Boards must be stabilized during the take A moving

refl ection is very noticeable and obviously artifi cial. Standard procedure for aiming a board is to tilt it down until the refl ection of the sun is just in front of you. Once you have found the spot, it is easier to aim it where you want it to go.

Specialized stands known as refl ector stands are usually used for shiny boards. Also called “combo stands,” they feature junior receivers, leg braces, no wheels, and a certain amount of heft to help keep things in place. They are called combo stands because they are also used as light stands.

Flags and Cutters

Flags and cutters are basic subtractive lighting. Coming in sizes from 12  18 inches to 24  72 inches, they are used to cast shadows, control spill, and shape the light. They are constructed with 3兾

8 -inch wire and terminate in a 3兾8 -inch

pin that fi ts in grip heads. Flags come in the standard sizes: 12  18, 18  24, 24  36, and 48  48-inch (4  4). There are other, less common sizes as well.

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Gripology 177

Flag Tricks

The most basic rule about fl ags is that the farther away the fl ag is from the light source, the harder the cut will be—that is, the sharper the shadow will be. This is why fl ags are such an important adjunct to barndoors. Being attached to the light, barndoors can’t be moved away from the light, and there is a limit to how sharp a cut they can produce. The fl ag can be moved in as far as the frame will allow, making the cut almost infi nitely adjustable. For the sharpest cut of all, remove the fresnel, usually by opening the door of the light. This makes it sharper because the bare bulb is a smaller source than the fresnel lens.

The more fl ooded the light, the sharper the cut. For razor- sharp control of light (and for harder shadows) the light must be at full fl ood. The more spotted a light is, the softer the shadows will be, and the harder it is to control with barndoors and fl ags. Cutters are longer and narrower. Sizes include 10  42, 18  48, and 24  72 inches.

(c)

(b)

FIGURE 9.4 (a) A single grip net, a double, a silk and solid (or fl ag). These are 18  24 inches. (b) Various sizes of fl ags, cutters, and empty frames. (c) Grips handle any sort of lighting control that is not attached to the light, such as this 4  4 silk creating a soft light for the model.

(a)

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178 Motion Picture and Video Lighting

Floppy fl ags have two layers of duvetyne (the black cloth covering material); one of them is attached on one side only and can be fl opped down to make a 4  4 into a 4  8, for example. For additional shaping, it is possible to clip small pieces of showcard onto the fl ag. Just position the spring clip so that it doesn’t cast an unwanted shadow. Except in rare circumstances, never mount a fl ag directly to the grip head on a C-stand. Always include at least a short arm so that the fl ag can be repositioned. As with any piece of equipment you set, always think ahead to the next step—you may have it where you want it now, but what happens if it needs to move? Don’t get yourself too locked in. Leave some slack! Common terms are sider, topper, top chop, bottomer, and bottom chop, all self-explanatory.

Nets

Nets are similar to fl ags, but instead of opaque black duvetyne, they are covered with bobbinet, a net material that reduces the amount of light without altering its quality.

Nets come in two predominant fl avors, single and double (there is a third, called a lavender; rare, but it reduces the light 1兾

3 stop). Double nets are usually just a double layer of

bobbinet. Each layer is rotated 90° from the layer underneath it. Nets are color-coded in the bindings that secure the scrim to the frame. Singles are white, doubles are red, and silk is color-coded gold. Net material comes in black, white, and lavender, but black is predominantly used.

A single net reduces light by a 1兾

2 stop, a double by 1 stop,

and a triple, 11兾

2 stops. A lavender reduces by 1兾3 stop. The

values are, of course, approximate—the actual reduction (b)

(a)

FIGURE 9.5 (a) A cuculoris (cookie) creates shafts of light in the smoke eff ect. (b) A branchaloris on a highboy.

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Gripology 179 depends on the light source, its distance from the net, and

the angle of the net material relative to the direction of the light. The main difference between a fl ag frame and a net frame is that net frames are open-ended. That is, they have one side open, making it possible to orient the net so that there is no shadow of the bar where it might show.

Net Tricks

If you tilt a net so that it is at an angle to the light, it becomes thicker and cuts the light even more. This is an easy way to fi ne-tune the attenuation. As with a fl ag, the farther away the net is from the light source, the harder the cut will be.

To set a single source so that the f/stop stays constant over a long distance (to cover a walk, for example), nets can be stacked, overlapped so that the area nearest the light is covered by a single and a double, then a single only, then nothing.

To fi ne-tune very small areas, paper tape can be applied directly to a net. When the gaffer calls for a single or double net on a light, don’t just bring the one s/he asks for, bring them both; it might save you a trip. (This goes for just about anything that you offer to a light: diffusion, scrims, etc.)

Cuculoris

No one knows the origin of the word, but a cuculoris (or cookie or cuke) is arandom pattern designed to break up the light either subtly (if close to the light) or in a hard shadow pattern (if far from the light).

Any fl at device designed to cast a patterned shadow is a cookie. Standard cookies come in two varieties: wood, made from 1兾

4-inch plywood, and celo, which is a

layer of wire net covered with plastic-like material that has a random pattern burned into it to create a varying pattern of transparency and semi-opacity. Celos are much more subtle than a wood cookie. Leaf patterns, blinds, and stained-glass windows are common cookie pat- terns. Cookies of this type are also known as “gobos.” Foamcore is easily cut, but rigid enough to be self- supporting. When actual branches and leaves are used as cookies, they are called “dingles.” A small branch is a 1K dingle and larger ones are 2K or 5K dingles; another name is branchaloris. If they actually appear in the frame they are called “smilex”.

As with fl ags, the farther away from the light, the sharper the cut. If a hard, sharp shadow pattern is needed, be sure to employ a light large enough to back way off and still get the stop. For maximum sharpness, take the lens off the light. This reduces the radiator to a point source which casts the sharpest possible pattern.

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180 Motion Picture and Video Lighting

Grid

The use of grids came from still photographers, who used them to make nondirectional light directional. Honeycomb grids have very small openings and are one to two inches thick. They function in the same way as an eggcrate on a soft light.

Open Frames

Frames of all sizes come uncovered so that the grips can put on the diffusion of the day. A couple of open frames in each size are a must in any grip order. Paper tape can be used to apply gel to a frame, but double-stick tape is also useful. Snot tape is the more professional solution; it is double-sided transfer tape in a dispenser, which is an extremely quick way to gel up a frame—and the best way to accomplish the job.

Cookies and Celos

Nobody really knows why it’s called a cuculoris, but it is. Cookies (or cuculoris) are fl ags made of plywood with ran- dom patterns cut out. They are used to break up the light and add texture. A soft version, called a “cello,” is a wire mesh with a semi-transparent layer that has been burned into a random pattern. Another variation on the cuculoris is the “branchaloris” which is made from a real branch—usually held up by a branch holder.