Music Videos 16mm

Christophe Collette · January 22, 2007

Hi, I just landed my biggest gig so far, I am a bit nervous about it so I'd like to get an opinion on this. It will be two videos shot in two days in a large mansion. Walls inside the house are painted in soft muted colors, neutral, grays and beiges.... The house is huge and its got lots of window so I am shooting daylight stock, 7205. I have Cooke lenses and I might be lucky enough to get a swing shift system... The first day shoud be moody and deep, director wants a relatively strong backlight, tiny fill inside, tubes is what he asked for so that we can move really fast, bluish transfert.... The second day should be very bright and sunny, light spilling all over, flares at times, yellowish look... I have to figure out a lighting package which should suits those two looks, I know it is more or less a matter of exposure and transfert but I want to start the thing right... I do not have a tremendous amount of money for lighting but I have enough to afford a couple of HMI Fresnel 12ks, a few HMIs Fresnel in the 650w to 2k range and kinos. I figured, strong light from the outside, maybe slightly diffused through a 12x12. And talents are filled in with kinos hidden in various places inside the house, I thought of getting a chimera for one of my HMIs also...

I have used minimal lighting on my other sets prior to this, I never got anything over 6k before...So I am a bit nervous, there are a lot of new variables, steadycam operator, the director wants me to focus on lighting solely, he will call the frames... The talents are running around the house so its the house I light more than them except for the place they stop...

What are your suggestions??? I know the kino/HMI combination is not a favorite amongst monst DPs but I really need to find something that works real fast... Any other soft light options I should consider? How about a Soft Fresnel 2k? How does that look? How do I manage to get flares inside the house and still conceil my lights??

Well, anything that could help me here will be greatly appreciated! I am in over my head again!

Christophe

Christophe Collette · January 23, 2007

Ok, I am going to ask something simpler here! Maybe it will get my discussion going! I have this big house (maybe 60ft large) to light from the outside, it's covered in windows, I was thinking of a couple of HMI fresnels 12ks, or just one HMI Fresnel 18k, I can back up my light source a bit from the house, would one fresnel work good to cover a house, would it give me enough light and coverage diffused through a 12x12 silk? I have steadycam shoots were the talents run around the house so I need light coming through all the windows.

What type of stands would allow me to put a 18k 30-35ft up in the air?

Thanks!

C

Andrew Wheeler · January 23, 2007

Your not really going to be able to put anything 35ft in the air on a stand. You will have to look into getting some type of lift to go that high. The highest you can get on a stand ,and it would have to be a crank stand would be around 20ft with maximum load of about 150lbs which is around a 12k HMI. If you did this you would need it to be a day with absolutely no wind whatsoever. I really dont recommend this. Also, I dont know how big your crew is but , keep in mind a 12k needs at least 2 people preferably 3 to get up in the air and into the junior receptacle. I havent used an 18k but I have used 12k fresnels and on a bright sunny day it had to be less than 15-20 ft from the actors just for fill. So I'm thinking if it is a bright day the sun will be hard to compete with if you have your lights backed off the house, (depending on how it is coming in the house.)

I would suggest getting a few 12k's. I dont have a lot of experience with these bigger lights so hopefully someone here will chime in with some more suggestions for you. GOod Luck on your shoot!

chris kempinski · January 23, 2007

Try to hide your smaller hmi's up stairways or down halls that aren't seen.

Take time to light and make sure they block everything well so there are

no Surprises once they shoot.

Forget about the 12X12 and just pound the 12K's straight in if

they are backlights anyways.

There's is nothing wrong with mixing hmi's and kino. It's done every

day. Most DP's have a preference, I prefer a 1200 or 575 bounce

rather than a 4X4 kino, that's me. Have your Gaffer hand hold a small kino or

pocket par chimera behind and off to one side a bit of the steady cam. A battery

belt and a bit of creativity can keep cables and op out of the way of each other.

This will give a nice eye light and fill while running through an entire house.

It sounds fun, it's a music video so don't be afraid to take some risks.

Good luck and be safe.

Chris

Oh and Andrew is right it sounds like you need man-lifts to get that high.

Christophe Collette · January 23, 2007

Thanks guys! I'll look into this... I also thought of getting a couple of HMI 6ks PAR instead, but they might be too hard, I have not used these either... Can these be put on hydraulic stands??

Thanks!

Christophe

Matt Workman · January 23, 2007

Do you have a key grip of gaffer? They should be able to help also.

Cheers,

Matt

Ed Nyankori · January 24, 2007

Im going to get a little philosophical here. Go with what you know! You got the gig on your own merits right; so why would you want to start experimenting when your director wants to go quickly. Certainly the big lights through a 12x12 would make for a nice look but they require alot to move around and may not be necessay for your material.

If you're not feeling it, who will?