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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Ask David Mullen ANYTHING

I am sorry, I missed two important details in my question.
1)As I cannot match the color, I want to shoot completely at night and using only work lights
2)When I mentioned 200/300, I intended Number of lights, not tungsten wattage.
Hope my question is clear now.
 
I am sorry, I missed two important details in my question.
1)As I cannot match the color, I want to shoot completely at night and using only work lights
"In other words, a 250w tungsten worklight is not a substitute for an 18K HMI."
2)When I mentioned 200/300, I intended Number of lights, not tungsten wattage.
Hope my question is clear now.
 
Hi visakk,

Sorry if I sound impudent by answering this in place of David Mullen (and I'm sure he'll have much more to say than I do!), but one issue to watch out for is flicker.

I don't know what wattage work lights you have available to you, but generally, in my experience, they tend to be ~500w units. Due to the relatively small filament size of these flicker can be a problem at high framerates due to the filament "cooling" in the down cycle of the AC power. It probably won't be a problem at 120fps, but you might want to test the specific units in question before a shoot, just to be sure...
 
Well, certainly hundreds of 500w (if that's what they are, for example) lamps is a lot of light output, but then you have hundreds of extension cords to power them, you have to mount hundreds of lights to something usually. And if running them off of household power, then you can only load each circuit with 20 amps, which may be only three or four worklamps per circuit (not per outlet).

Worklamps are OK... but they are hard to gel, hard to control spill from, hard to aim/focus. I'd use them for a beginner's lighting package for bouncing and whatnot, but I wouldn't invest in hundreds of them -- if I had that much money, I'd start looking into some used movie lamps.

You have to ask yourself if you've got the power for hundreds of tungsten worklamps, like from a generator, it may be easier to deal with some 9 or 12-light MaxiBrutes or something if you need a bright backlight for a slow-motion rain sequence.

Let's say you are happy with the noise of the RED at 1000 ASA. So you need to compensate for running the camera at 120 fps, which is about 2 1/2 stops compared to 24 fps -- that means lighting your night exterior to something like a 160 to 200 ASA level. Possible with worklights in medium shots but probably not wide shots or where the lights are far back, like on a three-story apartment rooftop.
 
Regarding hiring AC's, I just worked with a great one in NYC, Frank Rinato. I basically got his resume, liked his credits, saw that he's done a lot of night work (which tends to be near wide-open photography). I interviewed him, liked his quiet professional demeanor, hired him.

The thing with AC's is that you have to consider things like whether they've done a lot of A-camera 1st AC work or just B or C-camera 1st AC work. Sometimes when all someone has done is day-played here and there, you don't really know how good they are, or how well they can supervise a camera crew and equipment package over a long feature shoot. It's not just about focus-pulling.

There are unique qualities that an A-camera 1st AC on a narrative feature film has to have compared to someone shooting one or two day commercials, or pulling focus on the occasional B or C-camera. They are really part of the storytelling process -- they have to understand dealing with actors and sensitive scenes, about timing focus to emotion and dialogue. And they have to be in it for the long haul, day after day.

Good 1st AC's can be a bit temperamental sometimes, it's hard to describe without seeming like an insult, but the good ones are somewhat anal-retentive, it's such a demanding job that requires precision yet speed. They can be a bit like racehorses sometimes, the good ones. The really mellow ones are easier to work with of course, but I always get nervous when the 1st AC is too relaxed... :wink:

As for finding indie feature DP work, it's mainly about meeting directors and producers, the only people that can hire you. If that means doing some freebee short films now & then, working with recent film school graduates, whatever, that's what you have to do to build-up those contacts. It's a snowball effect, one feature credit at a time.

If "Northfork" had gone through a D.I., it would have looked a little different, not worse or better, just different. However, there is something unique about using the silver retention process on the prints (as we did) because you then can go beyond the D-max of the print stock and get these beautiful blacks with this silver grain in the image, which is wonderful. It conjures up some of the expressive textural qualities of b&w photography, that "sootiness".
 
Hey David, after I tracked down some more of your diaries and read them, it seems you often smoke internal scenes. So for medium rooms (living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, etc), what is your hazer of choice?
 
Do hazers or smoke machines damage mechanics in tape camecorders (DV, HDV)???
 
Well considering it's evaporated Oil I would say in large quantities yes. but for most of my shoots we keep the door on the camera closed ;) i'm sure you could cause some issues if you aimed the fogger right into the camera body.
 
Mike Prevette said:
Well considering it's evaporated Oil I would say in large quantities yes. but for most of my shoots we keep the door on the camera closed ;) i'm sure you could cause some issues if you aimed the fogger right into the camera body.
Click to expand...

Does this apply to normal fog machines too. I have no idea what their fluid is composed of.
 
They are all similar, sort of a water-oil mixture that is heated up. With the cheap ones, I'd put a piece of cardboard underneath because it can get oily right around the nozzle, on the ground. I haven't had any real problems with a video camera or other electronics.

Making sure smoke detectors are turned off, now that's a problem. Always warn the locations person that you will be using a fogger so he can get the alarms turned off.
 
David Mullen ASC said:
I have certain gaffers and key grips (and 1st AC's) that I try to get hired on first, but often either they are not available or I am working on a distant location where the production wants me to hire locally. So I have to interview new people now & then for different shows.
Click to expand...

Thx David
 
I've had a bit of an addiction to these devices and there light refracting qualities as well.

I too have found the "hazers" to be much finer and hang in the air much longer.
A "stadium hazer" ( I think it can run constantly for like 72 hrs or so)
is definitely the way to go (Foggers suck! I still use them when forced:pinch: )

...However
I worked on a show where practically every interior shot was Hazed. After a few rigorous weeks of this, we started getting an error with the camera (Varicam). We ended up switching it out for another, I guess the heads got gummed up and needed to be cleaned?

I don't know if it's a different fluid, or the Hazer just emits a finer mist(?) but it eventually finds it way into minute areas.
We also set off alarms, even ones that were covered with Gaff tape...
 
Billy.Summers said:
I've had a bit of an addiction to these devices and there light refracting qualities as well.

I too have found the "hazers" to be much finer and hang in the air much longer.
A "stadium hazer" ( I think it can run constantly for like 72 hrs or so)
is definitely the way to go (Foggers suck! I still use them when forced:pinch: )

...However
I worked on a show where practically every interior shot was Hazed. After a few rigorous weeks of this, we started getting an error with the camera (Varicam). We ended up switching it out for another, I guess the heads got gummed up and needed to be cleaned?

I don't know if it's a different fluid, or the Hazer just emits a finer mist(?) but it eventually finds it way into minute areas.
We also set off alarms, even ones that were covered with Gaff tape...
Click to expand...

I wonder if that's an issue for Red, since so much air is pulling through the camera. I realize the actual electronics are sealed off, but just something to consider with care and maintenance.

IBloom
 
On the other hand, RED has no recording heads, which seems to be the main problem when it comes to the oily mist from hazzers and foggers.
 
Mechanics stinks! :sick:

I am sure with the RED you can save yourself of infinite mechanical errors!!! :love:

I once met an documentarist who got a camcorder messed up because he was recording near a volcano!!! :waaa: :waaa:
 
Billy.Summers said:
I don't know if it's a different fluid, or the Hazer just emits a finer mist(?) but it eventually finds it way into minute areas.
We also set off alarms, even ones that were covered with Gaff tape...
Click to expand...

This is why you get the location owner to isolate the fire alarm in whatever area you're in.
 
David, have you yet shot with the Red and do you have any plans to use it on a feature?
 
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