Cinematography-Theory-And-Practice

Figure 16.18. The lighting effectshown in Figure 16.17. In use on theset, the wire will be hidden by wardrobe.SUN LOCATION WITH A COMPASSFor shots involving the sun or the moon three things are necessary:the correct position of the celestial object at the time you want toshoot, a good compass and, geomagnetic declination information forthe shooting locations.First a word about compasses. You need a good one. Any compasswill point to magnetic north, but you need one that is calibrated toat least 2° and that can be aligned precisely. This will usually meaneither a compass with an optical sight or a military-style lensatic-not necessarily work equally well in all parts of the world. Compassesare manufactured with a certain amount of counterweightingand the proper amount of magnetizing to match certain locations,specifically north and south latitudes. A compass designed for theUnited States, as it nears the pole region, will increasingly beginto point into the earth. You’ll have to hold the compass housingunevenly to get any kind of reading at all. All the needle wants to dois point into the ground, not to the horizon. So if you are going tolocations significantly different in latitude from where you boughtyour compass, be sure to get a unit made for that area. Most compassmanufacturers offer solutions to this problem. Silva, a Swedishmanufacture of compasses, offers five varieties:MN Magnetic NorthNME North Magnetic EquatorialME Magnetic EquatorialSME South Magnetic EquatorialMS Magnetic SouthSuunto makes the World Compass that can be used anywhere in theworld. The compass works by having the needle and the magnetpivot independently, thus allowing it to compensate for the chang-be used for north location. Be sure to distinguish whether a deviceis giving you true north or magnetic north, which needs correctionfor declination.cinematography328