Definition: What innovation or burgeoning trend in lighting excites you most right now, and how do you see it transforming workflows or creative possibilities? Raphael Kiesel: It’s been very exciting to follow recent advances in LED emitter and cooling technology. This is making it possible to scale up into the medium- and even high-wattage tungsten and HMI equivalent space. The replacement of conventional light sources with LED has led to significantly more creative flexibility. Access to different colours and effects has been greatly simplified. Laser-based light could lead to another leap in development. Unfortunately, the technology is still in its infancy. Tim Kang: The transition from RGB colour to truly full-spectrum matches for lighting has finally arrived with
Aputure’s STORM series. This opens the door to straightforward What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) lighting colour workflows that are similar to the traditional methods of adding lighting gels to full-spectrum white light. It also continues to provide the flexibility and dynamic image-based colour controls that RGB colour lighting promised but previously failed to fully deliver. These technological advances completely connect images and ideas to lighting environments. Def: What are the most significant challenges or pain points you encounter in your field, and how are you/the industry addressing them? TK: Apart from company-specific product challenges, industry-wide agreement still doesn’t exist on the definition of white light, coloured light or the means to effectively control both these variations. I experienced a competitor rejecting my recommendation to use the white light colour conventions recognised and specified by the American Society of Cinematographers Motion Imaging Technology Council (ASC MITC), due to their perceived – but misguided – conflation of these standards with Aputure’s product calibration standards. However, patient education of filmmakers about these standards has started to erode suspicion and distrust from other manufacturers, since the adoption of fundamental and brand- agnostic specifications has improved colour workflows and fidelity for the craft of cinematography. RK: The television and film lighting market has seen dramatic periods of growth and contraction in the last few years. Vendors and manufacturers have to be flexible and ready to ramp up in times of growth. We also have to focus more than ever on proper market research so that we can reduce risk and create the correct products during times of contraction. Furthermore, due to the cost pressure, the film industry has to keep asking itself how it can further optimise its workflows on-set. And, as manufacturers, we have to develop products that support them in this endeavour.
Tim Kang Principal engineer for imaging applications, Aputure
Dr Raphael Kiesel Senior vice president, ARRI Group
Def: With sustainability a growing priority in production, what advancements or practices in lighting tech are contributing to more environmentally friendly filmmaking? TK: Though energy requirements have removed energy-inefficient incandescent lighting from normal practice, they have also removed the sustainable practice of only replacing incandescent bulbs within fixtures that last for decades. In contrast, LED fixtures inherently have shorter shelf lives due to more complex computing and electronic controls, so shorter component lifespans often drastically reduce fixture lifespans. To increase the sustainability of these fixtures, having manufacturers design them with easily replaceable and recyclable lighting engines, driver boards and electrical components will drastically reduce waste and increase the lifespan of LED lighting products. RK: There are many reasons that customers and vendors alike have embraced LED lighting tech. In addition to the creative freedom granted by LED fixtures, the industry has been happy
PANEL SHOW The ARRI SkyPanel S60 Pro is packed full of the company’s latest technology, including the new Digital Twin
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