First Time directing / Please help

E

etrust

Well-known member
Hi everybody,

In 2 Weeks i have to make my first big project: Music Clip for MTV Switzerland.

Here some information:

Locations: Hotel Room, Club, Entrance of the Club

Equipments: Sony HDR-XR500, Letus35 Mini, 50mm Lens, Dolly Track (want to rent), Steadicam (want to rent), Jib Crane (want to rent), Tripod

Questions:

- What kind of Light should i rent? Softbox? 1000KW? ??
- Which Tipps would you give me?
- Problematic Situations?

I will direct, be the camera man and edit the video.

Please help me with this project. I will upload it here after shooting and say a big thank to dvxusers..

Now we are working on the storyboard.
 
Last edited:
To light a hotel room you need at least 3k.

Some China balls and Kinos are nice to have also something for the rim lights.
Make sure you got at least one reflector.

You may consider to rent a 5D/7D - so you maybe get away with just one or two smaller 300W lights and a Kino.

Also check tis out: http://www.hackermovies.com/ausleuchten-pizza-pazza

good luck, Frank
 
Hi Frank,

thank you for your answer..

I have some questions..

- Which 3k light for example?

- Which Kinos, and how much? Do you mean for the hotel room?


What's about the Lights for the Club?

Will i need a Softbox too?
 
Postmaster isn't exactly correct in his suggestions. What lights you need all depend on your shots, the mood, practicals, the look your trying to achieve. While the lights he is suggesting will be helpful in a lot of situations, you can't simply say "you need lights XYZ". Lighting doesn't work that way. What kind of mood are you going for? What is the feel of the piece? Talk to your DP and find out what he is thinking for each shot and go from there.
 
@Brooksy: He IS the DP and it´s his first time, so be gentle :D

etrust said:
I have some questions..

- Which 3k light for example?

- Which Kinos, and how much? Do you mean for the hotel room?
Click to expand...

not one 3k light, but maybe two 1.5k or three 1k open faces (Blondes) aimed to the ceiling to raise the overall light. When they come with soft boxes - even better - Something like this: http://cgi.ebay.de/proxistar-Beleuc..._Foto_Camcorderzubehör_PM?hash=item563690c893

Any kind of Kino (or similar as main source)
Like this: http://cgi.ebay.de/walimex-Flaechen..._Foto_Camcorderzubehör_PM?hash=item5881cb32cf

Plus some little 300w spots like Dedo Lights or Similar for rim light.

Also get some color gels and 3 1k Fresnels you can weave around in the club scene.

Frank
 
Hi,

ah ok, i will organize 3x 1K Softbox.

Where would you point these Softboxes and position of the softbox?

About the kino.. For what are this light and where should i point it and where should be the position?

About Dedo Light.. Do you mean this? : http://www.creativevideo.co.uk/public/product_images/altimage/09 01 2007dedo_kd3b_1.jpg

And should be the position of this dedo on the corner and point to the top?

Could you please give me here a example too?
Frank wrote: "Also get some color gels and 3 1k Fresnels you can weave around in the club scene."

Thank you
 
Well if he is the DP then he should be talking to his gaffer and the gaffer should be helping him out with these questions. I am trying to be as nice as possible I just want him to think about more then "Where do I set up the lights?" There is far more to it then that and the only way to light it so it looks really good is to be there. Lighting a scene across the internet is a bad idea. We don't know how the lights are going to react or even what the exact set-up is. Telling a person how to light something when you don't even know anything about it other then it is a hotel room is a bad idea. Things could end up really bad for a person. I didn't mean to offend or sound harsh I just think he is going about this the wrong way.
 
Oh God, i'm lost..

Now i thought that i know which Light equipments i need and maybe tha's nothing :=(
:=(

I'm lost.

I can try to give you all information you need to help me to setup a great light.

I'm using a Letus35 and i will need more Light than normal :=(
 
I don't speak German but I get it... you have tutorials that show people how to set up a light. Good for you. I said my piece and you aren't getting it. I am not going to get drawn into a long argument. etrust - good luck to you. I hope your piece comes out how you want it to.
 
etrust said:
Hi,

Hotel room example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM3R6_1Ayoo

Club example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86Jv9_-dH8U


please help me :=(
Click to expand...

When I tried to view your clips, I had to anmelden to get access. Then I was confronted with a message that one of my clips had been abgelehnt (unangemessener Inhalt). Ironischerweise gibt es mehr 'reizvolles Stoff' in Deiner Auswahl, und vielleicht auch Verstoß gegen Urheberrecht... die Sittenpolizei sind auf der Jagd...

Anyway, it seems to me that in the first clip, the light is from a fairly 'soft' source. In a hotel room, one could perhaps bounce light from a corner, or have a softbox or screen to soften the light.

What I have a problem with, is estimating the amount of light needed. It's my hope next week to be able to take my camera and come up with some ability to say X KW will 'light' my scene to the level that the camera needs to give a good signal.
 
Instead of renting dolly and Steadicam, I would hire a DP for the day with his own lighting equipment. Probably be cheaper and you don't have to deal with learning how to use the equipments on set. That's time you can spend focusing on directing.

And Brooksy is right, it's simply impossible to tell you what you will need or how to set it up without actually being there and knowing what you want. Lighting is about creating a mood and it's not a "cookbook" recipe that will work for every situation. If you're directing then you shouldn't waste your energy learning how to light; find someone who knows how to do it and the film will be better for it.
 
Hi something i want to add

your are the director, no de DP not the Gaffer. im not saying that you should blame them or anything, but you should focuss on the "directing" part, the other stuff you should go with your Dp to the location with the interested part, and have a camera and ligthing test.

i not pro but the day have 24hs. i think is better to invest some more money i have like a reharsal (also because its your first time). so the they the come with everything you should know more o less what to do and when. Also it will help you not to panic in the middle of the filming.
 
Last edited:
etrust said:
Oh God, i'm lost..

Now i thought that i know which Light equipments i need and maybe tha's nothing :=(
:=(

I'm lost.

I can try to give you all information you need to help me to setup a great light.

I'm using a Letus35 and i will need more Light than normal :=(
Click to expand...
Yup, that 35mm adapter will require a ton of light. I've had to use 6k worth of light in a large sized bedroom, and it was still a little darker than what I wanted:shocked:
 
Hi Guys, ok i'm back..

i pay a guy to set the lights. I have shot, edited and directed this project..

Equipments used:
---------------------
Kamera: 1x Sony HDR-XR500
Lens: All Shot with Canon 50 mm and Some Shots (Blue wall) with no Lens
Light: I dont know because a company has do it for me
35mm Adapter: Letus
Dolly: Self Made
Editor: Vegas
Color Correction: Vegas
Work Time: 2 days for the Shots and a lot of hours for editing. I don't know how much.

We have konvert this video to a DigiBeta Tape for MTV.




it would be very nice if you would give me Feedback using following categories:

- what did you like
- what did you not like
- what should i never do again
- Light
- Video quality
- Lens
- Kamera
- Kamera Tecniques
- color correction
- music
- story
- letus 35mm Adapter
- actors
- shot place and Background
- Editing
- Did you like a speificl scene?
- Did you hate a specific scene?

Your Feedback is very important for me.



I can't wait your Feedback. Idependent if you will give me positive or negative Feedback.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTLIjdWnTxY

Hope to hear from you soon.
 
Last edited:
Way better than I thought. ;-)

But all the exterior shots (car) need white balance/grading - faces are to yellow.

Frank
 
I agree with the yellow face comment but for a first major shoot it looks great. I thought that it looked really good and I was surprised to see that you were using a consumer level camera I thought that the footage would have had to have come out of a hvx. The only thing is that I thought the story was a little hard to follow but maybe that is because I only speak English so i missed about half of what they were saying.
 
Hi Guys,

thank you for your Feedback!

Frank: You mean i should solve this problem about yellow faces in vegas?

David: The rap part explained that his girlfriend flirt with another man and that someone filmed that..

I will try to be clearer with storys in future..

Comon give me more Feedback. It was my first work!!

See you
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top