UNDER WATER LIGHTING
He uses ARRI and RED cameras, which offer a 100,000 Kelvin colour spectrum – up from the standard 10,000 or 12,000. “That gives me the opportunity to skip white balancing in the water, which is super helpful. If there’s a cloud in front of the sun or you’re only changing a metre or two of depth, you’ll have a different colour spectrum. Manually working this out is difficult and often impractical.” Fischer finds being ‘flexible and opportunistic’ is of greater importance, as the ocean – and the weather – is inherently unpredictable. SWIMMING POOLS Not all underwater filmmaking occurs outdoors. For big-budget franchises like Harry Potter or Mission Impossible , there’s often an on-set water tank – referred to as an ‘underwater stage’ – which can typically hold around 20 people at a time. “It’s a normal film set in many ways,” begins gaffer Aaron Keating, “but
In the splash zone! W hen working around water, your production gear is bound to get splashed. Litepanels’ Astra IP range fares well when wet, being IP65-rated and water-resistant. Its bicolour LED panels come in three sizes (‘half’, 1x1 and 2x1), all of which boast accurate colours, high outputs, remote control options and weatherproof battery brackets. The LEDs are also lightweight, making them suitable for mounted or handheld operation.
Though it hasn’t yet hit the market, Anton/Bauer’s EDEN 2500 portable 2.5kWh power system is also an essential tool for providing power in any location via AC outlets and USB-C ports. The EDEN is a freestanding mobile unit, making it easily transportable and perfect for remote locations – like camera boats. It’s built to last, thanks to its aluminium body and IP65 rating.
Both are available from videndum.com
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