Blog
Articles on filmmaking technique, production planning, and industry knowledge.
Showing 5 of 5 posts
Night Exterior Lighting for Indie Films: Exposure Math
Plan a night exterior with measured ambient light, exposure ratios, fixture photometrics, cable loads, and color checks before the crew reaches location.
Kelvin vs. Mired: Why Gels Are Measured in Mireds
A guide to mired shift and gel selection. Why the Kelvin scale is not perceptually linear, and how to calculate the right gel for any source.
How to Balance Mixed Lighting on Set Without a Color Meter
A practical guide to resolving mixed-light conflicts using gels, white balance, and visual reference. Covers daylight, tungsten, fluorescent, HMI, and LED sources with mired shift calculations and gel selection for each scenario.
Day for Night: The Exposure Math and the In-Camera Technique
Explains the exposure strategy for day-for-night shooting, the stop-loss calculation, sky blocking techniques, and how modern color grading has changed the technique. Includes worked examples from different solar conditions.
Lighting for Indie Film: Calculating Power, Avoiding Blown Circuits, and Rigging Smart
The electrical planning process for shooting on a practical location without a generator: how to calculate total wattage, read a circuit breaker panel, distribute loads, and plan a lighting setup within the location's capacity.