Photo Flash Effect

[Bobby Earnhardt]

This dumb old gaffer needs to know if anybody can give me some input. I have a tabletop shoot next week that needs a paparazzi flash gag on product. Has anyone had experience with this on the Red? If we were shooting film I would use still photo strobes timed at 1/60 but wonder if the Red's refresh rate will accommodate that. Just want to make sure that every frame captures all of every flash. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Joel J. Feigenbaum]

Safest way to guarantee capturing the flash is to use old fashioned flash bulbs. They are getting harder and harder to find, but ask your prop guy. He should still be able to get them from a prop house in L.A. Can't remember which one still has a supply of them. But your prop guy should know, or just call around to the prop houses in town.

 

[David W. Jones]

Another option would be something along the lines of a DJ strobe or LED with a DMX controller.

 

[PatC]

I think you can do this pretty solidly in post.

 

[Erik Bien]

Normal xenon strobes used by DJs and stills shooters won't work: the maximum duration of a single flash from such a unit tops out at a few tens of milliseconds. Luminys Lightning Strikes are long-duration strobes specifically for motion picture applications. Old school flash bulbs tend to have much longer duration than xenon: Cress Photo still sells many different varieties.