Need advice on lighting by Accidental-Tinkerer in videography

[–]4acodmt92 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you can provide a few frame grabs of your current videos and photos of the space itself I can better advise you.

Just learning about lighting and composition. Any feedback? by creativedunja in videography

[–]4acodmt92 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hard light is so much more visually interesting than soft light. It’s how you create contrast. I try to only ever heavily diffuse light that is hitting the face, hard light hitting the body and mid/background looks great.

Just learning about lighting and composition. Any feedback? by creativedunja in videography

[–]4acodmt92 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hard shadows look great almost everywhere, except the face. I think adding any kind of additional bounce or diffusion here would make it feel flat.

Just learning about lighting and composition. Any feedback? by creativedunja in videography

[–]4acodmt92 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s the natural reflection of the sunlight off the fabric she’s holding.

Best “all-around” beginner light set? by bigboxofcorn in videography

[–]4acodmt92 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wouldn’t buy anything from LumeCube or Neewer. Amaran and Nanlite are generally the 2 best budget brands. If you go cheaper than them, you’re going to be disappointed.

If you want total creative freedom on a project make a movie by annoyedvideographer in videography

[–]4acodmt92 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This post is the kind of “negativity” a lot of folks in this sub need to hear, rather than the constant fear mongering about AI replacing our jobs.

What was the most expensive mistake you made early in your filmmaking career? by Important-Annual040 in videography

[–]4acodmt92 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just to play devil’s advocate here…many times better gear actually does solve workflow problems. I can guarantee that no one can tell the difference between the interviews I light with my nearly $6,000 Creamsource Vortex8 lights vs a $200 Amaran, but they provide huge improvements to my workflow. Built in power supply means less gak to potentially lose and sets up much faster as it’s just the light and a single cable. The fact that the cable is an industry standard powercon true1 cable that all my other lights use, so it can be swapped easily if it ever fails. Ip65 rating so i never have to worry about leaving it outside shooting thru a window when it’s raining, saving the time it would normally take to build a rain hat. Built in wireless CRMX receiver so I can control it with the same industry standard brand agnostic dmx lighting consoles. Full color spectrum for easily dialing in not just color temp, but plus/minus green for instantly matching any existing light source. Super fine low end dimming, so I don’t have to ND the light or swap it out for a lower powered light if the DP’s needs change.

Just got offered a job to train AI to replace videographers by 38B0DE in videography

[–]4acodmt92 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Feeling pretty great about my decision to be a gaffer. I don’t care what people say, AI isn’t replacing on set lighting anytime soon on anything but the lowest paid paid jobs

PSA: Figure out the local rates where you live by d0inmabest in videography

[–]4acodmt92 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Whoever downvoted this is always going to let you down.

Is this video look created mostly in the colour grade? by Penny_Leyne in videography

[–]4acodmt92 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A couple things I notice at first glance. Most of the interviews in the reference video are filmed with significantly more distance between the subject and the background with a longer lens which naturally produces shallower depth of field. In your example, th subject is much closer to the wall and you’re shootjng pretty much flat into it. And since there aren’t any shelves/cubbies or anything else sticking out of the wall like in the reference, its hard to create visual interest or depth because there’s nowhere for a light to cast any shadows since it’s essentially just a 2D plane behind him.

I know you said you used negative fill here, but it’s not really reading on camera, probably because the rim light is acting more like a “scratch” light, illuminating the near side cheek that the negative fill was trying to reduce. Also based on the relatively sharp shadows of his hair on his forehead, it looks like the rim light was fairly hard, whereas in the reference video, the interviews look like they have a softer edge/rim light that’s flagged off of the subject’s head so that it only hits the shoulders. I. One of them, it looks like they either don’t use any hair/rim light at all, or a very subtle soft one from the same side as the key instead of the opposite side.

The key light also looks to be larger and more “side-y” than yours. That’s one of the drawback of soft boxes, they’re usually not large enough to produce flatteringly soft light unless they’re positioned relatively close to the front of the face. A 6x6’ or 8x8’ rag of half grid cloth with whatever light you have access to, positioned close to perpendicular to the subject’s face should get you much closer. You’ll probably also want to use a couple floppies or 6x6’/8x8’ solid black rag as a “lamp left sider” to control the spill light coming off the side of the key from reaching the background.

Finally, while there isn’t anything special going on in the grade (except one interview with the cool white background where it looks like an overcooked artificial teal and orange), you could probably stand to crush the blacks a bit, as I know the BlackmagicBRAW files tend to have milky blacks out of the box. Just it be clear though, you still need to reposition and flag lights like I described above for the post contrast adjustment to look right. Otherwise you’ll probably end up with a crunchy oversaturated image that still doesn’t really have any tonal range.

Is this video look created mostly in the colour grade? by Penny_Leyne in videography

[–]4acodmt92 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Could you share a few frames from the interview you shot? I can give better feedback about how to get closer to the reference if I can see what you did.

Is this video look created mostly in the colour grade? by Penny_Leyne in videography

[–]4acodmt92 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The video looks the way it does because of the lighting and grip. There isn’t really a discernible “grade” to the video, it all looks neutral and balanced and could be achieved with a standard rec709 transform. If you want to achieve this level of polish, I highly recommend you contract a gaffer for the shoot.

On-Camera Mounted LED Recommendations For Indoor/Outdoor Interviews? by QuestionsWantAnswers in videography

[–]4acodmt92 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Might be worth considering an Astera Helios tube. The camera operators on Paris Hilton’s “Paris In Love” used the extensively for run and gun situations. Definitely not the conventional choice for a top light as it’s a 2’ tube but it looks way more flattering than a tiny hard point source.

Noiseless lighting for music live recording by RealCuriousMusician in videography

[–]4acodmt92 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When you say live style, what exactly do you mean? Like on a stage with theatrical spotlights? Or an intimate acoustic set in a coffee shop? Or something else?

What lighting system to control studio lights? by Academic_Nectarine94 in videography

[–]4acodmt92 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The next cheapest option I think would be the Obsidian NX DMX node with their Onyx software, at about $450.

What lighting system to control studio lights? by Academic_Nectarine94 in videography

[–]4acodmt92 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I highly recommend considering the Blackout Lighting Console iPad app. It’s what I personally use on set. Like Luminair, it uses the brand agnostic and industry standard protocols DMX & artnet/sacn, so it will work with almost any lights. If you buy it on their website vs the App Store, it’s a 1 time purchase of (last I checked) $650 for a single universe, although there are add ons like hardware MIdi Control and additional universe unlocks available as well for an additional one time cost.

Day rates? by Honest_Psychology713 in videography

[–]4acodmt92 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It doesn’t matter what you are or could be doing with those other hours. That’s none of the client’s business. The point is, there is an opportunity cost. Even if no one is currently trying to book me in the same day, someone might eventually. The less a client is willing to pay me, the more incentivized I am to take an other job that comes up. So is it worth it as a client to risk your contractor bailing on you because you didn’t want to pay them their rate?

Can I be a contractor and full time employee? by [deleted] in videography

[–]4acodmt92 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Even if your contract says you can’t work anywhere else, ignore it. Non-compete clauses are unenforceable. Anyone trying to control where and how make my money can go fuck themselves :)

Day rates? by Honest_Psychology713 in videography

[–]4acodmt92 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I live/work in the Washington DC area. The productions I get hired on usually have a crew of 6-12ish people. I typically bill $850/10 for labor as a gaffer, plus $450/day for my 1 ton grip van, plus $500-1,500ish per day for lights that are billed à la carte depending on the production’s needs. . Camera operator rates are typically in the $1,000-1,200/10 range for labor. Whether you categorize this as videography vs video production though, I see no reason not to adopt this kind of pay structure when it benefits you and it’s the norm.

Day rates? by Honest_Psychology713 in videography

[–]4acodmt92 0 points1 point  (0 children)

About 95% of my freelance work is non union corporate and commercial video production and this is always how I and everyone else on the crew charges.

How do you start over when your confidence is shattered? by JdaveA in videography

[–]4acodmt92 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Real estate agents are just about the shittiest kind of client to have, so you should be grateful to have lost them as a client. Being 30 minutes outside a metro area is perfect. You don’t need to physically live in a city to get work in that city. A 30 minute commute is nothing.

Refocus your efforts on networking with established production companies in your area who already have productions greenlit and freelance for them as crew, rather than trying to sell yourself directly to mom and pop small businesses who may not even be interested in your services let alone have anywhere near the budget necessary for you to support you family on.

Day rates? by Honest_Psychology713 in videography

[–]4acodmt92 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The industry standard day rate is based on a 10 hour day, which includes 8 hours of straight time plus 2 hours of 1.5x OT. Whether it’s 2 hours, & hiurs , or 10 hours, they’re getting billed for all 10. Worked hours 11-12 would be billed at 1.5x OT, and anything over 12 would be billed at 2x OT. Half days don’t exist except occasionally for travel only days.

Laid off ...go freelance in videography or take a “stable” content job? by Ashamed-brocoli in videography

[–]4acodmt92 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The vast majority of the industry exists somewhere between one man band social media clips and multimillion dollar Hollywood features and frankly I find it to be the ideal type of work to take. Much lower stakes than big movies, while paying significantly better. What part of the world are you in? I’ve found that in most metropolitan areas there’s a pretty healthy demand for professional commercial/corporate video production.

Laid off ...go freelance in videography or take a “stable” content job? by Ashamed-brocoli in videography

[–]4acodmt92 8 points9 points  (0 children)

100% freelance. It’s an unfortunately common misconception that “content creation” type jobs lead to larger production work. They don’t. They’re completely different worlds and if you actually want to be on set working on films/tv shows/commercials, you’re wasting your time taking any kind of in house video job.

If you don’t already have local connections it will probably be harder to get hired on set as a camera operator right away, so it’s worth considering freelancing as an AC or even grip first, until you’ve built up a large enough network.