Vegas Sound Stage

The Importance of Lighting Control

Ask any true Gaffer, Director of Photography, Grip, or Photographer and they will tell you the absolute and unquestionable importance of quality lighting control. For, it's not just the quality of the lights, the camera, the lens, and the location, but the ability to control and create the perfect light for your scene that will make or break your shot.

Similar to really great captured audio, really great lighting may not be noticed by the common view, but bad audio/mediocre lighting will be! Anyone can pop up some LEDs or Fresnels, make a couple adjustments here and there, but to know how to diffuse/intensify the light, to bend it, shape it, warm or cool it to just the right temperature, that's what makes the difference. And, in order to become a Picasso or DiVinci or lighting, you'll need the right tools.

Starting with the right light fixture is of course the first step, after that, you'll need to make sure that you get the appropriate items to control the lights. Whether you'll need exterior dimmers, a flag set, 4x4 frames with diffusion or solid, gels, bounces, etc., we've got what you need.

Now, all this said, you should know when to say when... never let your friends over-adjust and drive... But, if you have time, make another change or two, just to see what it does to the scene; you never know when your masterpiece will be created!

For your next Las Vegas video production equipment rental or Sound Stage Booking, reach out to your buddies at F11 Rentals!


C70 4Canon EOS C70 Cinema

Canon EOS C70 now available!

We have exciting news! We've acquired a few of Canon's new ESO C70 cameras. These cameras are absolutely wonderful, and we would love to tell you about them...

Canon wanted to provide the Cinema EOS quality camera in an EOS R size unit. Think of this camera as a C300 Mark III as a really big DSLR. The size of the camera provides great flexibility and range in how you can support the camera, whether that be by a lighter tripod than the Cinema EOS cameras, a smaller gimbal such as the Ronin RS 2, and smaller drones. Despite the smaller size, the performance, reliability and image quality is great!

Some features include a Super 35mm Dual Gain Output, (DGO) Sensor that is capable of over 16 stops of dynamic range. The DIG!C DV7 Image Processor that you would find in similar Cinema cameras enables up to 4K 120p High Frame Rate recording and Dual Pixel Autofocus. There is also a full 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10-stop internal ND filter system! Lastly for this post, just like in the Cinema cameras, the EOS C70 supports both Canon Log 2 and Canon Log 3 Gamma. The C70 also features HLG and PQ compliance with ITU-BT.2100 in "Custom Picture" presets, which allows you to record HDR footage instantly without grading.

We could go on and on, but we know that's not what you want. What you want is to get your hands on these wonderful cameras, and take them for a spin. SO! Drop us a line, let us know when your next Las Vegas video production is, and we'll get you set up with a great package to capture your cinematic magic!


Green Screen - Perfect for Corporate Video Production #greenscreen #videoproduction

St Patrick's Day, almost over, but I thought it might be a good time to talk about green screen.  The video equivalent of a blank slate oozing with imaginative possibilities.  Appropriate?  When most people think of green screens, they think of big budget movies where the actors are flying around, destroying things or doing unbelievable super acts in fantasy worlds.  They're used for that but they are used far more often in corporate video production and corporate storytelling than most people realize.  We do a good amount of corporate video production and there aren't too many weeks that go by where we aren't either shooting with a green screen or sending out an estimate for green screen production.
In Las Vegas, there are so many conventions coming through town and it's a great place for corporations to either show off products, grab customer testimonials or gather together executives to speak on camera.  Instead of using a boring convention room with blah coloring and no dimension, a green screen offers so many more options, it's tough to pass up.  We key out the green and boom, you're creativity runs wild but mostly simple wild, nothing crazy.  We have a few on hand from a simple pop out 6x6 to a paper roll 10 foot wide to a full on 10x20 wraparound fabric.  These can all be taken on location and built to whatever specs the client is looking for.  It's an effective and creative solution.

Green screen is not out of anyone's budget.  That's another misnomer that people tend to have.  It's an additional cost for sure but the quality and flexibility of post production because of it is far more valuable than saving a few dollars.  If for your next production you haven't thought about it, ask us about green screen and you'll be glad you have fun options to play with down the line.  If all else fails, you can always put the CEO talking about EBITDA in the middle of a corn field.

Now, in honor of St. Patrick's Day I leave you with one of my favorite themed commercials, even though it's a couple years old.