Cinematography-Theory-And-Practice

Figure 16.11. Without smoke andrain, this shot from Nine and 1/2Weeks would be nowhere near aspowerful.A more high-tech method is the use of a flicker generator. Two kindsare available. One is a random generator that can be programmed forvarious rates of random flicker. The other uses an optical sensor to“read” the light of a candle or fire and drives a dimmer in sync withit. This is particularly effective for scenes where the dimmer or fireis the primary source and is visible in the scene. McIntire Enterprisesmakes several “magic boxes” that can drive up to 10K dimmers and asmaller unit that directly controls up to a 2K (Figure 16.13) — theyall have adjustable settings.Small handheld candles or oil lamps can be executed with an Inkysocket and a small bulb. They can be AC powered with a wire runningup the actor’s sleeve or DC powered with a battery hidden onthe actor’s body. Flame bars, which are pipes with holes spaced alongthem through which gas is pumped, are far more reliable and controllablethan real fire.TV and Projector EffectsLike fire effects, the look of a flickering TV is best accomplishedwith dimmers. The source, which might be a fresnel or practicalbulbs in porcelain sockets with some diffusion, are usually placedin a snoot box to confine the light in a realistic pattern. In general1/2 or full CTB cools the light to simulate the blue look of blackand-whitetelevision. This is a convention even though most peoplewatch color TV, which projects a variety of colors. Here again, it isimportant that the person operating the effect have some sensitivityto the mood of the scene and keep it random. Actual television flickersconsiderably less than is usually portrayed, but the activity helpssell the effect. addition of sometimes bouncing the light for a softer look: filmprojection is bounced off a large screen, while television is a smaller film through a projector and aiming it at the audience. Obviouslyit is necessary to defocus the projector or remove the lens so theimage won’t appear on the faces. One drawback of this method isthat most film projectors are far too noisy to be recording dialog; ifit’s an MOS scene, this won’t be a problem. As an alternate, the projectorcan be confined behind glass to reduce the noise level.cinematography322