The Sport Cam Revolution: GoPros, Clones & iPhones (Article/Shootout)

Posted by on Aug 21, 2017 in Articles, Cameras, Featured, MicroFilmmaking, Reviews, Reviews (Cameras), Tips | 0 comments

Last year, with the release of the film, Hardcore Henry (which was shot entirely with GoPro cameras in first person perspective), we decided that we were going to look at the different cost-effective sport and mobile cams on the market to see which ones were worth investing in for our readers. The gold standard in this market has been GoPro, who kindly provided us with one of their HERO4 Black cameras for this extended research article...

Read More

Know Your Lights: LEDs (Article/Tips)

Posted by on Jun 26, 2017 in Articles, Behind-the-Scenes, Featured, Industry, Lighting Tutorials, Lighting/Gaffing, Tips, Tutorials, Walk Throughs | 0 comments

Tungsten and/or HMI lamps are usually the workhorse units of a lighting package, providing the power that is needed to key-light all but the smallest of set-ups. But they’re not right for every situation. If you don’t need the punch of a point source, and you want something a little softer, fluorescents might be the answer. This is the third category of lighting units I’m covering in my Know Your Lights series; back up to the overview if you want to start from the beginning.

Read More

Know Your Lights: Fluorescent (Article/Tips)

Posted by on Jun 19, 2017 in Articles, Behind-the-Scenes, Featured, Industry, Lighting Tutorials, Lighting/Gaffing, Tips, Tutorials, Walk Throughs | 0 comments

Tungsten and/or HMI lamps are usually the workhorse units of a lighting package, providing the power that is needed to key-light all but the smallest of set-ups. But they’re not right for every situation. If you don’t need the punch of a point source, and you want something a little softer, fluorescents might be the answer. This is the third category of lighting units I’m covering in my Know Your Lights series; back up to the overview if you want to start from the beginning.

Read More

Know Your Lights: HMIs (Article/Tips)

Posted by on Jun 12, 2017 in Articles, Behind-the-Scenes, Featured, Industry, Lighting Tutorials, Lighting/Gaffing, Tips, Tutorials, Walk Throughs | 0 comments

Following on from last week’s look at tungsten units, today we focus on HMI lighting. HMIs are more complex technology than tungsten, meaning they are far more expensive, and more prone to problems, particularly if you get a deal from a hire company and they give you older units. But they are bright and relatively efficient and because of this, and their colour temperature of 5,600K, they are by far the most popular type of light used in today’s film and TV industry when battling or mixing with natural daylight.

HMIs (hydragyrum medium-arc iodide) operate by creating an arc between two electrodes. This arc excites a gas which produces the light. In order to ignite the arc, a ballast is required. This device also regulates the current, while a special header cable connects the ballast to the light.

Read More