» Posts Tagged ‘lighting’
Right around this time last year, we reported about LED film/video panel maker Litepanels and their attempt to monopolize the market in the United States. The patent complaint they filed sought to stop the import and sale of any LED light designed for film/video work. This case has wide-ranging consequences, and it seems that the judge in the case now has a preliminary recommendation. More »
At NAB this year, Zacuto introduced their PlaZma 1×1, which is brighter and softer than equivalent 1×1 LEDs. The new light uses relatively new charged microplasma technology, which is also being used in products from companies like Hive lighting. They were originally set to release the light by the summer, but production has been held up so that color rendition and reliability could be improved, and it looks like the light will begin shipping early next year. Here is a video interview with Steve Weiss from Zacuto about the light — the PlaZma light portion is at the end (click forward to around 7:40): More »
This article is a continuation of the series “Visual Anatomy of a Scene”. See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. This post will conclude the series about the “One Click Away” project. I’ll discuss some creative visual illusions that we created “in camera” for the project. Although techniques involving green screen compositing are often the best solution to creating visual effects, I like to consider “in camera” effects whenever possible because they usually feel more organic and real. More »
Less Than 48 Hours Left to Support The Kick Light on Kickstarter: Update on Features and Accessories
You might recall that last month I wrote about The Kick –a camera mounted LED light that you can control with the iPhone– and what it’s features could mean for the future of studio lighting. The makers of The Kick have less than 48 hours to go on their Kickstarter campaign, and have shared more information about the Kick’s features and upcoming accessories: More »
Shane Hurlbut –that never-ending font of cinematography knowledge– has another great DIY solution on offer. This time he tackles the simulation of fire light. In the past, Hurlbut had used various approaches to creating fire-like lighting, but none gave him the realism that he wanted to achieve. So for The Greatest Game Ever Played he dreamt up a better way: The Medusa. More »
This article is a continuation of the series “Anatomy of a Scene.” See Part 1 and Part 2. In this post, I’ll discuss the use of some non-traditional lighting sources that we used for the “One Click Away” project. These low light level sources would require a very light sensitive camera. First, I’ll discuss our choice of camera (Sony PMW-F3) overall. More »
This article is a continuation of the series “Anatomy of a Scene.” See Part 1. The purpose of this series is to help emerging filmmakers improve their craft by sharing techniques (how something was done) as well as presenting the creative rationale behind the choices (the “why”). I’m not presenting my work as a model of artistic perfection and I don’t expect readers to agree with all of my choices. My intention is to analyze a sample of work to encourage other filmmakers to explore their own creative process of interpreting a project visually. More »
At CineGear 2012, there were some interesting developments in lighting, particularly Kino Flo’s Celeb LED Panel, which allows for 5 customizable color temperature presets ranging from 2700K to 5500K. But aside from that, the features of the Celeb and the other lights shown at the expo were pretty much what one would expect from a typical studio light: a color temperature ranging somewhere between tungsten and daylight, dimmable bulbs, and either soft light panels or harder lights in the form of adjustable fresnel fixtures. But what if there was a studio light that more fully took advantage of the low heat, low power draw, and color changing abilities of LED’s? It might look something like The Kick: More »
Wondering what new filmmaking tools were on display at Cine Gear 2012? Our friends over at FreshDV were there to cover the expo, and have posted videos on the newest gear from Cinevate, Kino Flo, Hive, Kessler, and many others. Check out their first 7 videos on their Vimeo playlist (with more videos to be added to the playlist today and tomorrow): More »
This is the first article in a series written for filmmakers specifically interested in learning more about the craft filmmaking from a visual perspective. In this series, I will “dissect” scenes from some of my more interesting projects as a Director of Photography and discuss the visual aspects of creating these scenes from both an aesthetic and technical perspective. I think that it is equally important to explore the creative thought process (the “why”) as well as the nuts and bolts (the “how to”). I’ll start by profiling a recent project called “One Click Away.” This was an ambitious and visually challenging project with a modest budget. More »
Just as Cine Gear Expo 2012 is opening, Litepanels is unveiling a brand new line in their successful and award-winning 1×1 LED panel series. While the 1×1 panels have been coming down in price since their arrival, they certainly are not a budget solution in the world of lighting in terms of output. With the new LS line, they hope to address that very issue, while still providing the same durability and virtually heat-free operation. More »
We’ve covered plenty of tutorials before, but most recently, we featured a particularly useful interview lighting demonstration from stillmotion, which is designed to be a complement to their SMAPP iPhone application. This application was conceived to teach new filmmakers about all of the creative choices that going to making different types of videos. Embedded below we’ve got another tutorial, but this time instead of interview lighting, we are introduced to a deconstruction of creative film lighting and how different lighting setups can be used to enhance the mood of a scene. More »
Say what you will about Shane Hurlbut, but there aren’t too many professional Directors of Photography who take the time out of their crazy schedules to try to give back to the community. Shane’s most recent work that we’ve covered here was the Canon-sponsored film “The Ticket,” shot in 4K on the Canon 1D C. While I saw that film at NAB (and wasn’t too crazy about the quality of the footage coming out of that camera), it doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s a professional DP who knows a thing or two about lighting. In his newest blog post, he gives a good run-down on how to use smoke to achieve different lighting goals. More »
Two Interview Lighting Tutorials That'll Kick Your Footage Up a Notch
So you’re getting ready to interview that expert for your short documentary, and you want to review your interview lighting technique. Or maybe you’re just looking for an introduction to lighting in general — where do you look? Check out these two interview lighting tutorials — not only are they a great review of the basics, but they each do a great job of illustrating just how every light can help shape the subject and tone of your footage: More »
LED lights present a number of advantages — they tend to be more energy efficient, don’t give off as much heat, and should (in the future) have the ability to replicate various color temperatures without the need of gels. But they also have their cons, primary of which is the difficulty in mixing them with existing tungsten lights and other incandescent lighting, and a tendency to cast a blueish tinge. With that in mind, Art Adams, over at the ProVideo Coalition blog was approached by PRG to do a LED light shootout that compared a variety of LED lights with a standard tungsten light. The results are pretty interesting for anyone interested in seeing the state of LED lighting vs tungsten: More »
Litepanels, a well-known manufacturer of LED lighting solutions, is apparently trying to block the import and sale in the United States of other LED film/video lighting products based on a complaint filed with the United States International Trade Commission. This would represent a threat to the prices and availability of LED lights, which I’m a fan of for their low energy draw and cool temperatures. I’m not well-versed in patent law, legal complaints, or anything legal for that matter, but at NextWaveDV Tony Reale has posted the following video: More »
On-camera lighting is mostly used for ENG/documentary filming, but in a pinch it can be used to subtlety add to a dramatic scene. Especially in tracking shots, you’ll often see a grip walking a Kino-Flo alongside the camera, to keep a consistent light in the talent’s eyes. Of course, that’s not really “on-camera” lighting; while cheap LED lights that mount to a camera’s hot shoe are not going to offer the same quality, for news gathering and other uses they can certainly be handy. Thanks to Frank Glencairn, we now have a shootout between five different LED options, four of which are in the sub-$100 range. More »
Regardless of whether you think Po Chang’s The Last 3 Minutes is a rip-off of Chris Milk’s Last Day Dream, the DP of the former film, Shane Hurlbut, has posted a series of very interesting behind-the-scenes videos from the making of the short. Despite the use of low-cost DSLRs, the video had a sizable budget, apparent in the amount of equipment and size of the crew employed on the shoot. Shane’s done a very helpful voiceover, illustrating several clever shooting and lighting techniques: More »
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