Cinematography-Theory-And-Practice

Figure 16.14. (above) The Thundervoltzfrom Lightning Strikes providesportable power for 70K lightningeffects. Undersizing your lightningeffects units can be a serious mistake.(Photo courtesy of LightningStrikes.)Figure 16.15. (above, right) Day-fornight,such as this shot from Yojimbo,is much easier to achieve realisticallyin black-and-white.Water EFXThe dapple of light reflected on water can be a beautiful and subtleeffect. It can be achieved in a number of ways. Some people usebroken mirrors or crumpled aluminum foil to reflect a strong direc-stilted and artificial and rarely result in a convincing illusion. Thebest effect is always achieved by using actual water. In a shallow panwith a black backing water itself can be highly reflective if you use astrong enough unit.RainRain is the province of the prop department, but it does have implicationsfor lighting. To be visible, rain must be backlit (Figure 16.16).Front lighting will not work with anything but the most intensedownpours, and even then the result will be anemic. Even with themost carefully controlled rain effect, water gets everywhere. Severalprecautions are necessary:ground on apple boxes. Wrap them in plastic and seal with tape.Use electrical tape as gaffers tape won’t withstand water.water on a hot lens will shatter it with the possibility of glassflying out.plastic. rubber mats whenever working with electrical equipment.Most rain conditions (which includes real rain as well as rain towers)call for a camera umbrella, which is a large sturdy beach or patiotypeumbrella and perhaps an aluminized space blanket or rain coverfor the camera. Many HD cameras have purpose-built rain covers.Be sure that the filters are protected as well; rain drops on the filter orlens are very noticeable. For heavier water conditions, a rain deflectormay be necessary. A rain deflector is a spinning round glass infront of the mirror. It rotates fast enough to spin the water off andkeep the lens area clear. One caution: when used with a Steadicamor other type of free-floating rig, the spinning glass acts as a gyroand tends to pull the camera off course. There are other devices thatblow either compressed air or nitrogen toward a clear filter to keepwater off. The air or nitrogen must be supplied from tanks or pumpswhich can be bulky and awkward to work with.cinematography324