Ask David Mullen ANYTHING

[Ben Garvey]

Thanks David. And what is your opinion on those Dedos? Have you ever used them with the projection attachment? Do you know of any difference between the DLH4 (with the corded power supply) and the DLHM (the on-board dimmer version)?

[David Mullen ASC]

Usually the 150w Dedos come in a kit of three with the ballast, and the 100w Dedos in a kit of four.

Can't recall specifically any differences between the Dedos with the dimmer and the other.

I've only used the Dedo projector attachments for product photography (putting a spot on a tiny label) or putting a slash of light in someone's eyes.

[Jason Ing]

David,

Have you used the VistaBeam? What do you think of it?

http://www.kinoflo.com/Lighting%20Fi.../VistaBeam.htm

[Jason Ing]

I've seen a couple of cases of customer footage regarding this and in each case it was because WB was set too high or too low. White balancing to something white in the shot fixed the balance.

Should you always white balance to every scene or can you just keep it at 5600 (that's the optimum for Red, right?)

[Kyle Presley]

Mr. Mullen,
I have a question about Agfa stocks. You recently answered a question I had about it in a separate thread. In the other thread you said that to make Agfa look good, it must be overexposed. If I understand correctly, film is exposed for 50% gray and digital aquisition is exposed for the highlights. My question is, how do you expose to get the buttery highlight roll offs with RED cameras? I really like the over exposed and pull-processed look of XT-320. I would like to know what I need to do in aquisition to fully pull off this look in post. Thanks in advance.

[David Mullen ASC]

No, I haven't used the Kino VistaBeam yet.

---

Agfa was a rather soft, grainy, milky stock and overexposing and printing down helped counteract that by making the blacks blacker and the grain tighter. It had a wide overexposure latitude so it was not a problem rating it slower.

With any digital camera, if you want more highlight range, you need to expose less, not more, and use knee compression (in post color-correction, in the case of a RAW REDCODE recording) to roll-off the highlights as they get hotter. The trick is to not get too much noise.

A little bit of contrast-lowering lens diffusion may help in getting this creamier Agfa feeling.

[Roberto Baia]

David,
I have 2 red cameras for a feature shoot and I am trying to make the most out of an 18 day shooting budget. How would you best use 2 cameras on a low budget shoot?

[David Mullen ASC]

If you're not comfortable with two-camera shooting, I'd keep it simple. First of all, don't screw the sound guy nor the DP by trying to shoot wide and tight simultaneously, except when it would involve no compromises in sound, light, or composition, or when it is necessary (like to cover a stunt). Generally, stick to using the two cameras when they lend themselves to getting two sizes of the same action, for cutting, like a medium and a close-up, or a wide shot and a medium shot, etc. And don't force it -- you don't want to take more time setting up two cameras when you could shoot one camera and change lenses faster for a tighter shot. Plus too much two camera shooting and you'll generate miles and miles of footage to process, log, sync, etc.

I'd carefully plan your shoot with shot lists and/or storyboards, mainly for one camera, and then use the second camera when it comes in handy. Also, be prepared to send off the second camera crew to grab establishing shots, sunsets, missing insert shots, etc.

Two-camera shooting lends itself to longer lenses -- it's hard to work the camera up close to actors with a wide-angle lens and manage to fit a second camera in there, unless it is at a right-angle to the first camera.

[David Mullen ASC]

Guy, if you make any more multiple posts about the same company, it's going to cross the line into marketing spam. Some would say that it already has, so please watch any future posts with the same info in multiple threads. Thanks.

[J. P. Sendall]

Hi David

Fantastic thread. I've learnt more from this thread than any other so thank you.

I wanted to know how you might approach this scene which I am due to shoot soon. It's supposed to be a shed/garage full of junk and dust, lit by one window other than when the door is opened and closed opposite the window. A man sits in a wheelchair, his back to the sunlit window and face in almost darkness. A small girl enters and goes to her treasure chest of junk she's collected from the beach and is initially surprised by him then has a conversation. On a key piece of dialogue something she holds which has a shiny reflective surface reflects on his face/eyes revealing them for the first time. A second scene in the shed/garage is more blue balanced for later in the story day and less directional light coming from the window. We are shooting with a Red One.

I thought this scene, even though daytime, might be more controllable if it were shot at night using a single source outside for the window/sunlight and then whatever inside for reflectd light and ambient. As usual we are on a tight budget but is shooting this at night a good idea and what lighting set up might you use?

Thanks again.