Practical Lights at a stadium - High speed flicker?

[David Grauberger]

Howdy all,

 

I've got a project at a stadium coming up and we're looking to get some shots that look like this:

 

 

 

The entire project is high speed (120fps to 300fps) on an Epic Dragon. I plan to bring Hive lighting for our subject. But I'm wondering about the practicals within the stadium. We're scouting several possible locations, but in my experience, you just wont know what flickers until you boot up the camera and inspect the damage.

 

I'm not on a Roger Deakins budget of relighting the entire arena :) Does anyone have thoughts or ideas to counteract the potential flicker? I'd love to see the background (not turn them off and go dark), but I dont need the seats brightly lit. Just some detail in the shadows out there. And of course the dramatic look of them as practicals inside the frame.

 

 

 

[Stuart Brereton]

I don't think there's much you can do about the flicker. You see it all the time in slow motion replays on sports broadcasts. You may find a sweet spot in your frame rates that minimizes flicker, but I don't think you'll ever get rid of it.

[Robin R Probyn]

Ive been on and still actually shooting tomorrow on this production which is all in stadiums .. 90% slo mo.. football and baseball..

 

Its in Japan which weirdly has 50 Hz and 60 Hz areas.. base rate 25p.. what I found is 100fps 1/250th shutter in the 50Hz areas.. I haven't found any flicker off the flood lights so far.. in various stadiums .. in the 60Hz locations I shot 120 fps.. 1/250th .. and the same no flicker at all.. most big stadiums have up graded their lighting to get rid of the very thing Stuart mentions .. flicker on slo mo re plays.. TV is where the money is and they eventually got the message that this flicker was NG in this day and age.. but still in the 60Hz areas I would get flicker at 100 fps.. you just have to be in sync with the Hz.. so in the US 120fps should be fine.. but yes you can't see it in the VF when you shoot.. it might save a lot of grief if you could just get the camera down there to shoot 10 seconds and replay just to check ..but from about 10 stadiums Ive shot so far.. the 100fps/50 Hz... 120fps/60Hz has not given me flicker at all.. crystal clear.. sorry don't know about the higher frame rates..

[David Grauberger]

Thanks for the feedback Robin and Stuart. Thats good to hear that stadiums are changing over. Nice to get a nod from the lighting designers for the camera people. I guess I'll play when I get there on the scout and see what the damage is. Its in the US and hoping to shoot 120fps and up to 240fps. I was hoping to get to 300fps, but maybe we should keep it at 240 to help with the 60hz math. I'll update you guys on what I find.

 

cheers!

[Robin R Probyn]

Thanks for the feedback Robin and Stuart. Thats good to hear that stadiums are changing over. Nice to get a nod from the lighting designers for the camera people. I guess I'll play when I get there on the scout and see what the damage is. Its in the US and hoping to shoot 120fps and up to 240fps. I was hoping to get to 300fps, but maybe we should keep it at 240 to help with the 60hz math. I'll update you guys on what I find.

 

cheers!

 

 

Good luck .. acid test is of course shoot a bit and re play.. Ive been fine with 120fps.. 1/250th shutter.. at stadiums here in 60Hz areas.. but yes test is best..