beam of light (smoke)

[Lorenzo Levrini]

Hey all, I've just been hired on a project that has a morning attic scene. The attic has a single window and I'd love to create the effect of a shaft of light coming into the otherwise dark attic. I have a 1000w parcan with medium beam bulb that would be ideal for the shaft, and I was wondering what kind of smoke/fog I should use to build up a fog level high enough to see the beam but low enough to still be able to see clearly.

 

Would this work?

 

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?Mod ... checkstore

 

Cheers!

[Chris Pritzlaff]

what kind of smoke/fog I should use to build up a fog level high enough to see the beam but low enough to still be able to see clearly.

 

 

 

 

I would use a haze generator - not a fogger or smoke machine as they will be too thick. The haze generator will put enough atmosphere into the room to see the effect of the beam while still allowing the camera to see the action. There are many types of haze generators out there - I particularly like the DF-50 for the way it disperses the haze and it hangs in the room for a fair amount of time...im not sure who makes it but check your local rental house

[Lorenzo Levrini]

Thanks Chris. I bought one of the aforementioned cans of smoke and this is a test still with a very mild spray of it. It's okay but looks to much like smoke so I may well hire the DF-50!

[David Mullen ASC]

You need more smoke than you think at first because it has to evenly distribute in a sealed, draft-free space -- smoke wants to move until it fills a space evenly. So you add more at first, it looks a bit cloudy & clumpy, but it evens out. That's why the DF hazemakers are better than a Mole fogger.

 

You may have to wave a flag around to waft the smoke and get it to break up and disperse.

 

If you want sharper beams that feel more like sunlight, you might try a Source-4 Leko (HMI or tungsten) with a narrow lens. Or a cluster of them, set to create parallel beams.

[John Sprung]

The other important thing here is that you want a really dark BG behind the shaft of light. That's what makes it stand out.

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.