- 1 - - 2 - Cinematography Mailing List Lighting January 2001 to January 2005 - 3 - © Geoff Boyle 2005 Irelandlaan 42 Zoetermeer Netherlands 2713HM [email protected] - 4 - Introduction This book consists of edited conversations between DP’s, Gaffer’s, their crew and equipment suppliers. In common with the other CML books it doesn’t have the same structure as a “normal” film reference book. The discussions have occasionally been edited for clarity and brevity. They will sometimes ramble a little but that’s the nature of a conversation and some interesting information comes out in the process! All views expressed are those of the posters, please join CML and take it up with them if you have a problem! Please note! As with all potentially dangerous areas any electrical recommendations here may not work in your country of residence, they may even be illegal! check first! The aim of CML is to promote the free exchange of ideas among fellow professionals, the cinematographer, their camera crew, manufacturer's, rental houses and related businesses. As we have grown, we have added lists for HD, AC's, Lighting, Post etc. expanding on the original professional cinematography list started in 1996. These have memberships varying from around 1,200 to over 2,500 each. This book covers discussions on Lighting between January 2001 and January 2005. Join us and help expand the shared knowledge:- www.cinematography.net - 5 - - 6 - Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this book and especially the people who have helped to run CML and whose contributions are always under-rated. Shangara Singh Jessica Skippon Steven Gladstone Mart Weiss David Walpole Justin Pentecost Emmanuelle Suys I’d especially like to thank David Walpole whose efforts at extracting web pages from the discussions, and making sense of them, are the basis of this and future CML books. The website was created with Dreamweaver and the book is prepared with Word and Acrobat. Music from the Doors has been constantly playing in the background. Geoff Boyle Dawlish Devon January 2005 - 7 - - 8 - Cinematography Mailing List ...................................................................3 Lighting...................................................................................................3 Introduction...............................................................................................5 “Birdie” Par Lights..............................................................................13 200 - 400 Watt HMI’s .........................................................................21 650 Watt Dedo Light ..........................................................................25 Airplane Interiors ...............................................................................29 Back Light In 180 Degree Dolly ...........................................................35 Balancing Out Heavy Backlight ...........................................................39 Bat Lights (Batten Lights) ...................................................................41 Battery Powered Fluorescents.............................................................53 Black Light........................................................................................59 Lighting Cars On A White Cyc .............................................................63 Blacklight Filming & Exposure .............................................................71 Blue/Green Screen ............................................................................77 Candle Light .....................................................................................97 Chinese Lanterns ............................................................................103 Color Phasing – Fluoro Light & F900..................................................109 Dark Side Of The Light Meter............................................................115 Eyelights ........................................................................................131 Filming at night................................................................................137 Fluorescent Lamps ..........................................................................143 Fluorescent Light Flicker ..................................................................153 Frequency Meters ...........................................................................159 Gelling Windows With ND.................................................................165 Greenscreens .................................................................................167 Highly Reflective Objects..................................................................177 HMI Flickering.................................................................................185 Incident / Reflective Readings ...........................................................195 Just Shoot The Gaffer ......................................................................215 Kino Flo Divas.................................................................................229 Interior Of A Stretched Limo ..............................................................237 Kino-Flo Flicker ...............................................................................243 Lighting Ratios ................................................................................251 Lighting With Practicals ....................................................................255 Lightning ........................................................................................265 Lightning Strikes..............................................................................269 Lights In The Air – Condors...............................................................273 Lights In Water................................................................................277 Maxi Brutes ....................................................................................285 Mercury Vapour Lights .....................................................................291 - 9 - Meters ...........................................................................................295 Meters / Metering ............................................................................299 Moving Car Lighting Effect ................................................................321 Meters _ Again ................................................................................325 Neon’s ...........................................................................................331 Net & Scrims...................................................................................335 Night Interiors .................................................................................339 Odd Diffusion Material......................................................................347 Pin Spot Lighting Diamonds ..............................................................351 Practicals & Bare Bulbs ....................................................................355 Pulling The Plug In The Rain.............................................................363 Red Eye Effect ................................................................................375 Ring Light.......................................................................................383 Scrims ...........................................................................................389 Sharpest Lighting Source..................................................................393 Soft Sources & Light Fall Off .............................................................399 Spacelights .....................................................................................407 Strongest Point Source.....................................................................411 Talking Heads In Close Quarters .......................................................421 Tinting China Lanterns .....................................................................437 Tiny Flashes Of Light .......................................................................441 Tungsten Lamp Flicker @ 96fp..........................................................449 UV – Lighting ..................................................................................461 Xenon Flashlights ............................................................................465 - 10 - - 11 - - 12 - “Birdie” Par Lights “Birdie” Par Lights I was on a set the other day and noticed a fixture I was not familiar with. Maybe I’ve been living in a dark hole, but I’ve never seen them before. These are very small par cans which I believe are called “Birdies” or “Birdie”. A quick search around the net turned up several variations : Seems to be a Par 16 and Par 20 type which take various bulbs depending on configuration : MR16, E27base, E17base, etc. The have barn door options, gel frames etc. Several Questions : Anybody used these and can you comment? What is the size difference between a birdie Par 16 and Par 20? Any specific suggestions as to brand? Seemed to me having a half dozen of these might be a useful thing, especially since they seem to cost around $25-30 bucks w/o bulb. Comments? John Roche, gaffer NYC - 13 - “Birdie” Par Lights I used these a couple of years ago for a big bar scene. I told my Gaffer on the scout that wanted a bunch of small pin spot lights and he showed up with these miniature MR-16 Parcans. Cute little suckers. They weigh very little are stupid bright and are very controllable. A bit of Hampshire Frost or Opal in the gel