For those of you that were asking me...

Ordered mine today; can't wait to get it & sit my crew down with it!

Walter-- Lighting Action sounds like the most interesting next DVD. Although horror lighting sounds fun, too.

Not to be pushy, but be sure to let everyone know what the ETA on the next one is. At $30 (including shipping), I can't think of a better deal!

David.
 
Yea seems like the action thing is a popular request. BUt hold one a minute, I'm just getting the first one out this week so the next one will not be for another month. Went back and made some changes with the first one after asking some folks for critique. I'm real happy with the way the first one came out. It shows a simple set up that gives great results that anyone can do.
 
Just got watched my copy over the weekend. Fantastic, Walt! I watched it 3 times just to really absorb it all . I really liked the analogy of the full moon as flat, against a half moon with dimensions. I also liked your composition artistry of balancing the background elements with subject. I remember putting up a request post inquiring about the use of different gels, and BAM--they were on this DVD! All in all, a great product, and I can't wait for the next one (oh it's HORROR LIGHTING, baby--and I'm not just saying that since I got hired as a DP for a indy horror film yesterday :grin: )!!
 
Just ordered my copy, and I also can't wait for the horror video. I'd love to see a noir one, as well.
 
I received Walter's dvd a couple of days ago, and I must say it is very informative. He covers a lot of information with practical applications to video and film. He shows you the equipment he is using to get his results as well. He shows how to break away from the standard hard 3-point lighting setup and use a minimum of lights to get pleasing results for both men and women. I highly recommend this video. It would be an invaluable resourse to those just starting out with video and an enlightment possibly to those who are stuck lighting the same way for every shoot. I can't wait to see his next one. Kudos to Walter!
 
Walter-

I tried to order your DVD but for some reason your site would not accept my card info. I'm not sure why. There's bling in there. Plus I tried it several times to make sure I was inputing the numbers correctly. Do you have another suggestion of how I could pay you for a DVD?

You are a very familiar face around here. And I go to school in NYC twice a week. So, I would even be willing to pick up a copy in person or drop a money order in the mail.

Let me know-

Thanks!
Rick
 
Id like to see a dvd that talks about the use of FLAGS, reflectors, etc., to ahieve the best look, hiding light spill when using gels, the use of blackwrap and duvatyne. Green screen lighting, location lighting....
 
John_Hudson said:
There's bling in there?
Click to expand...

Ha! Okay, so there is not a LOT of bling in there, but there's definitely enough to purchase this DVD.


Walter_Graff Dont try to steal others credit cards!!

no reason why it should not work for you.

Actually-this has happened before. I've moved. My shipping address changed. And since, I have tried to call my bank to change my billing address to my shipping address. The card sometimes works, it sometimes does not. If you've got another suggestion, I'll take it. But in the meantime, I try to get on the phone with my bank.

Rick
 
That sounds like the reason. Remember it is to protect you so although a pain, to me a worthy pain. See what you can do with the bank. It's the easiest way to do it and frankly I don't have time or resources to do it any other way.
 
Okay, I'm going way out on a limb here, and I do NOT intend to offend, but I was slightly underwhelmed with the DVD. Don't get me wrong -- I did learn from it, and I think it was probably worth the asking price, which is pretty reasonable for this kind of thing. But, I just thought I would try to keep us all honest (lest we repeatedly masturbate to Barry Green and Walter Graff simply because...well...that's what we all do.) :) No, but seriously -- Walter makes some fairly unabashed claims here:

it should become the definitive look at lighting a sit down interview witha DVX100.
Click to expand...

what Barry has done for the DVX this will do for lighting with the DVX.
Click to expand...

and I'm not entirely sure this lives up to them. Or perhaps it is not the DVD that I was underwhelmed with, but the science of lighting? Maybe I'm just retarded. But here are my thoughts:

The DVD basically explains that a head shot can be lit with a soft key accomplished by bouncing a light off of a reflector, combined with a kicker or rim light aimed at a person's back from an angle. Add a fill light if you think it helps.

How much light? Whatever you think. You could use a 1K, or you could use a 150 watt -- whatever works. Where exactly to put it? Well, the key should come from in front and to the side, and the kicker should be in back. How to aim the key? Well, from above. Or horizontally. Or from below! Whatever you like. How much fill? Just a little. Or try a little more. Or use a lot if you want! What colors to use? Try some blue. Or some orange! Whatever you think looks good. Light the background? Sure. If you want to. Or don't. Whatever you think looks nice.

I'm exaggerating, but this is kind of what I took away. To me, the most helpful part was actually the bit on positioning, camera placement, and how to create a pleasing angle with your background. These seemed to be the most specific and immediately "useable" tips. It was also nice just to SEE a live example of the effect of moving things around, using different colors, etc. But I could also just film myself screwing around with different stuff and see what it looks like. And that's a little bit what the DVD is like -- a running clip of someone screwing around with lights. I would have liked to see a little bit more professional quality to the presentation, and more about exactly how Walter would choose to light something so that I could try to emulate it exactly.

I don't know, maybe I'm just frustrated with lighting. I understand that it's a very subjective thing and there's not necessarily a mathematical answer for how to do it. But I feel like my own subjective assessment sucks, and I would love to have some more specific direction. I've thrown something together many times with a soft key light, a kicker from an angle, and a background light. And it generally looks like ass. It's either completely flat, or somebody's head is glowing like a friggin' halo, or the background is 5 times brighter than the talent, or who knows what.

So anyway, for me, getting a little more proscriptive -- e.g. 'try doing exactly this" -- would have been helpful. I may be alone, but I just thought I would offer my honest critique. Feel free to let me have it... :)

Oh, and all that said, I do thank you, Walter, for making this and putting yourself out there in an effort to help incompetents and ingrates like myself!
 
LOL!!

I hear your frustration man, but Walter put this together right. It depends what you're trying to do. I took a day class with Walter and he set up a head shot interview and positioned the lights. It looked great, bland, but great (he intended it that way) then he made subtle changes - SUBTLE changes. Those changes made the person more the hero, or more the vilian or more romantic, or more dramatic, or less those things. There isn't a mathematical formula for this, you have to experiment. I keep my lights set up all the time and I practice lighting stuff. If you do this, you'll get good at lighting. What Walter is teaching is the theory of lighting and he's putting into practice in a practical setting - but he's not hand holding. It's the difference between studying art with a master and buying a paint by numbers kit.

The most fun we had was lighting a romatic candlelit diner. We just played with lights. I loved the way Walter did it because first he set it up with certain basic fundamentals (for example a chinese lantern over the table), but then he just talked to us about what we saw, what mood we wanted to create and then he helped us create those moods. He didn't just set it up, he helped us to see what we wanted and implement it. But, as he will be the first to say, there was no RIGHT way to do it. It's all about using light to tell the story you want to tell. It was a great class.

Take what's on the DVD and practice with it. Take notes. Post some grabs. Have fun with it.
 
Hey, thanks for your thoughts MattC. You are probably right -- I guess Walter's DVD has taught me underlying concepts, and what I really need to do is practice more. That, and get a freakin' production monitor! The LCD sure does lie to me... But alas, that's $600+ that I don't have right now, so I'll do what I can for the time being! :)
 
I think your problem is that you expect there to be a blueprint for how any one set up is done. Here's a secret, there is no blueprint. As Matt will tell you in all of my seminars I tell the classes that they will walk out of the class asking more questions then they had coming in. Ever seen that guy (since passed away) on PBS that shows you how to paint water colors? He's got big hair and talks real soft. He paints amazing water colors. He basically shows you how he does it. He knows that he is going to draw a pond with a mountain and trees but as you watch him you realize that while he has the image in his mind, it isn't set in stone. He decides a bush needs to be thicker or a few clouds need to be thrown in. Lighting is no different. I can tell you the plan but the plan is about 70% of it. The 30% left I do as I do it. You saw that on the disk. I had a plan but the plan is dependent on the person in the chair and the setting they are in. I have lit four presidents. Not one of those presidents did have a clear plan on how to light them, only a canvas to draw on where I penciled out the outline and used my eye and brush to make them look like Presidents of the United States. Sounds like you were disappointed because you expect lighting to be a paint by numbers. It's an art and it can only be learned from practice. I can show you how to paint a lake with a mountain and trees but now you try it. I can't teach how to be an artist, only the foundation of how to create art. And as I say in my seminars, the reality is some folks will never get lighting just as some folks will never learn to draw.
 
Walter--

I'm very surprised that there were any complaints at all with the DVD. The worst that I saw was a couple of spelling errors on some of the things that you fonted over the action. But I didn't buy this DVD for an English class, you know!

Here's reality-- I bought this for less than 30 bucks with shipping, and it's an absolute bargain. Compared to the previous lighting DVD I bought before this ('Light it Right' by Vic Milt), this DVD was about a fifth of the price & covered much of the exact same ground in a clear & easy to follow fashion.

People are complaining that there's no 'template' given, which indicates a lack of experience on thier part... outside of basic 3 point lighting (which you use a little differently than other people do), there is no template. Experience teaches you that much.

All in all, I was very impressed by the DVD's content & BLOWN AWAY by the value for the money. This is a DVD that I'll be sharing with my entire production staff-- both current and future.

I'm looking forward to whatever DVD ends up being next in the series!

David Kuznicki
Production Manager, WGTE-TV30
 
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