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Boa Solutions Inc. 222 Islington Ave, unit 13 Etobicoke , ON M8V3W7 Open by app't, to suit production schedules, 24/7/365, but generally there 10am-8pm M-F, unless a booking is happening earlier. Website and pricelist going through huge update, and will all be at http://www.boa.solutions . Before that, please contact me for gear availibility / suggestions, and go to http://www.boastudios.com for the studio spaces I rep. Hi, I am Mir Lada, a Lighting Designer / Gaffer / Grip / Production Still Photographer that is owner / operator of this boutique motion and still production equipment rental house in Etobicoke (west end of Toronto), in one of Toronto's film hubs. Clients come back to me because of my practical and creative problem-solving, advice, and being able to realistically accommodate any budget and any level of filmmaker. Often, after dealing with me for figuring out gear, they will create the opportunity for me to come on board as crew, which then makes things extra easy for them, since I am completely dealing with and taking responsibility for the packing, transport, setup, operation, strike, delivery back, and check-in of the gear to accomplish the look they want. The 4000 sf warehouse space I recently moved has 16' ceilings, 20' wide hallways, adn huge truck docks, is currently still being set up, between shoots and tests, and will be divided half for rental gear storage and half as a technical studio / test facility. That means it has very basic client amenities / creature comforts, but a lot of assets and capability to accomplish a wide range of small to medium shoots at a reasonable price. Perfect for when what is in front of the camera is more important than the style of the facility. Great for music videos, small films, commercials, etc. Standing sets include wall flats, and many installed cloth cycs, including 90' white, 78' chroma green, 60' black, 30; chroma blue, and 8x8 Chromatte system. Power is 200A x 3 phase cam-lok, plus 175A single phase house power. Facility is lit with 1k cyc lights and features a 17x10 overhead lightbox with 10k tungsten and 5k daylight output. I also have a 1 ton van for location work, as well as a good truck rental service nearby, where I can roll in all my mobile carts, shelves, etc to create an up to 5 ton lighting and grip truck solution for location work. I also rep a 1750 sf studio right above me, owned by a DP, with a 30'x 10' hard cyc. Spaces can be combined for same production. Lighting includes, with often multiples on-hand (over 500 lighting fixtures): Arri L7-C Arri Locaster 1x1 LED's Mole Biax KinoFlo 12k fresnel HMI 6k fresnel HMI 4k fresnel HMI 2.5k fresnel HMI 1.2k fresnel HMI 575w fresnel HMI 200w fresnel HMI 6/12k PAR 4k PAR 2.5k PAR 1.2k PAR 800w PAR 575w PAR 400w PAR 200w PAR 1.2k Profoto bare bulb 1.2k soft 575w flood 270w sungun 200w sungun Of course, hundreds of tungsten fixtures from 100w to 10k, including 6K Barger Baglite, 10' Jumbrella. I also carry a wide variety of practical bulbs, stringers, non-LED christmas lights, etc. Grip up to 20'x30' frames and rags, 28x78 digital green screen, 14'x30' black, 90' x 16' bleached seamless muslin, plus many smaller solutions. Besides a very broad and complete arsenal of motion lighting and grip, I have some more basic camera, sound, lens, and camera support gear available. 5DIII, 7DII, 5DII, 60D, D7000, FZ1000, and dozens of the most respected Canon, Nikon, Sigma, and Tamron lenses: 14mm f2.8, 14mm T3.1 cine, 16-35mm f2.8 L, 16-35mm f4 IS, 17mm TS-E, 24mm TS-E, 35mm f1.4 ART, 35mm T1.5 cine, 50mm macro, 50mm f1.4 ART, 70-200mm f2.8 IS, 85mm T1.5 cine, 85mm f1.2IIL, 100mm f2.8 macro, 135mm f2. 300mm f4 IS, 1.4xII, Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3, Tamron 2x, full cine rig, 7" monitor, Sennheiser & Rode mics, Axis Dolly, Portable platform dolly and rubber track, doorway dolly, 8/12 crane, several good sticks and fluid heads, Manfrotto Fig Rig, etc. If you or anyone you know has time, but limited budget, but needs gear, while I am setting this place up, I am looking to barter with experienced people to help me, in exchange for equipment rental credit.

Hi all, I'm writing to you from Florence, Italy. I'm going to shoot a feature film in few months. The movie speaks about a small family during WWII. The story is set in the Tuscan mountains, Alpi, and most of the story take place at night. The budget is small but we absolutely want to get the best out of our images. I'm trying to figure out which lights are the best to be "fast and good" in lighting scenes in the forest at night. My crew won't be big, I think only 2 grips and 2 electricians. I was thinking to something like this: http://lightingballoons.com/products/53/umbrella-ball/ or http://skylightballoon.com/index.php/products/skyball in the place of butterflies with big source behind or bounced off of them. Some Kino Flo Wall-o-lite, and some 2.5k hmi and 1.2k hmi with white diffusion frames are small enough to be fast and to keep a good quality of light for close ups and medium shots. I'm not sure which camera I'll use, I think a Blackmagic Camera, so nothing too much sensitive. I'll try to keep the frame not too wide so I'm not forced to illuminate areas that are too large. There will be some scene with a small crowd of people moving along the forest and those seems to be the most demanding shots in terms of lighting. That's it. I'm interested in knowing what are your thoughts and which way you would take being in my shoes. Thank you very much. Matteo

Now... I say this is a "strange issue" and maybe it is more common than I think but I'm hoping someone can help me out! I picked up a used Arri 1200 Compact HMI with a magnetic ballast on eBay a few weeks ago. Today, we were setting up for a shoot and realized a strange quirk with the light. Just for the record. The lamp is brand new. The 50' head cable is brand new. Fuses are good. Everything seemingly checks out. So, the problem: With the light attached to the head cable, it will not strike. The solution: Remove the head cable and attach the light directly to the ballast - turn it on. Voila! It works. We run the light for 2-3 seconds then power off, add the head cable, turn back on. Works fine - the light will run problem free for hours. Right now, we've just determined that the light has "character" and needs a little extra love to work properly. We we're just fortunate to come across this strange fix as we really needed the light for this shoot! Now, we're looking for a more elegant long-term fix. Any ideas as to what is causing this? Admittedly, I don't regularly work with HMIs - typically tungsten, kinos and LED. Any advice/help is greatly appreciated! Cheers!

Dear Colleagues, I'm wondering what objects, surfaces or props can be used to achieve interesting light reflection patterns? See this example of the Feist music video: It doesn't have to be that one per say, but any other technique that you guys could recommend from experience? Sincerely, Jovan Todorovic jovan.tv

I'm in my final year of university creating a 10 minute short film. Our final scene includes a camping a scene with a father and a son, as we're filming at night time we're planning to only shoot with a single light source from a standard camping light, which will be placed just in front of the two actors. Will this be an effective way to shoot this scene? Is there anything else that we can do to make sure that the lighting of this scene looks good? We're filming just by a lake in the middle of a forest so exterior lighting from other sources will be very limited. Any suggestions??

hello everybody, as am about to shoot a commercial in paris, featuring indian models, i was wondering if you guys wanted to share ideas on which gels to use to enhance the skintones for the beauty shots. these are the models: http://inega.in/v2/models/male/manu/ http://inega.in/v2/models/female/ana/ thanks a lot

Total novice here preparing to shoot a short film on S16... Quickly looking at these film grabs of Christopher Doyle's work makes me wonder how he controls the two color palette across almost the entire film... int/ext shots. Film-Grab.com: Fallen Angels (green/red) Happy Together (cyan/yellow) Days of Being Wild (blue/green) In the Mood for Love (blue/red) 2046 (blue/red) I think he uses Tungsten so my amateur question is whether he is mainly controlling color by gels, set design, or color grading in post. Or all three. I'm wanting to have similar control of color in my film and not sure how to achieve it. Here are some more specific examples/questions/curiosities: 1) green clock with red lights coming in through window? 2) how does he flood everything with green, the stock? post? but the red helmet and light seem unaffected, how? 3) red/orange hair with surrounding green? is that just a gel on her hair with barn doors or flags to not get the curtain? (her hair is a blonde wig) 4) how is there so much green in this image? post? 5) yellow light coming through window? green light in background? warm light on face? are these all gels? 6) In Happy Together is has the cyan/yellow look and I understand it is much more possible to control this with all the interiors... but how does he do it with the day exteriors, obviously that is not natural color. Is this just post color grading? I could go on and on... but I think this shows the lack of knowledge at hand and what I am trying to learn about. Thanks ahead to all those who chime in!

This is my first post so go easy on me haha. I'm shooting a scene that includes some long takes in very low light inside. Were mostly lighting with practicals and shooting with a wide lens on an F5 with a DJI Ronin. There are some gunshots that are shown on screen and I'd like to at least get a bit of light to flash when the actors press the trigger. Can anyone suggest a way to get a light (preferably on the end of the gun) to flash when the actor presses the trigger? I've searched this site, but the suggestions don't really work for my scenario. It's a thesis for a filmschool project, so using blanks indoors obviously isn't an option

Hey all, I'm gearing up to shoot a music video using a Kessler Revolution head as a motion control rig. I'm looking to shoot the band in a large open warehouse that has some windows but I will need to bring in lighting. The finished video will look like a one shot video where the band is performing and the camera pans to the left continuously and each time the band starts to exit frame right they enter frame left, and this happens throughout the video. I have linked a previs video I put together to help explain the concept. My plan is setup the Revolution Head in the center of the warehouse and program it to rotate 360 degrees in 4 minutes and 5 seconds (the length of the song). From here I will shoot a clean plate and shots with the band performing. Each pass that has the band performing I will shift the band to the left in a circular trajectory so I can then layer the shots in post. I'm guessing the post would require some masking but nothing too extreme. My issue is, how will I get the lighting to match and stitch consistently throughout the video. I fear that unless I light the entire space the lighting won't stitch properly. Any information is greatly appreciated. Previs video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNYeV4WKIPE&list=UU3jj9kfaAsoOB0p_K24jzvA Thanks, Michael

Hi guys, new to this forum, I'm a London based lighting tech cutting my teeth in the industry. A year and a half working on sets, loving every minute. I love cinematography with a passion, and lighting is key. I'm hard working and diligent with a great sense of humour. Feel free to check out my credits and get in touch if you ever need a pair of hands. Josie http://thisbrightspark.wix.com/josiewilliams#!credits/cnec

Hello everyone, My goal for writing this post is to get a better understanding of what goes into achieving a "well balanced" shot. For clarity, I'll lay out the main factors which I believe contribute to the composition of a shot. These are: Physical camera and lens: The desired look and feel of any shot is obviously constrained by the physical tools in use (to an extent). Shooting with different settings on the camera can also either add or take away from a certain look that may be desired. Lighting: I'm under the impression that lighting can make or break a shot, regardless of how expensive the camera used to shoot is. Post: Everything that comes in the editing stage. It seems like a well lit, clean shot is crucial here if the goal is to get the most out of color correcting, and otherwise processing, the footage. How heavily do each of these factors impact the final composition? For example, by percentage, my intuition would be that it's something like: Physical camera and lens (50%) Lighting (40%) Post (10%) Is this about right, or am I way off? I'm guessing this would vary based on the type of shot I was trying to achieve, so for the sake of this post, let's say that I'm specifically talking about achieving a look and feel similar to the screenshot below: This is an image from a film titled The Raid 2. I chose this scene from the movie because I particularly struggle with setting up lighting for night shots. It looks like they did a pretty good job here, without losing any detail or overexposing the image and making it look unnatural. Considering the screenshot above, how much of the look and feel would you say is due to having "the right equipment" vs. having talented and experienced individuals with an in-depth understanding of cinematography. Any input is appreciated!

Hi Folks, I would like some advice on what strobe/flash fixtures I could use to replicate lightning and what would be the best way to power this when shooting externally. Also has anyone found issues whilst shooting on Alexa with strobe lighting i.e lack of global shutter and what other approaches you could take to this problem. Thanks in advance

Hey all, I've been itching to find a good solution for easy transportation of my gels, and keeping them organized by color and strength. I was leaning torward precutting the gels into squares (the biggest light we have in house in an Arri 1k, so I would cut to those dimensions), and having them in thick book, and then I could put dividers in for the names. Right now I've got them rolled up in a bag then don't completely fit into, and there's no quick reference for the strength of which gel. Let me know if this is a dumb idea and/or if there's better, more professional solutions. Thanks!

Hey guys, I am an Australian filmmaker looking to better my lighting skills. I am self taught and have managed to get decent jobs shooting on digital but am feeling like I need some intensive lighting training, my technical knowledge is very basic. There are no short intensive lighting courses in Australia, can anyone suggest a short (1-3 month) course in LA? Appreciate the help.

Greetings, I am DPing my first feature film, it starts production in about a week. I am looking for advice or tips from DPs that have shot a feature before. This is a dialogue heavy film with lots of conflict between main characters. I am looking for any kind of advice on shooting dialogue scenes, communicating with your crew on set to be more efficient, clues on making sure you have coverage or just anything you wish you would have know going into your first feature. I know it's broad, but if you have something I would love to hear it. Story Summary As protagonist, Anna, cleans out her childhood home to help sell it, she stumbles upon a tiny mailbox full of letters from a mysterious childhood pen-pal. Anna originally discovered the mailbox growing in her garden with a letter addressed to her when she was 10. Heartbroken and angry about her parent’s impending divorce, Anna found catharsis and comfort in reading and writing letters to her new friend. 25 years later and similarly broken, Anna once again finds solace in the letters and embarks on a journey to find the true identity of her mystery pen-pal. But what Anna discovers is the last thing she expected to find. Thanks All! Marcus

Hey guys, what sort of lights would be producing this shot? 2K Arri Fresnels? Any gels and fill? Thanks!

Hawaii based production company and rental facility: Complete camera, grip, electric, and expendables. Alexa, Epic, Canon, Sony HD camera systems. Pro lenses & accs. ARRI, Mole, Kino. K5600, Dedo, Lite Panels - HMI, Incandescent, Flourescent and LED lighting. 1 Ton, 4 Ton, 5 ton G&E Pre-loaded trucks. Generators/Distribution. Fisher Dollies, sliders, cranes. Experienced union and non union crews. http://www.sightandsoundhawaii.com Bill Maheras Sight & Sound Studios, LLC 66 Queen Street, Suite 1705 Honolulu, HI 96813 ofc. 808-599-7600 FAX 808-599-7601 cell 808-754-0080

Hi Everybody, I am shooting a commercial for a company that produces kitchen gadgets and vacuum cleaners. (Intended for the web) I'll be shooting with canon mark III, i have access to pretty much everything that i need for lighting and grip. The studio floor is black, shiny, and very reflective. Back drop is very dark gray (almost like black) and non reflective. It'll start with a top shot of a woman, who struggles with a different brand vacuum and so on... I'll also have some close-up product shots(obviously) and etc. This is the first time I am working with this agency and I want to give them something different, of course, I don't want to re-invent the wheel but I sure can use some creative advice from whomever is available to spare me some of their time. Thank you,

So I have a shoot coming up and it involves a night time fight scene in a clearing in a forest. I am considering using an HMI Balloon Light just for general exposure from a moonlight source. Having never used a balloon light my question is would this be a smart choice even if its an expensive one? and if so how much can they run? I don't know the logistical aspects of setting it up but I assume its better than lugging a 12K and stand through the forest and in addition it wouldn't require as much repositioning as you moved though setups. Thanks! -Vince

Hi Everybody at the www.cinematography Forum, Thank you for everybody's wise words and great advice, I have come on a great amount since I have started following this forum. I have just finished a short film (about 35 minutes in duration) for my 3rd, and Final, year in University. I am studying 'Film & Television Production' in the UK and would love any creative/constructive criticism that people have so that I can improve/gain some skills. This is my first short film I have shot & lit myself although I have worked on other capacity's on some very small independent films. Here is a trailer that our group have produced, i'm looking for advice to do with camerawork/lighting rather than trailer editing (as I only had partial input on this). Obviously it goes without saying we don't have copyright for the songs used but this is okay for our module: This was shot on a 5D mk II (as is commonplace for student films). Many, many thanks for the time taken to watch the trailer and provide feedback. All the Best, Jonny Treherne

Hi, I'm looking for some advice on how to light a night time outdoor scene that is located alongside a road. There are some street lamps, but not many. This is a low budget film so looking to keep costs down. In the scene there is a conversation between two characters while walking along a path (some street lamps). There is then a crash scene (so will be able to use one cars headlights). If anyone has any ideas or tips as to the best way to light something like this I would be very grateful. Thanks

Hi All, I recently picked an ex88 rifa softbox to shoot talking heads. I recently tested it out and ran into an issue with hot spots on the subject's face. The silk on the rifa is 32x32 inches and I was also using the eggcrate. The source(1k) was about four feet from the subject. I didn't try using powder during the test. Is there anything else I can do with the softbox to avoid hot spots? Thank you for your insight and time!

Hi guys, How important is motivated light in your work? I often plague myself with trying to create logic around my light sources. However, I watch a lot of b-roll footage of movies, tv shows, etc. and it seems a lot of the lighting has very little logic. I don't think this a bad thing. I am just very conscious about keeping the audiences attention on the story as opposed to what I am doing. It seems by doing this I shoot myself in the foot a lot. I feel if I just lit the way I wanted, without obsessing about it's logic, I sometimes think my work would be better. What do you guys think? I would love to here from David Mullen on this! Thank you very much, Joshua Jones

Company Raises the Bar with Next Generation LED Panel Series (CHATSWORTH, Calif.) - Litepanels®, a Vitec Group brand and premier provider of LED lighting for the broadcast and production industries, has announced the release of its new ASTRA 1x1 Bi-Color panel. Building on the legacy of the company's original 1x1 fixture, which revolutionized the lighting industry, the ASTRA 1x1 sets a new standard for the form and function of professional LED panels. Following the Litepanels tradition of a one square foot form factor, the ASTRA 1x1 Bi-Color offers a light output that is up to four times brighter than the company's traditional 1x1 Bi-Color fixture, high CRI (Color Rendering Index), and user selectable active or passive cooling modes. The innovative daylight to tungsten tunable color model is the first in the company's new ASTRA line of panels, with additional fixtures in the series set to debut later this year. While the original Litepanels' 1x1 series was often imitated by competitors, its quality and performance has never been duplicated. In keeping with that tradition of excellence, the development of the next generation ASTRA product line was years in the making and every design element was meticulously crafted. "The original Litepanels 1x1 has been used on thousands of sets and shoots worldwide since hitting the marketplace," noted Chris Marchitelli, Vice President of Marketing for Litepanels. "We've always known that our next generation panel would need to push the performance envelope, so we approached our new ASTRA line very thoughtfully. We took our time, drew from our wealth of experience building professional LED fixtures, and accessed the wonderful feedback we've gotten from our loyal customers. The time, effort, research and development we put into the ASTRA series has produced an LED panel that is truly astounding, yet highly affordable. When you put your hands on this light, you'll see that we exceeded our own expectations." The ASTRA 1x1 Bi-Color panels are designed with select premium quality surface mount LEDs that are paired with custom designed TIR (total internal reflection) optics. The fixtures offer a tunable Bi-Color output, allowing users to adjust color from daylight to tungsten as needed. The high CRI LEDs have also been formulated to consistently deliver accurate color temperatures and visually pleasing color reproduction. Tightly binned LEDs and fine-tuned optics provide the new ASTRA 1x1 with higher intensity, a longer throw, and a wider effective beam spread than the company's original 1x1 fixture. This allows the panel to compete with strong exterior light sources or illuminate a large area effectively with a single fixture. Proper thermal management is the key to maintaining the long life and color accuracy of LED fixtures. To meet these demands, Litepanels' ASTRA 1x1 offers both passive and active cooling modes. The passive cooling mode provides a completely silent operation, while the active cooling mode enables an ultra-quiet fan module and double light output. An internal microprocessor monitors the temperature, minimizes fan speed, delivers smooth dimming from 100 percent to zero with no noticeable color shift, and ensures a completely flicker-free performance at any frame rate or shutter angle. With the addition of an optional communications module, the brightness, color temperature and cooling mode of the fixtures are all controllable via DMX512 protocol. Redefining the look of LED panels, the ASTRA series employs a modern, modular design. The modular-based ASTRA system currently includes a field replaceable fan module and the optional RJ45 DMX module with an LCD menu and function display. Additional wired and wireless communication modules are currently in development and will continue to be introduced to future proof the fixtures as new technologies become available. The unit's manual controls are ergonomically designed for ease of use in the field, ensuring ready identification of dimming controls, color controls, and power status. The new panels are produced with aluminum I-beam core construction to provide maximum durability and superior thermal management, and also feature strong, integrated aluminum accessory mounting points and lens/filter rails. The high impact, durable resin end caps feature downward angled exhaust vents carefully designed to direct air flow away from the fixture, minimizing obstructions and helping to prevent foreign materials from entering the panel. "The ASTRA line is a very exciting addition to the Litepanels family of products," commented Marchitelli. "We are always striving to set new standards and deliver the best in LED technology to our customers. We've done that with the ASTRA 1x1, which is likely the most versatile LED panel ever built. It's both sturdy and lightweight, flexible and strong, and provides a higher output and better color than has ever been seen before. We're especially pleased to be introducing this product at the Cine Gear Expo, as Los Angeles is where Litepanels got its start." The ASTRA 1x1's extensive list of features continues in the curved yoke design with a wide tilt range, dual integrated cable guides, and a combination yoke mounted power supply with a 3-pin XLR locking power connector and optional Gold Mount® or V-Mount battery plates. The yoke also features a removable TVMP connector and additional 1/4-20 mounting points. The ASTRA 1x1 Bi-Color panel will be available worldwide in the summer of 2014. For more information, visit Litepanels at www.litepanels.com or follow us on Facebook. # # # About Litepanels Litepanels, a Vitec Group brand, was founded in 2001 by five professional gaffers and engineers who saw the future and pioneered LED (light emitting diode) lighting for motion pictures, television, and the audio-visual industry. Their Emmy® award-winning technology has now been used on thousands of productions worldwide and is trusted by the world's leading broadcast organizations. Litepanels continues to expand its suite of flicker-free, color accurate, fully-dimmable soft lights that talent and lighting directors admire. These environmentally friendly fixtures can pay for themselves with power savings and long life, setting a new standard in professional lighting. More information can be found at www.Litepanels.com About the Vitec Group Capture the moment For over 100 years, through every innovation in photography, film and digital image-making, Vitec businesses have developed a powerful portfolio of brand and products that have enabled some of the most amazing moments to be captured under some of the most challenging conditions. Vitec is an international Group principally serving customers in the broadcast photographic and military aerospace and government (MAG) markets. Vitec is based on strong, well-known premium brands on which its customers worldwide rely. Vitec is organized in three divisions: Videocom, Imaging and Services. Videocom designs and distributes systems and products used in broadcasting and live entertainment, film and video production and MAG. Imaging designs, manufactures and distributes equipment and accessories for photography, video and events. Services provides equipment rental, workflow design and technical support for camera, video, audio, fiber optic and wireless technology used by TV production and film crews. More information can be found at www.vitecgroup.com. Media Contacts: ignite strategic communications 818.980.3473 Chris Purse: Chris@ignite.bz Sally Christgau: sally@ignite.bz

“Electricity is really just organized lighting.” states RagLite Engineer Sin Cohen. RagLite Technology has kicked off their Kickstarter campaign and is introducing a pioneering fabric mounted LED lighting system – TheRagLite. The RagLite line is a flexible line of LED studio lights that can be rolled up, RagLite Technology states that the RagLite is the first-ever flexible LED Light Bank. The RagLite was developed by Chad Soderholm and engineered by Sin Cohen. Read more at: http://www.motionpicturelightingandgrip.com/news/pioneering-fabric-mounted-led-lighting-systems-raglite-technology/