C100: I need a New Look for 2017. What's your fave interview lens besides the 70-200?

Ned, you said, "I will lose gigs requesting the FS7 or C300 but will pass them on for a bump." I pass on gigs to other FS7/C300(ll) but don't do the "bump" thing. There are those I think a "bump" would be appropriate, most I get it back a fair enough ratio. How exactly do you go about it? Send an invoice for 10-15% of the camera person's guesstimated net? If you don't feel comfortable answering in public, please go to my site's contact page and respond. Many thanks.

Oh, and about your concerns on relocating to NC specifically. I understand your points completely, especially the one about restaurants and the like. The way I look at it is I live an hour and 40 minutes in the air from Laguardia, $200 round trip. My wife is going twice in the next couple months with 2 different sets of ladies. We have Charlotte 95 miles away, the beach 3.5 hrs away and the mountains less than 2 hours away. Consider the Triad or the Triangle! I'll share work with you! Enjoy your posts, even though they sometimes depress me, ha!
 
OK will PM you regarding asking for a bump. If it's a poor kid, no I wouldn't bother, perhaps say a bottle of wine would be appreciated. Details to follow.

Ned
 
Thanks Ned, I have done the "bottle of wine" type of thing for a rental when it was such a small thing/price, it makes it a nice bonus for me and more pleasurable than a measly check to pay taxes on this time of year.
 
nedcam said:
In a thick German accent: I HAVE MADE A MOMENTOUS DECISION!




Jean Heguy: Wow! Was that you? Small world.
I was told I had to match their DP's look and you told me about keying the Diva light through Wescott 42", 6 in 1, Illuminator Reflector so I bought one and I have been doing that look ever since! It allows me to minutely change the distance between my source and the diffuser which changes the wrap around on the face and softens the nose shadow. Much better than putting diffusion on the light itself or using a soft light like a Chimera. Thanks! .
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Yep Ned, Diva in the Wescott guy, that was me . Although these days it's more Diva or LED through 4 x 4 scrim jim cine with 1/2 grid diffusion ! Cheers.
 
heguy said:
Although these days it's more Diva or LED through 4 x 4 scrim jim cine with 1/2 grid diffusion ! Cheers.
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What advantage do you find with the Scrim Jim over a 5-in-1 reflector of the same size? Wouldn't the reflector set up quicker?

I used to use reflectors and sometimes still do, but these days I'm typically shooting a Litepanel Astra through a 43" umbrella, which I like because the umbrella sets up pretty quick, and the best part is it attaches to the same stand as the light, so no need for an extra stand with a diffusion holder. Adjusting the key light height, moving the light's location, etc., is one stand adjustment instead of two. Ubrellas are also cheap, and if you want the light softer, you can either flip it for a bounce, or get a bigger umbrella.


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Hey Eric,

The diffuser that Jean of Canada recommended to me is "just" 42" in diameter, it seems as if it's just a little more transparent than a typical Flexfill, not much, but enough to punch a Diva through. But the main benefit is that because it is not attached to the light fixture, depending on the situation, I can move it closer or further from the source and that changes the look of the "wrap around". As for a 4x4, I'm not sure about that brand but I do have a collapsible 4x4 frame that has diffusion and more importantly a double scrim for exterior interviews, and I find it's just too unwieldy and I never know how small the room will I will be in. So 90% of the time it's in the van. If I know someone is going to walk from A to B, such as an on-camera narrator, then it goes on the cart because I know I need to cover a wider area and fortunately on days like those I will usually talk them into getting a grip, or if they're cheap, using their nephew.

But...one of the first things I ask is, "Does the victim wear glasses?", if yes, I may forego the diffuser disc because I know I will need to boom up the key to avoid reflections, and then I don't want a 42" disc, or a 4x4, or in your case big umbrellas. I also think the umbrellas are a PITA to flag off the bg. and when there's a white ceiling, that is also acting as a bounce when using an umbrella. And as I mentioned, about half the time I'm solo so I have been traveling lighter. I like being lighter because I pride myself in being freaky fast in setting up which impresses the clients, so packing gear I know I won't need slows me down.

I just had a PTSD flashback. I used to have a regular gaffer, in the days when budgets were higher and a grip truck was affordable. We worked a lot together, he was a semi-friend, but sometimes he'd push back and this story ended our relationship. We were doing a typical talking head of a CEO, a female in her late fifties, and I kept dragging his lights closer to my lens when he wasn't looking. Gaffers hate flat light, yet I know aging women don't like to see their wrinkles, so we argued and he went over my head to my good friend the producer/director, who is a push over wimp, and got to key further away so there was a definite key/fill ratio. Guess what? Can I predict the future or what? The exec demanded a reshoot! Naturally I did it for free. Soon afterwards she got her eyes done...

Here's some pix using Jean's Way. It is kind of retro in that back in the 70's, when there were no soft boxes, Chimeras or Rifas, we made 4x4 furring strip frames and staple gunned different types of diffusion and used open face lights. I usually key higher than most shooters to create a definite jaw line and also, if someone has Turkey Neck or a double chin. I have black cardboard as a flag for the bg. I no longer buy Matthews flags because of the holes that get punched through them, black foam core is cheaper. Both my key and fill are always dimmable. I ask when do we need to roll and when do they have to leave, and those times determine how masterful I will light. When I do corporate I go for a crisp, clean look, whereas when I am doing a doc I try to go as natural as possible, yet with females past their prime I go flattering. I love it to look like there's no lighting when doing docs.

Did you guys watch on PBS the last two nights The Divided States of America on Frontline? That was DP Ben McCoy. To me that is the most beautiful lighting on TV today. I have tried to run down his email to ask him about lenses, settings, etc. but he has no web presence. I think he works for them full time. I bet it's a Sony F55 if anyone wants to wager off line. But wow, what beautiful lighting of interviews. I especially pay attention to when glasses are involved.

And to guys that have PM'd me, I'll try to respond this weekend, got busy with post and BS.

See ya,

Ned
 

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I think Ned explained it well . It's about controlling the distance between the source and the diffusion . Still use the reflector though , it's just the 4 x 4 breaks down easy, makes a slightly larger source and I can attach an eggcrate for more spill control .
Even when I was a still guy I never liked umbrellas, especially because the light is hard to control, spills all over the place . I only like very large reflective umbrella in studio situation .
 
nedcam said:
But...one of the first things I ask is, "Does the victim wear glasses?", if yes, I may forego the diffuser disc because I know I will need to boom up the key to avoid reflections, and then I don't want a 42" disc, or a 4x4, or in your case big umbrellas. I also think the umbrellas are a PITA to flag off the bg. and when there's a white ceiling, that is also acting as a bounce when using an umbrella. And as I mentioned, about half the time I'm solo so I have been traveling lighter. I like being lighter because I pride myself in being freaky fast in setting up which impresses the clients, so packing gear I know I won't need slows me down.
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Why would you not want the diffuser disc when there are glasses? Because it would show up more in the reflection due to the larger size of the source, or because you can't get it high enough? Assuming the stand is properly sandbagged or is a somewhat beefy stand and is tall, getting it high enough shouldn't be an issue.

I've heard the can't control background spill regarding umbrellas before. One, I don't find there to be much more spill than when shooting through a reflector disc, so with the reflector disc, if you want light off the background you're still setting up a flag just as with an umbrella, which is then a third stand to deal with (instead of two stands with and umbrella). And secondly, I find in most cases I don't mind spill on the background. Typically if I'm going for a natural look (which is probably the majority of the time), then I have a background light adding light to the background, which overpowers any spill from the key and fill lights, so the spill doesn't affect the look. And sometimes the spill is enough that a background light isn't needed.

When I want a more dramatic look with light off the background, I'll either put a small softbox with a grid on my LED light (I do need to buy a second softbox for my fill), and/or I'll use a flag to keep it off the background. I use the reflector disc for flags. I've thought of buying a Road Rags kit or similar, but have not yet; not sure they'd really serve me better than reflector discs.

Funny if you think about a softbox with grid vs reflector disc setup for keeping light off the background. Softbox with grid requires one stand, reflector disc, light, and flag, is three light stands. You'd think the softbox at that point would be more convenient.

I see you have the Rifa setup, which I used to use (the EX88 was my key). I like how it quickly setup. I wish there was a bi-color LED version of that. Or some sort of quick to setup softbox for LED 1 x 1s that is considerably larger than the 1 x 1. Most LED softboxes are just a tad larger than the LED light. Though with a 45 degree beam angle I suppose it may not cover well with a larger source. Some LED 1 x 1s like the Cineo, Area 48, Astra Soft, Skypanel, do have the wider beam angle. The Skypanel SC-30 does have a larger softbox option; I wonder how long it takes to setup.
 
nedcam said:
Did you guys watch on PBS the last two nights The Divided States of America on Frontline? That was DP Ben McCoy. To me that is the most beautiful lighting on TV today. I have tried to run down his email to ask him about lenses, settings, etc. but he has no web presence. I think he works for them full time. I bet it's a Sony F55 if anyone wants to wager off line. But wow, what beautiful lighting of interviews. I especially pay attention to when glasses are involved.



Ned
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Ned,

I looked up Ben McCoy and saw a couple online pics of his setups, he seems to punch his key through a 6 x 6 frame . And I think through his linkedin he shoots with C300 Mk2 .

Cheers,

Jean
 
Asheville is awesome. I'm just a tick over 100 miles away. Property values have skyrocketed, because it's become one of the "it" places and has started becoming very commercial. It's a low-down, damn, dirty shame. It's kinda like when one of your favorite restaurants ends up on Food Network or travel show. You might as well forget about eating there again, because it's gonna be beyond crowded, the prices are going to go up and the quality of food is gonna go down.
 
heguy said:
Ned,

I looked up Ben McCoy and saw a couple online pics of his setups, he seems to punch his key through a 6 x 6 frame . And I think through his linkedin he shoots with C300 Mk2 .

Cheers,

Jean
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His LinkedIn page says, "Current camera/formats, (2) Canon EOS C300 Mark II 4K/HD cameras, (2) Atomos Shogun Flame 4K/HD recorders, Canon EOS C300 Mark I, Canon 5D Mark III, Sony PDW-F800 XDCam."

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-mccoy-23793b14
 
nedcam said:
Did you guys watch on PBS the last two nights The Divided States of America on Frontline? That was DP Ben McCoy. To me that is the most beautiful lighting on TV today. I have tried to run down his email to ask him about lenses, settings, etc. but he has no web presence. I think he works for them full time. I bet it's a Sony F55 if anyone wants to wager off line. But wow, what beautiful lighting of interviews.
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I watch every episode of Frontline- best researched/reported, shot and edited doc series on TV, and Ben McCoy is a huge part of that.
His main cam is the F800 but also C300 II.

If you want to watch an incredibly gripping episode, watch The Man Who Knew.

It's about larger than life FBI agent John O'Neill, who warned of the threat of Al Qaeda, but was ignored.
He left the FBI and was working private security in the World Trade Center. On Sept 11...

McCoys interviews, spooky night shots of DC, even how he shoots documents/still lifes are the best. The editing, too.
Also Director Michael Kirk, who elevates these episodes to another level. They even shot an elevator- from on top of the car!

The PBS site has a 90 min SD version:
http://www.pbs.org/video/1587879291/
While YT has an hour version at 720p for better quality appreciation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lnDCM_j1Rs

Highly recommended. Was produced in 2002, long before the C300 (it came out in 2012, I think?), and McCoy's interviews look pretty much like his current ones.
I saw some BTS shots of a McCoy set up a while back. I think I remember a 6x6 plus another 4-5 lights.

Small world- I'm looking at Asheville, too...

And my name is Chuck, and boy do I have some stories I could tell (and some I can't) from my 37 years! From presidents (2 sitting, 3 former) to a huge actor disappearing with my wireless and snorting coke on my audio. From Muhammad Ali to Joe DiMaggio, Jimmy Page to Eddie Van Halen. From baseball bats missing my head and hitting the Betacam, to knives and guns held at my belly. Brain surgery to childbirth, aircraft carriers to attack subs... 3 wars, 2 earthquakes and a dozen hurricanes, and trading T shirts with Werner Herzog... yadda yadda yadda...
Yeah, I did news for 22 years before 15 years of production...
I think I'm ready to retire, too!!!

Edit: found the shot

http://notesonvideo.blogspot.com/2011/02/creating-documentaries.html
Lighting
Ben did a live lighting demo, showing how they like to light their subjects using minimal lights; he started with the standard three-point lighting setup, and reduced it down to two lights, adding reflectors and gauze to make the lighting soft. They also like to have the background out of focus, so they set the camera a good distance back from the subject, and then zoom in on the person.
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Old school.


lighting.jpg
 
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Eric Coughlin said:
Or some sort of quick to setup softbox for LED 1 x 1s that is considerably larger than the 1 x 1. Most LED softboxes are just a tad larger than the LED light. Though with a 45 degree beam angle I suppose it may not cover well with a larger source.
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DoPchoice make a "Snapbag Big" for the Astra that might suit your need. Has an inner baffle that would help spread the beam, & fill the face.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...anels_900_0033_dopchoice_snapbag_big_for.html

They also offer a Snapgrid eggrate for the "Big".

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...s_900_0034_dopchoice_snapgrid_for_astra.html/
 
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Bern Caughey said:
DoPchoice make a "Snapbag Big" for the Astra that might suit your need. Has an inner baffle that would help spread the beam, & fill the face.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...anels_900_0033_dopchoice_snapbag_big_for.html

They also offer a Snapgrid eggrate for the "Big".

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...s_900_0034_dopchoice_snapgrid_for_astra.html/
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I've used the DOP Choice and the Chimera on the Litepanel; I wasn't that impressed with either. I ended up buying the D-Fuse softbox which has a bit larger surface area than the other two, seems a bit less finicky, and is a fraction of the price.

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Speaking of flagging an umbrella, there was this one out-of-state shoot I did where I packed light (no pun intended) with no extra flags or stands so resorted to using my sweatshirt as a flag.

14333582_928972320542698_2985599865743511436_n.jpg


14333182_928972427209354_6162851885232414814_n.jpg


I didn't have room for an extra light stand for my third light, so background light was either positioned on a table or a chair.

14344168_928972543876009_3850827799766137045_n.jpg
 
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Here is my shopping list of things to buy over the next year or two. Canon 30-105 is a bit down the list; I've already got the 15.5-47.

1. Canon 18-80 T/4.4: $5700
2. 2x 190 Watt Anton Bauer Batteries: $1000
3. Really Right Stuff FH-350 Fluid Head: $2000
4. Easy Rig: $5000
5. Wireless Follow Focus: $6000
6. Camera & Light Stand Bags: $1000
7. Hive Wasp 100-C: $1100
8. Hive Wasp 1000: $8000
9. Matte Box: $2000
10. Arri Skypanel SC-30: $5000
11. Zylight F8-200: $4000
12. SmallHD 702: $1500
13. Canon 30-105 T/2.8: $14,000-$23,000 (new or used)
14. O'Connor 1030: $7200
15. Tripod Legs: $1000
16. Canon 24 & 35 CN-e: $6500
17. Inovativ Steadicam Cart: $3500
18. Teradek 600: $5000
19. Movi Pro: $6500
20. Arri Amira
 
Bill, why don't you go straight through the diffusion instead of the booklight? I'm guessing because it spreads whichever light you're using more evenly than straight through diffusion but any other reasons?
 
Eric Coughlin said:
Here is my shopping list of things to buy over the next year or two. Canon 30-105 is a bit down the list; I've already got the 15.5-47.

1. Canon 18-80 T/4.4: $5700
2. 2x 190 Watt Anton Bauer Batteries: $1000
3. Really Right Stuff FH-350 Fluid Head: $2000
4. Easy Rig: $5000
5. Wireless Follow Focus: $6000
6. Camera & Light Stand Bags: $1000
7. Hive Wasp 100-C: $1100
8. Hive Wasp 1000: $8000
9. Matte Box: $2000
10. Arri Skypanel SC-30: $5000
11. Zylight F8-200: $4000
12. SmallHD 702: $1500
13. Canon 30-105 T/2.8: $14,000-$23,000 (new or used)
14. O'Connor 1030: $7200
15. Tripod Legs: $1000
16. Canon 24 & 35 CN-e: $6500
17. Inovativ Steadicam Cart: $3500
18. Teradek 600: $5000
19. Movi Pro: $6500
20. Arri Amira
Click to expand...

Eric you need a holiday to Fiji!
 
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