Fake fog?

[Matthew Rogers]

Hey guys, I was wondering what you all normally do for fog to get lights to "streak"? I believe the norm is Rosco Fog Fluid, but was hoping for something a little be more low key (needing to just do a small room for maybe one or two scenes. I found this (http://www.filmtools.com/diffusionincan.html) at FilmTools and was wondering if anyone had tried it before? Looking for easy, lower cost solutions.

Thanks,

Matthew

[Florian Stadler]

You want a DF50 (AKA Hazer). By the time you have gone through 20 cans of smoke in a can you could have rented the right thing. Don't save a penny to spend a dollar.

[Matthew Rogers]

You want a DF50 (AKA Hazer). By the time you have gone through 20 cans of smoke in a can you could have rented the right thing. Don't save a penny to spend a dollar.

But I'm not trying to fill a big room (15'x15' max) and I want a very light amount of haze. The other problem is there's no place to rent a good hazer around here:(

Matthew

[Finner]

like Florian mentions the DF50 is the best hazer on the market by far and gives a very nice look.

Now on a budget with no $ well I can give you a "finnerknowsbest" tip. Go to your local church supply shop and buy some incense. Then you have 2 options you can buy the charcoal pucks from the church supply shop to melt and smoke the incense or find a bee-keeper in the area and rent a few "bee smoker" cans from him and just fire up BBQ charcoal in the bee smoker and sprinkle on a little incense (don't need much for each take) and pump the bee smoker (watch not to pump to hard ot the incense may light on fire). This system works well but is a little stinky. Please note whenever using smoke if the location has smoke detectors they will go off.

for more little gear tips and info check out www.finnerknowsbest.com

[Dylan Macleod, CSC]

Beyond getting the right atmosphere you need a few other things to see "streaks" of light.

A darker background helps.

And the quality of light should be hard light. Leco lights work very well. But bouncing off a mirror or pieces of mirror will give you nice streaks. Pieces of mirror will create the different streaks. One source will create a "shaft".

You could also direct the light in to a mirror and then use a "gobo" to break up the light as it travels from the mirror to the set.

The other key component is that the light should be as "backy" as possible. Ideally through a window or some other opening at the back of your set.

Dylan Macleod
Cinematographer
Toronto, Canada
www.dylanmacleod.com