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Grip Tools: Pins & Portable Gear

Lesson 11 from: Cinematic Lighting for Portraiture

Chris Knight

Grip Tools: Pins & Portable Gear

Lesson 11 from: Cinematic Lighting for Portraiture

Chris Knight

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Lesson Info

11. Grip Tools: Pins & Portable Gear

Lessons

Class Trailer
1

Class Introduction

04:29
2

What is Cinematic Lighting?

06:42
3

Motivated & Practical Lighting

07:41
4

5 Cinematic Lighting Tips

04:53
5

Low-Key & Upstage Lighting

06:26
6

Control Your Fill Lighting

05:18
7

Show Depth In Your Image

13:24
8

Pre-Production for Cinematic Lighting

22:42
9

Grip Tools: Clamps

08:41
10

Grip Tools: Apple Boxes, C-Stands & Grip Heads

10:53
11

Grip Tools: Pins & Portable Gear

04:50
12

Grip Tools: Scrims, Silks, Flags & Tape

13:52
13

Grip Tools: Wind and Haze Machines

04:07
14

Grip Tools: Unusual Tools

04:47
15

Grip Tools: Filters

11:05
16

Grip Tools: Q&A

15:04
17

Theater Shoot: Concept

08:03
18

Theater Shoot: Pre-Production Considerations

08:48
19

Theater Shoot: Lighting Gear

04:27
20

Theater Shoot: Motivated Lighting Considerations

26:47
21

Theater Shoot: Lighting Walkthrough

20:45
22

Theater Shoot: Capturing The 1st Shot

27:37
23

Theater Shoot: Hero Shot

21:47
24

Theater Shoot: Capturing In The Seats

21:48
25

Airstrip Shoot: Concept

05:49
26

Airstrip Shoot: Pre-Production Considerations

19:31
27

The Haircut: Location Specifics and Motivated Lighting

13:17
28

Working With Scrims On Location

06:34
29

The Haircut: Getting the Shot

24:28
30

The Haircut: Shooting Plates

08:21
31

Staggered Planes: Location Specifics and Motivated Lighting

08:10
32

Staggered Planes: Getting The Shot

08:23
33

Capturing Plates With Talent In Background

16:26
34

Airstrip: Environmental Portraits

07:01
35

Airstrip: Location Shooting Q&A

22:05
36

Using Plates to Create a Pano in Lightroom®

16:08
37

Transform Tool

04:50
38

Post-Processing 1st Theater Shot

09:48
39

Retouching Details in Photoshop®

13:09
40

Color Grading in Alien Skin Exposure X3

06:27
41

Post-Processing Theater Hero Shot in Photoshop®

08:11
42

Creating a Spotlight in Photoshop®

05:31
43

Adjusting Color for Cinematic Lighting

12:28
44

Post-Processing: The Haircut

12:08
45

Coloring the Sky and Removing Modern Building

05:10
46

Creating a Pano Using Plates in Photoshop®

17:12
47

Developing Cinematic Portraits in Lightroom®

07:29
48

Retouching Cinematic Portraits in Photoshop®

08:57
49

Color Grading Cinematic Portraits in Alien Skin

13:20

Lesson Info

Grip Tools: Pins & Portable Gear

Now a little bit less common to us photographers, compared to maybe filmmakers, are the things that I'm going to talk about next, but you will possibly encounter them from time to time. So the one most common one, these are two different kinds of pins or mount sizes, also called spuds, basically, the one that we're probably going to encounter the most is the 5/8th mount. This is called the baby pin, and here's why I say it's all about legos, right? Because all these things are meant to follow a certain universal mount. This is a baby pin, or baby size. This is what fits in here is. This is essentially the end of the C-Stand. Same size. So is this, okay? This is probably the most common one that you guys are gonna encounter. But every once in a while, when you start dealing with huge movie lights, you get the other end of it, and this is called the junior. And the junior is, because this is an adaptor, so it allows you to convert to both sides, which is, that's the both ends. And so may...

be you get the big light. And if you've ever seen the really big stands, where the top has a mount that has a hole in it. That's where the junior pin goes. So it kind of gives you the reverse mount. Instead of the pin is there, and there's a hole on the fixture, it's the other way. It's a hole, and the thing uses a big mount and drops in, and you lock it too. And that's when you'll encounter the junior mount. Again, you're not gonna see it very commonly, but just know that when someone says, hey I need a C-Stand. Alright, do you want a junior or a baby mount? You know what you're looking for. You're looking for the 5/8ths, or you're looking for the 1 1/8ths. There you go. When shooting location, this is one of my favorite little toys. I learned this from a guy named Cliff Hausner in New York, and he's like, this is one of my favorite portable light stand tricks. This comes in different sizes. This one's a little bit bigger. This is the large size. I use the medium size, which is probably there. Right? It's a little bit smaller. This will extend to here, which is super long. Mine is probably a six-footer. I think this is a nine. This is a painter's pole. You can get this at any home improvement store. You can also buy it on Amazon. It's cheap. I mean, they're between 20 and 40 dollars for one of these. And I actually really like it. I think it's comfortable because of the foam grips. I think it actually looks really, decently professional. It looks like a lighting tool. It looks like something that's not, you're not just holding a big, wooden stick. It's got a button it releases. It fully extends. You can hold the light wherever you want. You tend to, like brace it here. But, the downside of this, is this right here is a regular painter adapter, or painter mount. So, what you will need, is something called a Kacey Pole Adapter. And what that does is that converts this mount into a C-Stand mount. And so it just screws on the top. And so you can now use it with your light stands. So you saw in that behind the scenes image, I was using this with a head with an umbrella, and it was just kind of anchoring it into the shot. It's one of these. I think by the time it's all said and done, you buy a painter's pole, you buy the adapter. 40 or 50 bucks for one. And I think it totally looks legit. I think it doesn't look like you're trying to do something. I've seen other photo brands that try to do a similar thing, and I actually think this is more stable, and more affordable than some of the other ones that I've seen. So, huge fan of this. I think this works really well. And the smaller one will even fit into a full, you know, decent sized suit case. This is a little bit large. Like the small one, side of your backpack, side of your camera bag, and it's a really great way to bring a light on location. In New York, we have to contend with the fact that if you are shooting outside, you need a permit if you're putting down a light stand. So this allows me to not use a light stand because you're not putting legs down everywhere. So it becomes a way that you can run and gun very quickly, and take care of that kind of shooting without as much problems. Very convertible.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Chris Knight - Cinematic Lighting for Portraiture Grip Quick Reference Guide

Ratings and Reviews

Bruce Walker
 

This course is simply terrific, and I highly recommend it. Firstly it arrived at the perfect time for me as I am soon to do a studio shoot very much in keeping with a cinematic or theatrical aesthetic. Secondly it's taught by Chris Knight who I swear is like a long-lost twin brother. :-) There are so many parallels in the way he thinks and works to my own style. So I avidly watched this as soon as it was available for anytime streaming. This is the first time I have made extensive use of the CL iPhone app, btw, and I love how it pretty much enabled me to seamlessly switch back and forth from desktop viewing to my iPad that I carry around the house during the day. I was able to make coffee and still carry on taking in the course, uninterrupted. The content is fantastic, delivered succinctly yet entertainingly. Some material and ideas are already in my repertoire and were reinforced and validated by Chris' demonstrations. But he also introduced a lot of ideas and methods new to me and very welcome. I was particularly glad to see how practical it is to stitch a series of tripod shots into a wide pano. I have been afraid to try that but I will now be using that in my next shoot, for sure. As alway, his post production practices revealed all kinds of tips about Lightroom and Photoshop I didn't know. Negatives. The volume level mastering is iffy. It started out at a decent level then midway through one of the early lessons dropped so much I had to turn up my sound system to compensate. And as I write this one lesson (34) is missing and in its place was a duplicate of the next lesson (35). I expect CL will have that fixed shortly though (I sent support a note).

Jeph DeLorme
 

One of the best classes I have viewed at Creative Live. Definitely worth the investment of time and money. The pace of the class allows you to learn extra tips and tricks throughout the process. Great instructor, highly recommend this class to anyone looking to step up their creative game.

a Creativelive Student
 

excellent class in all regards. outstanding instructor with experience in complicated cinematic shoots but who also is willing to thoroughly cover the basic nuts and bolts. i wish all creative live classes were of this quality.

Student Work

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