Filming FIRE! / Stuff Burning with the AF100?

M

markinny

Member
How would you guys (girls if we have any on this forum) go about exposing for fire?

http://vimeo.com/36241592

I metered with the WFM for a flame to just peak around 100 and then tried to get as much light as possible on the subject ... tungsten probably would have worked better than fluorescent but there were enough hot objects for one small Manhattan kitchen.

Any advice / feedback is appreciated.

Cheers
Mark
 
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I think it looks great! The flames aren't quite as dramatic as I might have expected, but I suppose that's a function of the combustibility of the objects?
I wonder what overcranking would have looked like (especially on the rose)?

What did you use to prop the objects up and shoot on and get such a limbo BG?
And what gamma and matrix?

I hope the US Treasury doesn't see this! ;^)
 
Don't know what effect you wanted to achieve. What I do like about it is that the flames are in some shots almost not visible and so the effect of burning has more the character of a liquefaction.
 
I was caught out by that one... I only had one sample of each object and wanted to keep the exposure consistent betweek takes. In reality a lot of the stuff burned with less intensity than the candle I'd used initially for metering.

Appreciate the feedback Tipota. Now if only I could find a paying client with an interested in pyrotechnics.

Cheers
Mark
 
i think it looks good too. just my opinion, but since it's fire, you could have probably pushed it a bit more to get some more brightness out of it. you can try adjusting it a bit in post and shouldn't hurt it at all.
 
Thanks Masnart - with hindsight (always a factor in filming!) I defientely under exposed. I tried pushing the highlights further in Colorista but they quickly looked too processed. We lived and learn!

Happy shooting Masnart.
 
Hi Grove,

I cheated:
- the objects were soacked in lighted fluid ;)
- I stuck everything on a post-it note holder from Staples (painted black)
- the clips were shot are 30p and then overcranked by 250%-300%
- shot against a black background and then crushed the blacks to get the floating effect

Getting the right amount of lighter fluid was tricky - some burned too fast or refused to burn at all (specifally glossy magazines)

Appreciate the interest in the project
 
That is one of the most unique clips I have seen on this forum - pretty good for a first attempt at fire.
Well done.
 
I would be exposing the body of the flame in the region of 75 - 85% on a wfm or 7 - 8 IRE on my spot meter.

100% is basically white and therefore you lose the color out of the flame.

The tips of the flame may peak towards 100%+ and that will look natural.
Do not overlight the "objects" because you lose value of the flame against them if they are too highly illuminated. eg you cant see steam against a hi key BG. Only against the dark values.
 
Thanks for the feedback - this is always a great place to get critique and actionable feedback.

The mistake / lesson I learned was to allow for the different intensity with which objects burn. I metered for a household candle when settig up but this was a lot variance with the other objects depending on how combustible they were.
 
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