Tips and Tricks

[Jim Brennan]

Okay, here's one where I really need your participation. If you have anything to contribute, post it.

I was on a shoot yesterday where a lot of stuff went wrong. Some of it was under our control (I tried to use a faulty power strip to run power to a teleprompter), and some of it was not (we could not get the HVAC system shut off). We all survived, and the footage looked great (in case you were wondering).

At one point, we lost a light due to what I though was a bad lamp. I had a spare and changed it, but it still didn't work, so we had to change lights. The problem was that it was the lowest wattage light in my kit, and I had neither scrims for the replacement, nor ND gel to knock the light down from the replacement head, and the room was too small to move the light back (it was a hairlight).

So, I threw some full CTB gel on there, knowing that it should knock down the light by a couple of stops. It helped, but it was still a bit too hot, and looked (as you would expect) a bit blue. Not a bad thing, as the woman we were shooting had dark hair, and was wearing a lavender top. But it still wasn't right. So Paddy (yes, the Paddy who says he knows nothing about 'tech stuff') said I should put on another one. I told him I couldn't, because it would look even more blue. So he says, 'well, what about a different color?" I threw a full CTO gel on there along with the CTB which knocked it down another stop and canceled out the 'blue' effect of the CTB. Good work Paddy.

So, this is a long winded story that will show you 2 things:

1) Using full CTO with a full CTB acts pretty much like an ND gel because the 2 colors cancel each other out.

2) When there is a problem on a set, make suggestions. Yeah, they may be crazy, and may not work at all. But, on some occasions they may solve a very big challenge.

What do you have? Cheap alternatives to pricey gear? Do-it-yourself projects that have paid off? Special techniques that have been really effective?

Anything?

[Zee]

I would probably have tried to bounce it and use a flexfill or bounce board off of that to fill the face. Maybe even have grabbed whatever table lamp I could find and set it where it looked best--probably propped up on phone books on a chair. Ha! Although I guess the latter would not work for anything but CU and ECU.

[Jim Brennan]

Yeah, bouncing like that can often work, but since it was a hair light we needed something a little harder.

Good ideas Zee.

[Zee]

Diffusion helps a lot. I keep a half dozen types on me...love the stuff

[Jim Brennan]

Tip of the Day: USE A MONITOR I learned this one early. Even if all you have is old 13" TV, it's better than just trusting the viewfinder or LCD on your camera. If nothing else, it allows more than one person to monitor the shot,(hence there's a better chance someone will see potential problems), as well as giving you something larger than a business card to judge your framing and composition.

You can't rely on a TV for accurate color, or underscan (which shows you everything the camera sees), and most TV's cannot switch between aspect ratios, so if you can get a production monitor, you are even better off. BUt, if nothing else, run a cable to a little TV. It helps a lot, and you may have one just lying around.

[Jim Brennan]

Tip of the Day: CABLE ORGANIZING Here are two videos that show you how to properly coil a cable:

video 1
video 2

There are few things that slow down the set up of a shoot than tangled cables. The simple "over-under" way of coiling will not only save you hours, but it will give you something to ride the newbies about when they do it wrong. Learn it, practice it, know it, live it. It's good for electrical cables, audio cables and video cables. This doesn't just save you time on the set, but also helps your cables last longer. If you wrap them around your forearm, as most people do, you twist them up.

Other cable tips:

Run audio and electrical cables perpendicular to each other. Don't run them side by side as this can cause interference to the signal.

Tape your cables down. You don't want some knothead tripping over a loose coil and pulling down a 100,000 dollar camera.

Label your cables. There are little tabs you can buy (or you can make your own), where you can code length and type of cable.

Never pull on a cable to get it out of a socket. Your Mom probably taught you this when you unplugged the vacuum by yanking on the cord. She was right. At least that time.

You can tie your cables off by connecting the ends or with twine as shown in the videos. You can also use bongo ties or velcro straps.

Cables are no less important than any other piece of gear in your kit. Treat them well and they will return the favor.

[Haylar Garcia]

Make your soundman put his car keys in that refrigerator he is turning off for the shoot!

Otherwise you will piss off your location owner by destroying everything in their icebox.
If the soundman's keys are in the fridge, he cannot leave without being reminded to plug it back in.