Do you ever gel windows? at DVinfo.net

Kevin Lewis · January 31st, 2011, 03:09 PM

I have a tota light kit which I have been using in a studio type set up where there are no windows. I'm starting to do more and more location shots where there is daylight coming in. Rather than gel the lights, whats the feasibility of geling the windows?

Perrone Ford · January 31st, 2011, 03:21 PM

Three pertinent questions:

1. How many windows
2. How large are they?
3. How much money do you have? :)

Gelling windows is usually not too hard. But they can require a lot of film, and that doesn't come cheap. Which is why you see a lot more people gelling lights.

Dan Brockett · January 31st, 2011, 04:08 PM

The biggest commodity for me when gelling windows after money for a lot of ND, is time. It takes some serious time, especially on multi-pane windows on older houses and buildings where you have to gel a bunch of little "windows" that are really just one big piece of glass but there are separator pieces and borders. PITA and takes all day to do a good job.

I switched to LEDs, fluorescents for jobs like these or sometimes HMIs.

Dan

Mike Watson · January 31st, 2011, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perrone Ford

Three pertinent questions:

1. How many windows
2. How large are they?
3. How much money do you have? :)

Gelling windows is usually not too hard. But they can require a lot of film, and that doesn't come cheap. Which is why you see a lot more people gelling lights.

This, indeed.

I would only gel windows in a case where there was more tungsten than window. I have actually used windows as a blue backlight before, it's kind of a nice effect at times.

Bill Davis · January 31st, 2011, 09:12 PM

While it's often a hassle, it's pretty inexpensive (around $100 bucks) to buy a full roll of combo CTO and 2 stop ND from someone like Lee Filters.

I keep one in the studio and on a few occasions, it's enabled shots in otherwise impractical locations.

Particularly executive offices where you can have the Exec sit at their desk, and simply put the roll on one end in the window well - gaff it at a couple of points, ROLL it out across the window horizontally, tape the top and let static cling do the rest. (this presumes you can limit head height of the shot to no higher than the top of the window - usually pretty easy.)

The resulting shot can look a lot like you lugged HMI's into the office and blinded the poor talent - and it's cheap to boot!

It *can* be a quick solution if the circumstances are right.

Just another tool in the kit deployed when conditions are right.

FWIW.

Kevin Lewis · January 31st, 2011, 10:03 PM

Thanks for the input everyone. Mike the scenario of having more tungsten then window is exactly what I was thinking about.

January 31st, 2011, 03:09 PM	#1
Kevin Lewis Major Player Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Philadelphia, pa Posts: 705	Do you ever gel windows? I have a tota light kit which I have been using in a studio type set up where there are no windows. I'm starting to do more and more location shots where there is daylight coming in. Rather than gel the lights, whats the feasibility of geling the windows?

January 31st, 2011, 03:21 PM	#2
Perrone Ford Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Tallahassee, FL Posts: 4,100	Three pertinent questions: 1. How many windows 2. How large are they? 3. How much money do you have? :) Gelling windows is usually not too hard. But they can require a lot of film, and that doesn't come cheap. Which is why you see a lot more people gelling lights. __________________ DVX100, PMW-EX1, Canon 550D, FigRig, Dell Octocore, Avid MC4/5, MB Looks, RedCineX, Matrox MX02 mini, GTech RAID, Edirol R-4, Senn. G2 Evo, Countryman, Moles and Lowels.

January 31st, 2011, 09:12 PM	#5
Bill Davis Trustee Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ 85260 Posts: 1,538	While it's often a hassle, it's pretty inexpensive (around $100 bucks) to buy a full roll of combo CTO and 2 stop ND from someone like Lee Filters. I keep one in the studio and on a few occasions, it's enabled shots in otherwise impractical locations. Particularly executive offices where you can have the Exec sit at their desk, and simply put the roll on one end in the window well - gaff it at a couple of points, ROLL it out across the window horizontally, tape the top and let static cling do the rest. (this presumes you can limit head height of the shot to no higher than the top of the window - usually pretty easy.) The resulting shot can look a lot like you lugged HMI's into the office and blinded the poor talent - and it's cheap to boot! It can be a quick solution if the circumstances are right. Just another tool in the kit deployed when conditions are right. FWIW. __________________ Classroom editing instructor? Check out www.starteditingnow.com Turnkey editor training content including licensed training footage for classroom use.

January 31st, 2011, 04:08 PM	#3
Dan Brockett Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Los Angeles, California Posts: 2,109	The biggest commodity for me when gelling windows after money for a lot of ND, is time. It takes some serious time, especially on multi-pane windows on older houses and buildings where you have to gel a bunch of little "windows" that are really just one big piece of glass but there are separator pieces and borders. PITA and takes all day to do a good job. I switched to LEDs, fluorescents for jobs like these or sometimes HMIs. Dan

January 31st, 2011, 10:03 PM	#6
Kevin Lewis Major Player Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Philadelphia, pa Posts: 705	Thanks for the input everyone. Mike the scenario of having more tungsten then window is exactly what I was thinking about.