Has anyone ever shot in the rain?

[Richard J. Johnson]

We are shooting the final scene for my first feature length film on Saturday and it is going to rain. A Lot. It is in a cemetery so Rain would not be a bad thing for mood, but it would be for my equipment. Re-scheduling is not possible due to 2 of the actors moving to LA the following day. It has to be done. any info would be helpful. Thanks.

[Capt Quirk]

What kind of shots are they? Are they fairly static shots where the camera is pretty stationary, or are they moving shots and steady cam types following characters? If they are pretty stationary, set up a tarp over the camera, something like this.

If you have to move around, then you need a rain jacket on your camera, but you may still want a small tent to be able to get out of the weather to change lenses, tapes, or just dry off a bit. If you don't have the cash for one of these, you could make your own temporary one using a garbage bag and some tape.

[grinner]

I prefer a tarp over the crew as opposed to baggin' the camera.
It keeps me dry as well and keeps droplets off the lens. You can get em very cheap at any event or party store.

[j]

I'd much rather shoot in the rain than the wind any day.

Get one of those 10x10 pop up tents to cover camera and video village, or at least a couple of beach umbrellas. (make sure they will block the rain, some are just nets.)

Borrow or rent an RV to use as a portable production studio, bathroom, and place to keep the actors and equipment warm and dry. www.cruiseamerica.com (~$300 for a weekend)

The other consideration is safety, are you running lights?

[DIRECTORDEVIN]

i have shot in the rain many times before,all you need is a rain cover over the camera and like someone mentioned before a tent to cover all other equipment.

Congrats on your new film, how was the experience so far?

[ktfilms]

My 2 cents is it all depends on how long of a scene it is. If it's fairly short and you need minimal coverage, then you could easily pull it off with just a few extra cars (RV is a luxury) to keep the cast/crew huddled inside in between takes and just a few really large umbrellas (held by PA's/grips) to cover the equipment and camera.

If it's a long scene in need of tons of coverage, setups and lights....then you'd definitely need a larger holding area for people and all the other previously mentioned advice (tents, etc.)

I'd much rather shoot in the rain than the wind any day.

I definitely agree with this....make sure you have a nice boom or good lavs for the sound.

Good luck!!!

[RyanT]

5 stands, clear visqueen, lots of sandbags. Problem solved.

I did it for my love fest film a while back and it worked well. It's all equipment you should have anyways, too...except for the visqueen maybe.

[Richard J. Johnson]

i have shot in the rain many times before,all you need is a rain cover over the camera and like someone mentioned before a tent to cover all other equipment.

Congrats on your new film, how was the experience so far?

Very fun but very hard. I still have a lot to learn and master. It came out pretty good, but not great.

[Jorge Alarcon-Swaby]

Here is an answer from Cinematographer Oliver Stapleton on IMDB to a smiliar question. Hope it helps.


How do you film in the rain - water-proof cameras, umbrellas, digital or special effects, something else?


Answer.


There is a gadget known as a rain deflector. This is a cunning device that puts a piece of spinning glass in front of the lens. As it spins at very high speed the water gets shaken off it the moment it touches it with the result that you never get to see the water, except what is falling in front of the lens.

Umbrellas tend to make things worse as the rain then streams off the front edge. A better way to do it if you can't afford to hire a rain deflector is to use a 4x4 piece of wood or cloth and slope it backwards so that the rain that drops off falls behind the camera, not in front of it.

[gi-jones]

Actually there is trick involving apple juice to keep drops from sticking. I won't recommend putting it directly onto the lens, but maybe on a UV filter. I've used it on an Ewa Marine bag to keep the lens cleaning when breaking the surface.

[Jus10m]

Shot this great scene on an airport run-way one night in the rain on no budget.
One of those over head open tent things, and a large umbrella duct taped to each light with the generator sitting safely in the back of the Uhaul truck. Such good times!