Covering windows !

R

RED ROBOT

Hey guys .

I am shooting tomorrow the first scenes for my upcoming short .

In the last moment a friend of mine told me that he could borrow me a fog machine . After doing some tests I realized that the way to get great beams of light would be to have less light .

I am shooting in a basement so it is very dark already but there are couple of windows and I am shooting during the day .

What I can cover them with so there will be no light at all . Any clue ?

Thanks .
 
If you haze the room with the windows open/not covered, then you'll also get beams from the light from the windows (assuming they're smallish windows).

Otherwise, tape blacks neatly to the outside of the window.
 
jax_rox said:
If you haze the room with the windows open/not covered, then you'll also get beams from the light from the windows (assuming they're smallish windows).

Otherwise, tape blacks neatly to the outside of the window.
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I don't know why but I just don't get those beams . They are not huge but they are not crazy small as well . I assume it is just too much light . I don't know :( .

I don't think aluminium foil will work as it is crazy reflective and I guess it might mess up my lighting somehow?
 
NickysFX said:
I don't know why but I just don't get those beams . They are not huge but they are not crazy small as well . I assume it is just too much light . I don't know :( .

I don't think aluminium foil will work as it is crazy reflective and I guess it might mess up my lighting somehow?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what type of fogger you're using or what size the windows are. There's a few variables. Even the fog juice you're using has an effect. You generally need a lot of fog, and you need to wait for it to dissipate - you might have an AirCon on or other air ventillation system that you need to disable.

In terms of cheap material to cover windows with - black plastic lining for gardens or ponds tends to work really well and is relatively inexpensive.
 
photon said:
I have used pieces cut from black trash bags taped with gaffer tape.
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Masking tape would be preferable, less chance of ripping up some of the paint.

Also, the garden liners are even better as they're quite a bit thicker than rubbish bags. But, that might be desirable if you just want to serious reduce the amount of light.

You'll be very surprised how much you need to fog it up though. Be careful also, some of those foggers can leave a residue that may or may not be very hard to clean up.

CraigL
 
Yeah, I would just black it out completely, with black garbage bags and gaffer tape (duct tape if you don't have gaffers). If you're worried about reflections off the plastic, perhaps you should put blinds on the windows.
 
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