Need to create FLASH effect during scene

[J Costantini]

Hi,

I'm starting to work on a film in which we'll need to shoot a scene where lots of pictures are taken by a character and the director wants the flash lights to blink all the time to indicate the pictures being taken... I've seen how flashing looks on a cmos generated footage, so I would like to ask if there's any other way to emulate that lighting effect OR if you recommend any other 'low budget' not cmos-based camera. we're shooting digital of course.

 

Thank you very much.

[Adrian Sierkowski]

Shutters on your light; much like they used to use for morris code back in the day. Just flick open and closed quickly.

Or, if you wanted to go really cool; you could TRY to source old flash-bulbs; like the ones from the 30s cameras ect, which popped on quickly, then off. I had one once, but not knowing what it was.. screwwed it in.

[J Costantini]

Could it work if shooting film?

Edited October 14, 2011 by J Costantini

[Adrian Sierkowski]

Sure. It's one of the ways they used to do lightning.

[Tom Guiney]

How bad will it be? Aren't ccd cameras the ones that smear on bright points of ligt? Lightning strikes 2k "paparazzi flashers are pretty good and not too expensive, as are atomic 3000 flashers. What am i missing?

[John Sprung]

The problem with flashes and CMOS is that you get partial frames with the flash. So, the low budget workaround is to shoot without the flash, and just cut in white frames, or if you have a little more money, put in very bright frames in color timing. If you go that way, light it so that the flash sources kinda line up with your constant sources.

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[Bruce Greene]

Hi,

I'm starting to work on a film in which we'll need to shoot a scene where lots of pictures are taken by a character and the director wants the flash lights to blink all the time to indicate the pictures being taken... I've seen how flashing looks on a cmos generated footage, so I would like to ask if there's any other way to emulate that lighting effect OR if you recommend any other 'low budget' not cmos-based camera. we're shooting digital of course.

 

Thank you very much.

 

I have a small supply of old flash bulbs from the 1960's that I'm saving for such an occasion. Barring that, I'd go with the shutter over the light solution. I've used it for lightning in the past, and with a little practice, I think you could make some very convincing flash camera effects. The challenge will be to find one of these old shutters. They look like a metal venetian blind that you put in front of the lamp.

[Adrian Sierkowski]

Bruce; I am quite jealous of your flash-bulb collection!

[Chris Millar]

Packard shutters:

 

 

 

 

 

http://jbhphoto.com/...kard-8-shutter/

 

I've got that sized one here... 4.5" aperture - not sure why that one has two air pistons though.

 

Exposure equates to a 1/20 sec pop, which seems perfect for a full frames worth. Although that is an integration of accumulated light, the instantaneous exposure changes over time as the blades swing to reveal more and more then less and less light, So it might be longer in time, or less intense, not sure how they've decided to work with that communication conundrum.

 

Interestingly enough it's got a sync output which makes it backasswards emulating a flash - you might cook it too, but thats what IR dichroic filters are for

Edited October 25, 2011 by Chris Millar

[rob spence]

I read sometime ago that they used to mount say, three flashbulbs on a board and set them off at the same time...of course they would burn at infitesimely different times/rates

and this was enough to register the flash on film cameras...as a flash could conceveably go off when the shutter was closed and not register.