we are talking for flicker free lights here, so has nothing to do with lighting? Dimitrios

Dear James, In a normal exposure, wich is a reading from a grey card or from 18% photometer, the light that lits the blacks has details, and doesn't affect the Dmin of the emulsion. Best blacks for film are the lighted blacks, I know it sounds weird. U see when u underexpose 2 or 3 stops, u actually shooting something near the limits of the film. The emulsion doesn't take the light it needs to do the photo chemical reaction to produce it's best. So if u look the negative is almost the colour of the base, with no details in the blacks and no highlights. In a way we can say it fogs. This has to do with the dmin and latitude. I know I am not so good explaining things, but I hope I ve helped. Oh and about your shooting, congratulations at first and plz don't drink all this coffee, and always check that your lenses have fasten on the camera body. One assistant I was using in a shooting have let the lens loose hangin out, I was using full promist on the lens and it was a 12mm one, so I have just thought it was the filter, untill I saw it hangin out of the body! Dimitrios Koukas

Cosmic Car? never heard of it. Sory I am jokin m8, but really never heard this lenses before. Dimitrios Koukas

Sorry m8, I don't, but I can remember one shot with a classical guitar player , I use one 1k fresnel with 250 diffusion for him and a 1/2 cto for his guitar, splited on the same light. Another thing I did ones for a feature film is that I bounced half of an 2,5 HMI fresnel on three broken mirror pieces, that were lighting different parts of the set , while the half of it was used with Full CTB on the ceiling, to give an ambient night light impression. this shot was with Kodak 7245 (ASA 50) daylight. Regards Dimitrios Koukas

Lol m8, I haven't tried all this gear but I can surely suggest something like the Sachtler 7+7 head instead of the vinten, and also maybe a bigger monitor? Something like a 14' one? Also better use the Arri pocket par instead of the pag sungun? Dimitrios Koukas

To be honest m8, Better use an Aaton XLR 7 , I did a feature film with NPR and it was full of suprises! U see this cameras were great when new, but not after all this miles of footage on their backs. Regards Dimitrios Koukas

Sometimes I use one light, but I put anything on it! Cinefoil, diffusion and sometimes pieces of different colour gels, to split the colour into two different sourses (of different colour) Dimitrios

Friend, Are u using tungsten film? If yes, then u can just use a tungsten assymetrical fixture light (1000w)from behind like u said, with double full C.T.B. gel. I am guessing from the things u re writing that u only want the rim effect around them and not the whole background lit? There also some light available for wall wash from Mac light or similar companies that are specialists in events or concert lights, that have really wide light spread. This are using MSR lamps, that are very similar to the HMI'S so no need to gel them. Regards Dimitrios Koukas