Ask David Mullen ANYTHING

[Sam Eilertsen]

Thanks so much David! Beautiful shots too!

[Harry Lime]

I apologize in advance if this is slightly off topic.

Can anyone recommend a reliable company in Los Angeles or points beyond that services lenses? I have a set of Super Baltar primes that need a full CLA. They have been in storage for about 10 years and the lubricants have completely dried up.

My initial research has yielded the following candidates (Any feedback would be appreciated):

Duclos

Focus Optics

Visual Products


Thanks in advance

[Matthew J]

I apologize in advance if this is slightly off topic.

Can anyone recommend a reliable company in Los Angeles or points beyond that services lenses? I have a set of Super Baltar primes that need a full CLA. They have been in storage for about 10 years and the lubricants have completely dried up.

My initial research has yielded the following candidates (Any feedback would be appreciated):

Duclos

Focus Optics

Visual Products

Use Duclos. You won't be sorry.

[Jon Chema]

Hey David,

I'm shooting a spot in which a teacher is speaking to a room of students. I wanted to get your take on how you'd light it and see if our train of thought matched.

Here are the variables:

• Shot during daylight hours w/ windows
• 20 or so students sitting in desks, 1 teacher moving around
• Classroom may or may not have drop ceiling
• Camera position behind students at back of the room on dolly shooting towards teacher and the flip of that to get reactions
• Shooting digital (C300 or DSLR)

Here's what I was thinking. Keep the look soft, neutral and flattering therefore go with a big source. M18 through an 8x8 of 1/4 grid. Maybe menace arm in a joker 400/800 in the back to edge out the students. I'd like the natural daylight to play but not overpower.

Thoughts?

[David Mullen ASC]

If the windows are to one side, it should be easy to use a mix of natural window light plus a big softened HMI. You probably don't need fill if the walls are light-toned, but if you do, you might get away by bouncing something smaller off of the ceiling (or put daylight tubes in overhead flow and just turn one row or something). You can try putting something like a 12'x12' or 20'20' double net at a right angle to the windows to knock down the view to camera without knocking down the window light, but you may have to be prepared to add greens to one edge of the frame to hide it if you are dollying forward. The other alternative is to just put a bunch of green trees in pots or something, green foliage sucks up a lot of light and is harder to burn out.

[Jon Chema]

(or put daylight tubes in overhead flow and just turn one row or something).

Could you explain what you meant by this? Swap out fluorescence in overheads with Kino bulbs?

[David Mullen ASC]

You could try Kino 55 tubes or Chroma 50's, etc. I have found though that some older fixtures don't like Kino tubes so you'd be safer with the Chroma 50's, which are cheaper anyway. They have a touch more green in them than Kinos and are slightly warmer at 5000K instead of 5600K.

[Jon Chema]

You could try Kino 55 tubes or Chroma 50's, etc. I have found though that some older fixtures don't like Kino tubes so you'd be safer with the Chroma 50's, which are cheaper anyway. They have a touch more green in them than Kinos and are slightly warmer at 5000K instead of 5600K.

Thanks man. Really appreciate commenting on this! Your opinion is always appreciated and respected!

[juliensees]

Hi David,

I have a film coming up that I'm shooting that involves a boy and girl riding bikes. I would like to follow them in a very fluid way. I don't think we can afford a steadicam and definitely cannot afford a real camera truck, but I was hoping to still achieve this in a cheaper way. My thought was to rig a jib to the back of a pickup truck in order to have some stabilization to fight any bumps and still get a fluid way to follow the kids as we ride in front or alongside them. I'd love to hear any ideas you have for creating this smooth and stabilized shot.

Thanks.

[Brad Webb]

Mr. Mullen,

I've got a bar scene coming up and I was wondering if you could provide some advice? The location is an actual bar. There is a decent amount of floor space in front of the bar, but it's tight behind the bar. There is no way to hang lights from the ceiling. The windows are permanently blacked out, so no way to shoot lights through them. All the lights in the bar are on dimmers. The ceilings are about 9-10 feet high. Lots of dark wood used in the bar.

Also, are there any bar scenes from movies that stand out to you?