Haze futile in this location?

[Graeme McMahon]

Hi,

 

Looking at shooting a day interior 'kung fu' fight in this location.

 

Director would like some haze for atmos. Due to the numerous set ups, I'm thinking to constantly 'haze up' this location, might slow the shoot down. Also, the warehouse isn't sealed, so I'm thinking a draft will quickly remove the haze.

 

There are sky lights there, but they they are so old that they are covered up like they have diff over them, so there goes the shafts of light.

 

Questions are, 1), is it feasible to haze up this location? 2), how many hazers would cover the area?

 

Thanks

[Mark Kenfield]

Certainly feasible, will just take time, and constant maintenance. Having multiple hazers on hand will certainly help speed things up.

[Phil Rhodes]

Any opportunity to test?

 

Haze and fog can fill big spaces, certainly. Wouldn't write it off. Depends on how fast any air leakage tends to clear it, which might even be down to the weather outside on the day.

 

P

[JD Hartman]

Anything is possible given a large enough budget. How much space is really needed? Could temporary walls be built to reduce the open space and contain the "smoke"? If the windows leak, block them off. Even heavy canvas will work. Anything you can do to reduce the drafts, air movement and volume necessary will make the task easier to accomplish. If the windows leak, block them off. Create your shafts of light with Zenons, HMI's or parcans with narrow globes.

[Stuart Allman]

Graeme,

 

One idea I might throw out for your location is to do like Roger Deakins did on Skyfall and use a set of high placed angled mirrors and narrow beam lights from the ground. That might give you some selective shafts of light, depending on how wide you intend to be. Maybe the shafts from "open" windows come from beside or slightly behind the camera if you need to use them sparingly?

 

Also, you might want to consider covering up some of those top windows to create pools of light to make the area look more dramatic. I'm not exactly sure if it will work well given the diffusion on the windows, but if you have adequate location setup time..what the heck? Maybe you can use some solids on the ground the actors to move in and out of shafts of light for mediums and close ups. If viewers are truly caught up in the action of the fight they probably won't notice the difference between the wide and medium light quality.

 

Then again, you could just "accidentally" take a crow bar to some of those top windows.

 

Stuart Allman

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