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Help with Needs- Nets, Scrims, Silks, Flags etc.


Evan Samaras

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Hello everyone,

As a DP who continues to learn and grow his kit I have reached a point where I hope to be enlightened by the wonderful members of this forum. 

I have done some research on the matter and would now like to hear others thoughts and feelings.

A little background:  My kit is small. I own a few Arris, 300w, 750w and a 1k. I have plenty of tripods, and 2 c-stands with extension arms and grip heads. As I work in shaping light, I am beginning to think more about soft boxes, snoots, scrims, nets, silks, dots, fingers etc.The basic items other DP's like to have or make on set. Unfortunately I cannot afford to buy and try it all out. I have been shooting on on 16mm film and anticipate most (if not all) of my projects to be in 16.

I want to ask about your kit as a DP (or familiarity). 

-What do you love to have in your kit?

-What do you recommend as a necessity in ones kit?

 

Some differences I suppose are due to what's available with some varying degree of difference In the result.

I noticed some like to use black foil instead of snoots. I've been utilizing diffusion over the barn doors, while I suppose some might set diffusion into a frame and on a C stand.

My lights would also allow me to drop in scrims, instead of hanging them from a c stand. I suppose the distance and position effects the light.

 

Since most filmmaking equipment is expensive (even second hand) I do a lot of searching on craigslist.

I came across the following ad and inquired about it:

https://newyork.craigslist.org/jsy/pho/7037971673.html

I was provided with a link to Matthews that shows the kit at a cost of $2k for new. I was told "Price out the flex arms, add them in and my kit looks more like a bargain."

I found this same kit new from an established store for a much lower price.

I found a number of Flags, nets and scrims sold as kits.

It had me wondering, are there kits that DP's would recommend, or do others make variations of these based on their needs, likes and dislikes.

 

I look forward to learning from the community, and if there are specific books, reading materials and videos that you would recommend, please drop the info or link.

 

Thank you! 

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If I go out with a small lighting package, I'd probably get a few 18x24 and 24x36 solid flags, and maybe a 4x4.  Maybe the same in single and double nets as well.  Sort of depends on your lighting, and how many c-stands you plan on bringing with you. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

If you work with crews from varying locations, they will all have varying expectations (and language!) for what they want to use. 
If I were getting started in the lighting, grip, and electric category, I'd put my emphasis on the less glamorous stuff that people never fly with: c-stands, sand bags, a 24x36 flag kit, clamps, and a crate of 20-amp stingers. Then LED lighting (probably something from LiteMat, LitePanels, or Quasar).

Tungsten is great and I use it often, but I wouldn't buy any more. If you really like shooting with it, wait until the big rental shops have their sales/auctions, and pick up whatever you like at a bargain basement price. In my experience, any tungsten bigger than a 2K tends to go for super cheap.

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