Am shooting an experimental piece this week on 500T and expired film. One of the scenes includes about 20 analogue television sets, all of which will be switched on. I will be lighting the subject (a dame dressed in a dishevelled wedding dress) using just the light from the tvs for some shots and with additional lighting for others. I will be using the Nizo Auto B function for a number of the shots for stylistic reasons and also because the light levels will be poor at times.
So should I smoke it up? I was considering using a smoke machine to help hide the background a bit and also to catch the light of the tvs and add some atmosphere. That makes it sound like I am shooting a video for Cher a la 1989 but it's not going to look like that, if it does I'll top myself. Is the smoke machine a bad idea? Have never used one before but I worked as sound on a set where they used a smoke machine to catch the light without making it obvious that there was smoke in the air as such and it worked well, added an extra bit of atmosphere without it resorting to B-movie territory. Thought it might work well with the slow shutter speeds of the Nizo and the light from the tvs.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
ta'
neil
Music video shoot - to smoke machine or not to smoke machine
Moderator: Andreas Wideroe
Re: Music video shoot - to smoke machine or not to smoke mac
Use of atmospheric smoke is a common practice on features and tv... unless someone with more power than the DP (usually the star) tells them to F off :lol:
For it to work you'd have to make sure all doors and windows are closed and want a dedicated technician monitoring the smoke levels. Its difficult to make a nice even layer of smoke by yourself. You'll want a wafter or two, and maybe a fan as well. If its a large, drafty room it will be difficult to maintain the smoke. If you are using those cheap Halloween party smoke machines that are easily found you might want more than one on hand.
For it to work you'd have to make sure all doors and windows are closed and want a dedicated technician monitoring the smoke levels. Its difficult to make a nice even layer of smoke by yourself. You'll want a wafter or two, and maybe a fan as well. If its a large, drafty room it will be difficult to maintain the smoke. If you are using those cheap Halloween party smoke machines that are easily found you might want more than one on hand.
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Nrk
- Posts: 57
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- Real name: neil kerr
- Location: belfast, ireland
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Re: Music video shoot - to smoke machine or not to smoke mac
I have several wafters at the ready!The room has no windows or doors that will be open and so hopefully we'll be able to get our Thriller on but God knows how it will turn out. If it all gets a bit much I'll just bring it home and maybe have a karaoke night in my kitchen.