Bowens S mount COB lights

[puredrifting]

oh yes, but dont forget the bounce reflection of the 4X4 on the light side, you would need to flag that off as well(depending what you are shooting). But for sure much more tiring, slow and more expensive setup then a softbox.

It's not difficult to flag off light and control it to only light what you want when using big sources. But it takes a lot of gear, time and crew compared to softboxes.
I only get a decent sized crew with a gaffer and grips perhaps on 2-3 projects per year. Much more typical are really small crews like me, sound mixer and teleprompter
so even though I have a small crew, they usually have their jobs to handle and I am essentially often one man banding it still with a 3-4 person crew, although the
other crew will lend a hand when I need it, like for sitting in so I can light a person, load in and out, etc. Three shoots this year I had my gaffer and a grip or two and
it was nice to move fast and setup a set and while I was shooting, I could have my gaffer and grips setting up the next set up on the stage. Luxury for me.

I have an 8x8 frame and rag set but it gets left at home on these type of small shoots because I simpy don't have enough hands, grip gear and time. Softboxes are so much faster to deploy and create
a good looking image still with much less fuss, especially for interviews when I can typically get a 120cm box close to the talent and use the grid to flag off light going all over the set., making it's relative
source size huge. Relative size is relative size, that's the luxury of 8x8s and larger, for a single person, they are huge even from pretty far back.

 

[cpreston]

I've picked up a number of Chimera softboxes over the years by waiting for them to show up on ebay. They go for significantly less than new. I was surprised that more people weren't relying on them due to all of the reasons that people have been listing. A medium or large chimera on the front of an M18 with a 40 degree grid is near fool proof for shooting interviews in front of windows. I also love using Chimera's triolet kits for product shoots.

The problem I've found is that your general crew member is far more comfortable hanging diffusion than they are messing with a softbox. Therefore, I've found myself using wag flags and floppies more often recently.

 

[ozmorphasis]

And the falloff is the magic of a source that is large enough to back off from the subject. Fall off is so rapid when super close that even though the source/subject size ratio is a very soft light in terms of wrap, it is not a soft source in terms of falloff, meaning the transition to dark becomes pretty abrupt. Trying to capture the more gradual falloff using additional fixtures is possible (cove lighting, etc), but not easy. But yeah softboxes are definitely what I default to as well most of the time for exactly the same reason, crew size.

Fortunately, recently I've done a bunch of music video gigs (all classical music) where the sound is "lipsynced," so I am able to prioritize crew budget toward a gaffer. Even a less experienced gaffer makes a world of difference in terms of having problems get solved without dictating every step (the way you'd have to do with a PA who is just helping). If you can continue to focus on your thing (camera, etc) and only have to check in here and there to set the overall direction, things are so much more nimble in terms of getting a look AND maintaining it. Recently shot a pair of classical guitarists in a big church with endless stained glass windows. Beautiful space, but talk about a moving target in terms of lighting problems to solve as the day progressed! Had a young gaffer who was nimble on his feet and was constantly adjusting flags and fixtures to keep us out of trouble. It was a battle, but kind of fun too. Decided to go for a mixed temp look, which is easier to pull off with BRAW than with my panasonic cams. The latter look really wonky when dealing with mixed temps (I just have GH5/s, no Varicam LT here).

 

[scotchtape]

You should have gelled those stain glass windows

 

[ozmorphasis]

You should have gelled those stain glass windows

Exactly!

 

[ahalpert]

Looks pretty. I'm sure the clients were pleased!

 

[ozmorphasis]

Looks pretty. I'm sure the clients were pleased!

Thanks!

Client is the mother of these VERY talented child prodigies. 13 and 15 year old siblings playing a very sweet and gentle piece in this case, but both are already virtuosos who can really get around on the instrument.

Here is a video I also shot of the brother playing Bach in more of a black box theatre environment. To keep it on topic, this used a 300x set to tungsten in a lightdome for key, another 300x for edge, a 300dmk2 with a spotlight mount/gobo for slight blue texture on black curtain background. We had one more fixture going as well but now I don't remember where it was set. I wish I took more detailed bts photos of my setups. I always get way too absorbed in the immediate needs to properly document the process a bit for my own learning and reflection afterward.

and here is the video for the piece in the church, I think only on FB:

https://fb.watch/2yt1hA-x8u/

 

[puredrifting]

Thanks!

Client is the mother of these VERY talented child prodigies. 13 and 15 year old siblings playing a very sweet and gentle piece in this case, but both are already virtuosos who can really get around on the instrument.

Here is a video I also shot of the brother playing Bach in more of a black box theatre environment. To keep it on topic, this used a 300x set to tungsten in a lightdome for key, another 300x for edge, a 300dmk2 with a spotlight mount/gobo for slight blue texture on black curtain background. We had one more fixture going as well but now I don't remember where it was set. I wish I took more detailed bts photos of my setups. I always get way too absorbed in the immediate needs to properly document the process a bit for my own learning and reflection afterward.

and here is the video for the piece in the church, I think only on FB:

https://fb.watch/2yt1hA-x8u/

Very nice. Is this multiple performances with one camera or was it shot with three cams? What about sound, how was it miked or is it "lip synced"
like a music video?

 

[ozmorphasis]

Very nice. Is this multiple performances with one camera or was it shot with three cams? What about sound, how was it miked or is it "lip synced"
like a music video?

Thanks. This was about 8-10 takes (a couple of angles were repeated because I wasn't happy with his lipsyncing, but he was remarkably good at reproducing his own interpretation). Recording was made elseswhere, I added a four bar metronome countoff and and sent it to him and he practiced to that at home. Arrived super prepared. Had his mom cue up the recording for lipsyncing at the shoot. All went very smoothly. These kids act like veteran pros under pressure. It's pretty inspiring.

All shot on one cam. Bmpcc4k with canon 70-200mm mk3 using an easyrig. I knew I wanted to make the background disappear as much as possible because it was a crappy curtain in a very small space, so even the wider shots were on the long lens, shot at 2.0 (wide open with speedbooster).