ETC Source 4: Creating outdoor atmospheric light

[omar robles]

So I am helping out with a music video that shoots soon and the artist showed me a picture of a spotlight rim lighting another musician from behind. He asked me to recreate that look. I looked up the type of lights that could do that effect and i came across the ETC SOURCE 4 to get that spotlight type effect. However I realized the picture he showed me was done in doors with a lot of smoke filled in the room. Were shooting this outside so i dont know if its even possible to create a haze to create those shafts of light. Is there something i havent thought about in terms of getting that effect outdoors? Is there another light that could do it without the ability to haze up the enviroment?

 

[Mark K.]

Depends entirely on how big your budget is. I'm going to assume it's not all that big, and without access to a hazer - you'll have to do something like shoot out on some dry dusty dirt, then have either a car or some crew members with brooms go wild behind the musician (to get dust up into the air) and then have them run of frame quickly whilst you shoot.

 

[Robert Hart]

I think it was either Charles Papert or Shane Hurlbut who posted about needing to get a low-budget outdoors war at night shot done and money for smokers was a bit tight. I vaguely recall their best smoker was an old rear-catcher rotary lawnmower and maybe two-stroke oil in the fuel and the exhaust redirected into the blade shroud. It would not want to be a union job you turn such a beast loose on. I guess if it came to desperate measures, a gas barbecue, smoke fluid dripped onto the hotplate and a yard blower might do the job. Any of these backyard solutions will be noisy.

 

[Matthew J]

Honestly, if you are going to burn oil, you might want to look into burning actual hazer fluid. I know the stuff I have is oil based, but i don't know if it's flammable or not. Would be good to take a look and see since it would be much healthier to breath in than motor oil.

 

[Ariel Weiss]

smoke machine is not expansive but if you want that effect outdoors you need something very powerful and daylight. look into xenon

 

[Eric M Hurt]

If you plan to shoot outside during the day (and you happen to shoot on a sunny day) then the biggest issue is not how much smoke but the fact that any smoke will be illuminated by the sun thereby negating the shafts of light you are putting through it. You will basically be shooting in haze. Either do it at night outside (on a still night) or in find a giant space inside and haze it a bit so the shafts of light show up. The pictures of the shoot attached were done with a decent size smoke machine, but mainly only using a bit behind the band to get the shafts to lightly show up.

[/COLOR]

 

[Matthew Scott]

If you plan to shoot outside during the day (and you happen to shoot on a sunny day) then the biggest issue is not how much smoke but the fact that any smoke will be illuminated by the sun thereby negating the shafts of light you are putting through it. You will basically be shooting in haze. Either do it at night outside (on a still night) or in find a giant space inside and haze it a bit so the shafts of light show up. The pictures of the shoot attached were done with a decent size smoke machine, but mainly only using a bit behind the band to get the shafts to lightly show up.

[/COLOR]

Great advice, awesome result....Thanks for sharing

 

[Eric M Hurt]

So I am helping out with a music video that shoots soon and the artist showed me a picture of a spotlight rim lighting another musician from behind. He asked me to recreate that look. I looked up the type of lights that could do that effect and i came across the ETC SOURCE 4 to get that spotlight type effect. However I realized the picture he showed me was done in doors with a lot of smoke filled in the room. Were shooting this outside so i dont know if its even possible to create a haze to create those shafts of light. Is there something i havent thought about in terms of getting that effect outdoors? Is there another light that could do it without the ability to haze up the enviroment?

One additional idea if you really wanted to shoot outdoors with shafts of light:
find a structure of some type like an old free standing wall with holes in it or a bunch of trees that the sun sets behind. Wait until the sun is behind the trees or structure and there are shafts of light poking through the structure and hitting the backs of your subjects. You can then haze those shafts. The shafts of light will stand out if they are broken up but of course you won't have much time to shoot. You will also need to fill the subjects from the front.

 

[Joshua D. Lassing]

Also consider that haze will affect the hue of your skintones in post color, so make double sure that the density of the fog is consistent, as you start rolling through takes, punching in etc. and if you're not incredibly mindful of it, you'll find that some shots will be softer / different skin tones than others. It seems like a 'duh' thing to say, but I AC'd for a reasonably budgeted music video and the DP didn't really seem to mind huge inconsistencies at all, deep down, it's something that kindddaaaa grinded my gears. I couldn't help but to throw this bit' of advice out there.