A long hiatus

Well after a long hiatus I am back on my blog. Paul and I went on a long excursion to Texas. We were thinking of relocating back to Texas. We tried working for an agency for a few weeks but it just didn't work out. We came home to Phoenix and almost immediately started working on an independent movie. We have been on that set for about three weeks. Paul is DP and they are using Lizardland Film Video HD grip truck and genny. We have met many talented people from the area. I will be back in full swing with my grip equipment tomorrow. Yesterday I worked with a female grip who is excellent AND knows lighting. Spectacular find for this area. It feels good to be blogging again. More to come from LizardlandVideo.com. Picture is of Paul on set.

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Lowel Tota

Today I found these at Lizardland Film Video HD. They are Lowel Tota lights. They come with a gel frame or you can add diffusion. They have doors that shut completely so they are good for travel and you can double stack them. They are tungsten halogen lights. The gulf wing doors have reflectors on them which create a smooth and even background light. You can also point it toward the ceiling to raise the ambient light level of a room. I have not seen these used much in the Phoenix Video Production community. Not much more from LizardlandVideo.com

Frezzi

These are Frezzi Mini-Fill lights. We just have a couple of these at Lizardland Film Video HD. They were originally made by Frezzolini for the first Mt Everst climb. The have traditionally been used in the broadcast industry but are now used by many in video.It is a quartz-tungsten light that mounts on your camera. You can get them with dimmers but ours just have an on/off switch. You can put a little piece of diffusion on it to soften up your subject. They actually have a soft box you can buy and the newer ones have dimmers. That's all for today from LizardlandVideo.com from the Phoenix Video Production community.

Beadboard

Beadboard is basically rigid panel insulation made out of a plastic foam material. This is easy to pick up at Home Depot or Lowe's. You can also use it to make reflectors. Just by some Rosco 3902 and use gaff tape to attach it to the beadboard.

Base Camp

I am very familiar with Base Camp when we are on location for Lizardland Film Video HD. It is usually one of my jobs to watch the equipment. The Base Camp is where all the grip trucks are parked. I love how the grip looks like a monkey in our truck. On location we usually have our taco carts staged next to the grip trucks. With the economy the way it is there are definitely sticky fingers out there. LizardlandVideo.com has been very fortunate to do work on many MLM (network marketing videos) the last few years. These companies always demand the highest quality and have the budget to get it done. We have set up Base Camps at carnivals, office buildings, parks, closed city streets and rented homes. Many of these shoots were for MLM companies. This is a link to our last video. How about that tabletop? I love doing tabletop. Yes, it is tedious. What I like about is that ,it is you, your imagination, your camera and the product. In case you haven't picked up on it yet I do get a lot of the grunt jobs on the set. That is totally ok because I know the least. I am constantly learning. We do get a lot of work in the Phoenix Video Production community. Enjoy the video.
http://www.vimeo.com/10290894 

Cucoloris

Cucoloris, don't you just love this word? We have a couple of these at Lizardland Film Video HD. These are really cool. They create a shadow pattern on a backdrop or subject. You place it in front of your light and it breaks the light up into shadows. When you put it really close to your light the result will be diffused. When you put it close to the backdrop or subject the patterns from the shadows will be sharp. The ones we have are made of wood. You can also get mesh ones. I have not seen these. These are very easy to make. I have been on the road before without our grip truck and made one with a piece of styrofoam insulation (bead board) from Home Depot. Then just cut out amoeba like shapes with a sharp knife. You'll be set to go. There really is no reason to ever buy one Just get a piece of 2' x 3' plywood and use a jigsaw to cut out your shapes. Then spray paint it black. For the pin cut a piece of 3/8" bar stock and weld that to two plates that you screw to the wood. It's nickname is cuke. When you use a branch it's a brancholoris. It really is silly to pay $95.00 for these. They like using these in the Phoenix Video Production community. One of these pictures is during the filming of National Treasure. That's all from LizardlandVideo.com