L.A. to Michigan next week

[akfreak]

Zion is one of the most amazing places I've been. I've probably shot there 4-5 times and the narrows is a must see in the fall. I do set lighting on movies and tv, the biggest loser was a long time ago.


Bob, I've only been to Toronto once but only to visit. Really nice people there and I do hope to made it a road trip in the future as well as Lake superior's north shore.

that is a cool Job, when you say do set lighting, what exactly is your job, are you a Best Boy? HMI is everything in your line of work, Huge silks and big ass lights. I would love to visit a set someday to see how the big boys play.

[vinny]

Set lighting-lighting in general.
I've been a best boy the last couple years. Second in position to the chief lighting technician, I'm in charge of manpower and equipment. We have a crew of 7 on this show, "The wedding band" that airs on tbs in June. We do use HMI's a lot on day work as well as in condors for night work. 18Kw fresnels are the norm but 50kw and 100kw are available as well for a hefty fee.
Today is our last day and I'm pretty happy about it. Four months at 65hrs/week is a long time away from home. Last year I did an 8 month gig in Detroit.

[akfreak]

Good for you Vinny, time to go home! You know it would be cool to follow a Lighting guy and video what they go thru to make a movie or tv show. A documentary of a lighting crew! I would watch it!

Hey if you access to the internet on the road. Here is a cool tool to show you where to find the right spot for sunset/sunrise, moonrise ect.. based on any location. It's called The Photographer's Ephemeris. So when you are on a trip you will know the path of the sunsets.

I am sure you already know where the heck the sun is in your line of work. Having to deal with it all day like you do.

Anyway I still think it is a worthwhile program. I use it when planning trips. I set locations/ spots near water for sunsets and sunrises, it makes it easy to plan via google maps.

Click the link above, there is a video about it, also a download link (it's an adobe Air program). I hope it can help you plan when you are driving or on location, it has helped me. But I am kind of a map geek!

[Scott Walker]

I'll be driving home next week taking I-15 north then I-70 east. I've made this drive a couple times but never in winter. I'm looking for places to shoot along the way besides the obvious nat'l parks which I will visit as well. I don't mind traveling short distances from the interstate but not several hours. I don't have my snowshoes or x country skis. I'll be sleeping on the top of my car.

If you have some extra time and don't mind driving a little further take I-15 all the way up to I-90 then follow it east. It can get a bit chilly in Montana once you are east of the Rockies as well as Wyoming & South Dakota but the rest is generally pretty mild by comparison. Although I guess this is dependent on what you consider cold. There is some amazing scenery between the turnoff for the 70 and Chicago taking this route. You could easily burn up more film than you would want to have to develop without ever going more than a mile off the freeway.

[Jody_S]

Love the roof-top camper rig. I've slept in vans in winter, very harsh conditions (-25), there are challenges of course but it's much easier if you can find a commercial or industrial strip-mall type arrangement that has unswitched power outlets at the rear, and no security guards A 1500W heater makes a big difference, for comfort; otherwise, the accumulated humidity inside the vehicle creates problems, and leaving a window cracked open is another set of problems (I've woken in the morning with a 1.5-ft snow drift shaping over my sleeping bag). I imagine that roof-top thing is quite comfortable so long as the temp doesn't go too far under the freezing mark.