Clamps

What are the differences between a cardellini and mafer clamp? What are 2 different uses for them on set? If you had to ask someone to go grab a cardellini clamp out of a box, how would you describe it to them?

Mafer clamps can be used to clamp around circular objects such as poles and stands. It can be used to mount another light on a stand already in use. Mafer clamps occasionally comes with baby pins in them which can be altered for many other kinds of clamps. Cardellini clamps hold onto objects such as tables and pieces of thick wood. It can also be used to hold reflectors and white boards onto stands. Cardellinis, when explains to another party, can be explained as a large, steel, clip attached to a medium length pole.

Drip VS. Electrical Dept.

What are 3 key differences between the grip and electrical department on set? What is one thing from this video that adds to your understanding of what the grip department does?

1. Grips are in charge of controlling the light, rather than setting it up. This includes diffusion, gels, and barn doors.

2. Gaffer works with the lights and cables; anything that has to do with electrical power will be handled by the gaffer.

3. Grips also work with the camera department with the camera movement.

The entire film crew is like a relay of information. the information usually starts from the director, organizing the information according to people's professions.

Basic Grip Gear

Your gaffer has tasked you with packing up a grip package for your current film noir shoot. Create a comprehensive list of all of the gear that you would need for your grip package. Be detailed! use the jargon and terminology that you have learned so far. You should easily have over 10-20 items.

1. grip box
2. fresnel light fixture (3)
3. sift box
4. power strip
5. light dimmer (3)
6. A clamp
7. C47
8. black wrap
9. cables
1. stingers
10. gobo head (4)
11. C-Stand (4)
12. Mafer clamp (2)
13. Flashlight
14. Reflectors

RJFS Grip Equipment

In a detailed paragraph answer the following:

1. What are 3 key things that Dominic goes over in this video?
2. What is important to keep in mind when building a large frame?
3. What is one new thing that you've learned from this video?

Platypus is mostly used for bounce boards that are attached to a C-stand. They are relatively easy to to handle, as is the Cardellini. This has two different types including the center jaw type and the end jaw. These can attach to various things ranging from poles to stands. A gobo head, also known as a grip head, can be used to secure different grip equipments onto it. A big frame requires  four corners and ears in order to create the desired size frame. I learned that there are multiple variations of a similar function for different sizes of pins or lighting fixtures. In the end, all of these variations are necessary in order to create all of the desired lighting fixtures safely.

Thursday, January 24th

In a detailed paragraph answer the following:

1. What is the role of the grip department? What are their responsibilities?
2. What is the Key Grips role in that department? What are their responsibilities?
3. What are two new things that you've learned from this video?

The grip department collaborates with the Cinematographer and the Gaffer in order to sculpt the light into the desired look. Overall, they are responsible of overlooking the general safety and welfare of the cast and crew. The Key Grip is the department head who participates in the preparation while collaborating with the Cinematographer and the Gaffer. Here, the scrip is broken down, location is scouted, and special equipment is prepared. There are multiple reflectors that help reflect the light in many different ways. When it is too bright, negative fill can be used to creates shadows within the frame.

Using Flags

In a detailed paragraph answer the following:

1. What is the purpose of flags? How can they be used to shape light?
2. What are cookies? How do they affect the image?
3. How can you combine these instruments to shape your light?

Flags kill unwanted spill that created unintended shadows in unwanted places. This may help bring about contrast into the scene as a negative fill. Cookies can help create a pattern with the light to add texture into the scene. This is add subtle detail in a bland scene. By combining these instruments, unwanted spilled light can be tamed to create the desired look. 

Current Project Status

What is the current status of your current project? What are the challenges you are facing during production? Why is it over due? What are 3 immediate actions you can put into effect to finish principal photography and begin post production?

I have finished shooting all the scenes that need to be shot on the stage and all of the equipment have been put away. The only scene left is the one outside where David gets fatally shot. On Tuesday, I will be considering how to light the scene so that I can start shooing on Wednesday. Some challenges in the shooting include actor availability and insufficient experience in lighting. It could be considered "over due" the production started later than expected because it took unexpectedly long to change the wall setup and the create the set. Starting from the 11th, however, I would consider the shooting schedule to be one time. Both cast and crew have been on task and the project would mostly likely finish shooting by Thursday. Some tasks I have left until post production includes establishing the lighting setup outside, rehearsing the scene, and creating a call sheet for the two days left to shoot.

Gels

1. What are CTB gels? What are they used for?
2. What are CTO gels? What are they used for?
3. What are party gels? What are they mainly used for?
4. What are diffusion gels? What are they mainly used for?
5. What are C47's? What are they used for?

CTB gels: blue gels used to convert tungsten to daylight (AKA Color Temperature Blue)

CTO gels: orange gels used to convert daylight to tungsten (AKA Color Temperature Orange)

Party gels: gels with strong primary colors; rarely used

Diffusion gels: gels that cut the amount of light and spread the light source to create softer shadows

C47: wooden clothespins often used to clip sheets of gel onto barn doors

Simple Cinematic Lighting

Answer the following questions a long paragraph:
1. What are the key differences between the four of these lighting setups?
2. What techniques have you learned from this video that you can begin using in your upcoming films?

The sci-fi look has a distinct hair light that separates the subject form the background while keeping the majority of the background in a mysterious darkness. A colored light works nicely in this situation because it creates a world that is out of this world. This set up has texture given in the reflection so that is adds to the tone of the set. The Noir set featured a hard light that gave a hard contour on the face. The key light was cerated by bouncing a light, filling in the shadows created by the harsh hair light. The romance set up was created by soft, diffused light that has minimum harsh shadows. This video taught me the importance of considering the situation when lighting the set. The lights can be used outside or inside the set as a working light.

Kino Flo Lights P.2

Answer the following questions a long paragraph:

1. What are 3 important tips that you learned about the kinoflo lights from this walkthrough?

When setting up the fixture, it can be useful to pay attention to the length and the color of each cable so that each bulb is set to the right place. The kinoflo lights can be dimmed by clicking on the two-feet bulb setting that is originally intended to be used when using an actual two-feet bulb instead of four. It is not a great idea to use a dimmer on these lights because the light fixture may disfunction. There is a also a net attachment for the light that can be used to dim the light even further. 

Kinoflo Lights P.1

Answer the following questions a long paragraph:

1. What kind of lights are kino flo? Soft? Hard? Cool? Hot?
2. What makes them so useful and versatile?
3. How are the different from a normal flourscent fixture?

The kino flo lights are florescent bulbed lights that are light and bright enough for convenience when making a movie. This lighting fixture was later developed by the company, who invented lights that light weight enough to be stuck on the wall or the ceiling. It was also innovative that the lights did not flicker like the previous lighting fixtures. They are also energy efficient because they do not produce as much heat in comparison to other lights.

HMI Light

Answer the following questions a long paragraph:

1. What makes the HMI light so unique?
2. What are some applications that you can use the HMI for?
3. What do the different lenses do?
4. How is the Arri M8 different from the other HMI light?

HMI lights are unique in a sense that they have multiple applications that is very small yet very powerful at the same time. This can be used to bounce in lights, create hotspots in the background, and reflect light off of large white boards. HMI light lenses allow for the light to be spread apart in a certain way or be shaped according to the scene.  Arri M8 on the other hand, does not require a different lenses to be handled with gloves. Arri M8 can be more powerful than other HMI lights. This type of light is very consistent in its color temperature. 

Shaping Hard Light

Answer the following questions a long paragraph:

1. What do you notice is challenging when shaping hard light?
2. What are two new things you've learned from this video walkthrough?

Shaping hard light requires small adjustments with the shape of the light using blades and the size of the circle. The harshness of the light can also be adjusted in order to create the desired result. The lens must also be chosen so that there is enough area of the surface that is lit. Adjusting the light according to the surface can reduce unwanted like leakage. This video taught me that the light source can have different lenses that allow for a different throw length. This type of light is a lot more versatile than I imaged previously to the video.

Outdoor Lighting

Answer the following questions a long paragraph:

1. What are the four techniques you have available to you when trying to improve your lighting at noon? How do each of these four techniques affect your image?

When improving the lighting, you can use reflectors, white boards, diffusion, and location. Outside always provides one source of light-the sun. At midday, it is placed right above the actor, creating an unflattering raccoon eye effect. At these times, it is important to keep the four techniques in mind. Reflectors can help fill in harsh shadows while white boards can fill in the crisp shadows casted on the subject. Diffusion can create a softer light overall on the subject. These technique can be used together in order to create the ideal effect. Location is not always an option, but when it is, it is convenient to move the scene where the subject and the background will be in the shadows.

Lens Filters

Answer the following questions a long paragraph:

1. What is a soft filter? What does it do to your image?
2. What do polarizers do? What does it do to your image?
3. What are neutral density filters? How are graduated filters different?

A soft filter is placed either in front of the lens or in the matte box that softens the image. This filter creates an image with a "dreamy" quality which can be chosen from different degrees of softening. Polarizers help reduce glare and increase saturation / exposure of the image. As a result, the image will reflect a more accurate color. ND filters cuts down the amount of light, helping the cinematographer have more freedom in exposure settings. Graduated ND filters can darken a half the frame while the other side remains at a clear level.

Spring Semester ADV Goals

Look back at your goals that you set in the fall, did you achieve them? Why or why not? How can you make steps or corrections to achieve these goals? Where will you need to look to gather help or resources?

Next, set some new goals to achieve by the end of the course this May.

Please write a complete paragraph on each of three goals you set in the fall, along with an introduction paragraph.

I went into the advanced class setting some goals for myself to accomplish by the end of the year. Overall, I found it difficult to achieve them because I was so busy with college applications outside of class; time outside of class was vital for some of these goals to be achieved. With that in mind, some of these goals can be reconsidered as this semester's goals as well.

1. Have an understanding of how Adobe After Effects works. 

I can say I have a very basic understanding of how After Effects works in comparison to my very limited knowledge at the beginning of the year. This is mostly due to the time I had over the break to experiment with the software. I made a couple of short videos that last a couple seconds that helped me focus on specific aspect of the software. As a result, I can make some basic clips on this site. However, I must admit that I am able to make more with the skills I have on Premiere. I will work towards using this software more to achieve a similar level of proficiency on After Effects as well.

2. Understand all of the color correction panel's functionalities

Although I am sure I have not mastered all functionalities, I now have a better understanding of how to interpret the information projected on the waveform graphs. The waveform graph is quite simple, yet at the beginning of the year, I did not know how to put the information I gained from the graph into use. There are still other panels available in Lumetri Color so I hope to explore them more this semester. I may consider using another software so that I can work with nodes.

3. Create varied projects outside of class

This is the goal I struggled with the most due to the business outside of class. Though I did my best to create content in the earlier months of the first semester, by the final months of the semester, I was at a point where I was not even able to consider it as an option. That is why I hope to create more content outside class so that I can incorporate those skills for in-class projects and assignments. Depending on the content I make, I may be able to submit them to a film festival.

Goals to achieve by the end of the course this May:

1. Be more involved

Now that I have more time in my hands, I want to be more involved in CreaTV and film festival volunteering. 

2. Reach a level of proficiency on After Effects so that I can see a significant benefit in using After Effects over Premiere Pro

At my current level, I am able to do so much more in Premiere Pro. All of the things I can do on After Effects, I can replicate in Premiere. I want to edit more on After Effects so that I can understand the benefit of the software more.

3. Create a project involving motion graphics

This is another goal involving After Effects; I believe such project will help me achieve the second goal simultaneously. Because this project would take more time for each frame, I requires a level of time commitment, but I hope to complete this project by the end of the semester.