Fantasy FX Diffusion in a Can? GOOD. Hollywood Expendables? No.

[MattinSTL]

This topic has come up before for HAZE. So I thought I'd give it a new look. There's a product called "Diffusion in a Can" made by CITC... aka Fantasy FX. The can looks like this:

If you shop around, you'll see that virtually NO site shows the can clearly enough to read the size of the can... at the bottom where it says "oz". And many sites also don't state the size of the can you're buying.

I recently ordered 4 cans of this from Hollywood Expendables, because they had what I thought was a great price on 20 oz. cans. The stuff arrived and they are 8 oz. cans, NOT 20 oz. like it says on their site, and not 20 oz. like it says on my receipt... either paper or email. I've emailed them to ask about it... and also to tell them to correct their site... and they've responded to neither. So consider yourself warned about Hollywood Expendables. For $17.50 you will be exactly TWICE the price many places sell the 8 oz. cans for... which is what you will get instead of 20 oz.

To clear any of the confusion... all these products are the same, but in different labeled cans... the blue and yellow label that says "Diffusion in a Can"... the pink and blue Fantasy FX cans... and the orange and black cans that say "Poof!"... these are all the same product made by the same manufacturer and they do the same thing. So regardless of which one you buy, all you need to look at is the QUANTITY in the can, and the price.

The best price I've found is from Premiere Lighting... this page, scroll down... $8.50

http://www.premier-lighting.com/shop/fogmach.html

To address any thought of the "fog" or "haze" itself, if you want FOG then you do NOT want this product! You would be WAY better off buying a party fogger for FOG or SMOKE... this is for HAZE. When you spray it in the air it appears that you're doing nothing until the haze is back-lit. It just looks like a fine mist is coming out of the can and disappearing.

But once you get some directional lighting going the results are beautiful. I'm impressed with this stuff... especially when you look up the price of an actual HAZER and the ACTUAL haze fluid. (The $199 Chauvet unit is NOT an actual hazer and by all accounts it is simply a fogger... even the Antari z310... which is at least $300... is not well reviewed as a hazer... mainly a fogger... so you can start to see the appeal in having some actual HAZE on hand.)

Also worth noting is that this product is not good for a large area... and is NOT AT ALL GOOD if you have ventilation! This product is best in a closed set... and the haze will remain effective for a very long time... as long as there's nothing to replace the air in the room (such as open doors and windows).
:thumbup:

 

[Cool Lights]

I love that stuff too. Nice quick way to get a soft diffused look.

Never bought from Hollywood Expendables but I think I got mine from FilmTools.com. And can't remember the size of the can either. One thing I do remember is one can I had for about 6 months and didn't use was not working when I tried. Lost all aerosol and just some oil squirted out of the can when I tried to use it. So, I'm thinking that stuff may have a definite shelf life and needs to get used quickly.

 

[metro2307]

Matt...thanks for checking this out. I was going to order this from Hollywood, but now I'll get it from Premier. Do you have any specific scenes in mind for this? Also, when you do use this could you post a few pics? Any insights from you would be very helpful.

 

[MattinSTL]

Haze is used anytime you want to define your lighting, without distracting from the scene. Bottom line is virtually any dramatic, romantic, or scary scene... is very well served by haze.

Haze would be distracting in a standard sitcom situation, or in a documentary situation where the environment doesn't look natural with haze. Say... a modern office would look odd with shafty, defined light... but an old office... like a P.I. of another era... would look great with it.

The set of a modern sitcom... set in an apartment... would look odd with haze... a car interior?.. totally odd with haze... unless the car is in an odd environment and the story supports the effect (and the windows are visibly down to give motivation for the effect coming from something else).

Haze is virtually invisible looking through it... but as soon as you get a light source on the other side (back lighting) haze doesn't so much reveal itself, as it reveals the light source.

Imagine a person walking through a cave... and there are shafts of light... without haze all you'd see is the person go from totally dark... to blown out in the shafts of light... but if you haze that same scene, you have BLOOMS of light... SHAFTS revealing the light... like a searchlight does... and then as the actors approach those shafts of light, they are revealed in the darkness until they are actually in the light, blowing out the same way they did before... but with much more drama, because of the muted interaction with light... rather then a simple "in or out" situation.

Any movie you've ever seen that involved laser alarm triggers... had the whole set hazed up... otherwise you'd never see the lasers.

When the scene is better served if the lighting is also a part of the set design... haze it. When you're simply lighting the objects in a set, and do not wish to reveal professional light sources hidden... in order to sell the idea that practicals are doing the job... do not haze it.

I'd say that's a pretty safe rule to live by.

Hopefully I'll have some footage for you before too long... but probably not any time soon... I bought this stuff for a shoot that's currently in limbo... but maybe I'll make an excuse to use it on something else anyway.

 

[metro2307]

Very good explanation. I get what you're saying. Some of your examples made me think of Bladerunner, but I'll have to watch it again to make sure I have the right movie. Thanks for taking the time to explain.

 

[MattinSTL]

You'll most likely see haze in every movie of the genres I mentioned... all of them. I'd say it's kind of a secret of the trade.

Remember when "the film-look" was an illusive thing that people talked about? Well one of the easiest things to do (when appropriate) to make your film look more pro... is to add some haze. You'll be surprised at how much more personality your lights will add to your actors.

Ever notice the pro-mist filter on all the older talent these days? Watch any news magazine show and you see the great, older journalists... notice that their shot looks different in the two-shot... the person being interviewed has tack-sharp catchlights in their eyes... and the other person is in this flattering glow...

Not the same thing as haze... but you get the idea. Haze can romanticize people also. This thread could go on and on... start looking for the haze in movies and I assure you that it's in 95% of them.