12x12 Overhead question: Single black or double black net?

[Stephen Pruitt]

Hi there all. . .

. . . quick question.

I have a 12x12 frame and currently have a white silk, a single white net, and a double white net.

I was wanting to add a black net of some sort to use to knock down windows and for overhead lighting control, but I only want to buy one of them. Which one is likely to prove more useful? The single black (0.6 stops) or the double-black (1.2 stops)?

My original thought was to buy the single and to use two. . . the single white on top and the single black underneath, but I'm not sure if that makes any sense or not.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Stephen

 

[Jeremy 0sbern]

Hi Stephen,

In the 12x12 size, if you were only to buy one new rag, I think a 1/4 silk would come in handy in more instances than a single or double net. It's nice if you want to do an overhead and want to take the intensity of sun down a touch but you think a full silk is too much.

But as with everything, you need different tools for different situations, and everyone has a different approach to any lighting situation.

 

[D Fuller]

if it were my decision, I'd go for the double. I often use a double net over a practical window, where it's a lot less fussy than gel, and almost always invisible. In that situation, a single isn't often enough. I have never doubled up a white and a black, but I expect you'd see it if you used it on a window that appeared in a shot. Also, if you double two black singles, you get moire. Again, I don't know for sure if that would be a problem with a white and a back, but I'd want to test it before committing the cash.

 

[Joel Kaye]

Double for windows. I use single + double lot in bright light. It's hard to know exactly because different windows may have different coatings applied. Houses are often clear but commercial buildings are often treated where I am.

For overhead I like a single but I want the light quality to change so it would be a silk. Also, painters clear drop plastic is pretty good if you're not worried about sound (music videos?).

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

Then a double it is. . .

Yeah, I doubt if I could use a white and a black both on a window, but I like the slight softening effect that a white gives me on an overhead for a beauty shot outdoors, but it's the darn windows I'm mostly after.

Joel. . . a clear plastic sheet? How would that work?

Thanks guys!!!

Stephen

 

[Charles Angus]

I've used "clear" plastic sheets on windows I'm planning to blow out, and it's looked great.

I would go for a double net in your case.

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

Too funny, Charles. . .

I'm not sure what he was referring to the clear plastic, but I'm guessing it must have some sort of a tint to it. I'm sure it's cheap, so I'd love to know what it is and how to use it. These days, cheap is my friend.

Stephen

 

[Charles Angus]

The clear plastic I'm talking about is sold in huge sheets at the hardware store as "contractor-grade painting dropsheet". In appearance, it is similar to hilite or maybe opal (it's been a while). I double it up, usually.

With that stuff over the windows, it doesn't matter what's outside - it all just goes white. And the quality of light inside is gorgeous.

 

[Kip Kubin]

Get the double net and then an ultrabounce or grifflon and you'll be set.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

For darkening windows, a double -- a single only cuts down light by a half-stop, a double by one-stop (and generally if you are going to go through the trouble of gelling a window, most people start with ND.6 or ND.9, which are two and three stops). What's nice about a double net is that it not only takes some of the hotness down (just a bit though) but it softens the view. And it doesn't ripple in the wind like ND gel can...

 

[joshua csehak]

Nah, ND gels aren't hard to work with at all. Especially on old houses with weirdo security grates and peeling paint that sticks to your gaff tape better than the house. And they don't make any noise at all, even in cold Boston wind, so you never have to pull it taut with something like a broom. And don't ever bother getting more than one sheet -- rooms never have more than one window, so it's really a waste.

(Believe it or not, the shot actually looked good from inside, and we kept the gel from crackling.)

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

And don't ever bother getting more than one sheet -- rooms never have more than one window, so it's really a waste.

??? :sosp:

 

[joshua csehak]

??? :sosp:

I guess jovial sarcasm doesn't translate over the interwebs... Awesome as my ND/broom job is in the picture, I now prefer to double-net a window and be happy with it blown out a little. I've been noticing overexposed windows in various TV shows and movies lately, and it doesn't bother me. Heck, with the M-X sensor, it's not even that blown out at all, if you light the interior nicely.