View Full Version : white balance, exposure and FIRE :)


Andrew McNeeley
August 6th, 2004, 12:40 AM
ok so maybe I'm a little nuts, but it seems to me that the best way to end my short film is to burn everything to the ground. :)

Problem is, the fire occurs on a talkshow and will be "spontaneous" SO...I'm thinking that a sudden burst of flame will completely ruin my manual white balance/exposure settings for the scene.

I realize I could simply cut away and back again with new settings but I think it will be much funnier to keep it as one continual shot. Actually, I'm not quite sure how to get those new settings without burning the set twice...I've also thought about leaving it in auto, but I'm worried this will make the last scene look different than the others.

Any thoughts?

Robin Davies-Rollinson
August 6th, 2004, 12:52 AM
So why bother to change anything - just let the fire take care of itself.
I suppose that you are set for tungsten anyway, so that won't make the fire seem too red.

Robin

Dean Sensui
August 6th, 2004, 04:09 AM
Do a test before the shoot.

Also, be sure to have a hose ready or at least a couple of extinguishers handy. Not sure what the situation is, but fire sometimes has a tendency to do something unexpected.

If a human being catches fire, nothing beats a lot of very cold water both to extinguish the flames and keep quickly cool down anything that might be hot and in contact with the victim.

Dean Sensui
Base Two Productions.

Andrew McNeeley
August 6th, 2004, 11:13 PM
LOL I'm not sure if that last post was supposed to be funny, but it was.

Fortunately for my friends and associates...the only things on fire will be the set and a poor poor puppet. Imagine being made of polyester and being on fire at the same time? LOL

Right now I'm trying to conceive a way to test this without actually burning anything too substantial or ruining any of my lights...

Jesse Bekas
August 7th, 2004, 03:33 PM
You also have to tak into account that as polyester burns, it will actually melt, drip, and pool up into a little burning puddle, as well as giving off a heavy black smoke. That will also affect shooting and exposure conditions.