Ask David Mullen ANYTHING

[Peter Dmitriyev]

David is there a reliable way that you use to calculate roughly what size light units you'd need for particular outdoor scenes.

For instance, let's say you are shooting outdoors in a big field and you obviously know you need HMI's for mediums and closeups, do you at this point just choose units based on experience and by eye? Or do you actually use foot candle/lux calculations to determine how much throw/exposure you'd need at a given distance etc to determine which type of unit you'd need i.e. whether a 6k or 18k or etc.
And do you ever just rely on getting a bigger unit than you'd think you'll need just to be on the safe side?
I remember Roger Deakins said he calculated the foot candles needed etc for the big outdoor night mosco light set up in No Country For Old Men, but I wonder if that's just a special circumstance because that was such an ambitiously grand/rare shot to light, and whether most DP's just order units based on instinct for such circumstances or do you actually look up photometrics of a unit and choose based on your calculation of required footcandles at a given distance etc.?

[Carlos Prio]

David,

Have you seen or used the Arri L7 LED Fresnels???

Advise,
Prio

[Justin Marx]

Hi David,

Your are the man with the best info and I have a big dilemma.

This short film I am working on the director wants to shoot in a really dark alley. We do not have access to any of the buildings to place lights, and we only have 1-1.2khmi, 4-arri 1ks, and 4 lekos.

The action is a father and son walking in this "dark" alley, but I need to seem them in the distance (300') as we jib down. They can be in and out of the shadows, but do you think this is enough lights to make it work, and how do you not make it look "lit" when you can only get so high on stands in the alley and not on any rooftops?
I have dumpsters and telephone polls to hide the stands.

Thanks for the help!

[David Mullen ASC]

You could try doing a raking backlight on one side of the alley with the 1.2K HMI, hidden around one corner at the end of the alley, assuming you can't get a condor to get it above the end of the alley. You could, even just point the 1.2K HMI straight down the alleyway from the background, it would reflect off both sides of the alley, but then you may want to block the actual lamp head to camera, either with the actors' bodies as they approach or with some sort of object like a parking sign. This would look rather stylish however, not necessarily realistic.

If you can't get to the rooftops, the other idea is to put some practical lamps into the alleyway, like some sodium or metal halide fixtures, or some security lamps on walls. You can do a combo of all of these ideas, rake the background where the actors begin in dark / backlit, then have them eventually get into the light of a practical lamp.

If the walls have some shine to them, a small light right in the middle in the background would glance off of each side, making it seem brighter than the actual light would suggest. I lit the background corridor walls in this shot with a single vertical Kino tube hidden behind the split in the glass doors in the background; the tube reflected off of the walls of the hallway:

[David Mullen ASC]

David,

Have you seen or used the Arri L7 LED Fresnels???

Advise,
Prio

I've seen them at trade shows but haven't looked into them.

[David Mullen ASC]

David is there a reliable way that you use to calculate roughly what size light units you'd need for particular outdoor scenes.

For instance, let's say you are shooting outdoors in a big field and you obviously know you need HMI's for mediums and closeups, do you at this point just choose units based on experience and by eye? Or do you actually use foot candle/lux calculations to determine how much throw/exposure you'd need at a given distance etc to determine which type of unit you'd need i.e. whether a 6k or 18k or etc.
And do you ever just rely on getting a bigger unit than you'd think you'll need just to be on the safe side?
I remember Roger Deakins said he calculated the foot candles needed etc for the big outdoor night mosco light set up in No Country For Old Men, but I wonder if that's just a special circumstance because that was such an ambitiously grand/rare shot to light, and whether most DP's just order units based on instinct for such circumstances or do you actually look up photometrics of a unit and choose based on your calculation of required footcandles at a given distance etc.?

You can get the photometrics from the manufacturer for a really big job where you aren't sure -- I seem to recall that they ended up getting three Muscos for that scene in "No Country for No Men"...

Generally it's just experience from you and your gaffer, plus some hedging... you can always drop in a scrim if you are a bit too bright, just don't be too far off in your guess. Most DP's have lit a street many times and know what sort of stop they'd get with an 18K HMI on an 80' condor from a block away, and they can always spot or flood a bit if needed.

[Matt Ryan]

You could try doing a raking backlight on one side of the alley with the 1.2K HMI, hidden around one corner at the end of the alley, assuming you can't get a condor to get it above the end of the alley. You could, even just point the 1.2K HMI straight down the alleyway from the background, it would reflect off both sides of the alley, but then you may want to block the actual lamp head to camera, either with the actors' bodies as they approach or with some sort of object like a parking sign. This would look rather stylish however, not necessarily realistic.

If you can't get to the rooftops, the other idea is to put some practical lamps into the alleyway, like some sodium or metal halide fixtures, or some security lamps on walls. You can do a combo of all of these ideas, rake the background where the actors begin in dark / backlit, then have them eventually get into the light of a practical lamp.

If the walls have some shine to them, a small light right in the middle in the background would glance off of each side, making it seem brighter than the actual light would suggest. I lit the background corridor walls in this shot with a single vertical Kino tube hidden behind the split in the glass doors in the background; the tube reflected off of the walls of the hallway:

That's exactly what I did for an alley in my student film. No condors for these budgets. It turned out alright I think.
http://matthayslett.com/?portfolio=misdirection

[Ivan Kovax]

Hey David,

I have a pretty major shoot coming up I am shooting - it is to be an underwater greenscreen shoot on Epic. That is, the subject will be in a tank, the camera dry, outside the tank. Behind the subject, on the other side of the tank, a green screen. We will also possibly do this in slow mo.

My Lighting set up will be a diffused 5K HMI to one side as key, then 2x 2K HMIs on the other side as an edge light (of sorts). Additionally I would like to have a slight fill coming from beneath, more or less in front but clearly this would be seen in any reflection.

David - I have never shot underwater before, let alone underwater greenscreen... my question is, do you see any issues in my set up, and what advice could you give me that would help this go smoothly and avoid any issues in post prod?

Thankyou in advance,

Ivan

[Will Keir]

David,

Question about 45 degree shutter. It's used in Gladiator & Saving Private Ryan. Is it used in all of the scenes or just used in the action bits?

I sometimes have trouble getting enough light for 1/180 in the woods. I love the look. Using natural / outdoor lighting maybe I should look into faster lenses? Even gaining a more few stops from than my current F2.8, it doesn't seem like it can makeup for the exposure drop from 1/48 to 1/180.

Thanks in advance,

[David Mullen ASC]

Hey David,

I have a pretty major shoot coming up I am shooting - it is to be an underwater greenscreen shoot on Epic. That is, the subject will be in a tank, the camera dry, outside the tank. Behind the subject, on the other side of the tank, a green screen. We will also possibly do this in slow mo.

My Lighting set up will be a diffused 5K HMI to one side as key, then 2x 2K HMIs on the other side as an edge light (of sorts). Additionally I would like to have a slight fill coming from beneath, more or less in front but clearly this would be seen in any reflection.

David - I have never shot underwater before, let alone underwater greenscreen... my question is, do you see any issues in my set up, and what advice could you give me that would help this go smoothly and avoid any issues in post prod?

Thankyou in advance,

Ivan

I haven't done something like this; the main thing as always is getting a saturated and evenly-lit green screen that doesn't spill too much onto the subject, so getting the green screen farther back is generally a good idea. You may want to make sure that the sides of the tank don't reflect the green screen back into the rear glass.