Paparazzi strobe

[zerocool22]

Hey,

What lights exist that you can do a strobe effect like this with, the flash itself is quite long (the movie was shot with a alexa xt (rolling shutter))? 
https://66.media.tumblr.com/d8f90e6a...ftfvo1_540.gif

It seems that they are strobing it like it is atleast a 1/24th of a second. Probably a bit longer to avoid rolling shutter problems. I think they shot this with the lighting strikes paparazzi 8k. But I cannot seem to find this light in Europe, does anybody any other light that could do this?

Any idea's?

Thanks!

[DPC]

Link doesn't work.

[zerocool22]

 

[DPC]

Well I can't answer your specific question, but I reckon you could replicate that very easily with just stills and After Effects.

[zerocool22]

Yeah I need to film it (I want to capture a scene with this lighting where they are moving, and I want to see them move in the flashlight, and not frozen like in the example where they are just watching a show and standing still).

[tupp]

Single-use flashbulbs are still used for their longer flash duration, and DIY flashgun/trigger-boards can be built/rigged cheaply.  Also, I think that there is a flicker box that approximates the effect.  Additionally, one can use spinning mirrors when shooting a small area with a tight lens.  Combine any of these techniques with NLE strobe plug-ins and the effect should be fakeable.

 

A single-head effects unit might not make a convincing paparazzi flash barrage, because the flash only comes from one angle.

 

If you don't need any readable detail between the flashes (as is apparently the case in your example), you can just use a cold, undiffused and overexposed constant light source, and merely replace the in-between frames with black slugs.

[zerocool22]

Thanks, Well yeah I do not want fake it. (as I will be shooting movements that will also have a projection mapping, so need to shoot readable data in between, and also do not want this to be heavily touched in post except for the color grading). 

I can't believe the lighting strikes paparazzi 8k is the only light that could this fairly well. There should be atleast a european counterpart no?

[Nikkor]

A sinar shutter placed in front of a continous light?

 

[zerocool22]

6 minutes ago, Nikkor said:

A sinar shutter placed in front of a continous light?

 

Hey, this might be a good idea. Could this be controlled with a dmx controller so I can program it to a beat? Where could you buy one and what is the cost?

[DPC]

Hope this isn't a silly question but why can't you just use nightclub type strobe lights? And they should be very easy to set to a beat.

[zerocool22]

Yeah the atomic 3000 is a nightclub strobe. You can see it perform against the lightning strikes 8k here, as you can see it has some issues with it.

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[Nikkor]

40 minutes ago, zerocool22 said:

Hey, this might be a good idea. Could this be controlled with a dmx controller so I can program it to a beat? Where could you buy one and what is the cost?

I have no idea, sorry. The thing itself can be bought on ebay and is relatively cheap, but the trigger uses manual force. It's just something that came into my mind.

[tupp]

I did a quick web search, and it appears that now there are a few theatrical/DJ LED strobes that have adjustable flash duration and which are DMX controllable.  The "Elation" brand looks interesting, but there have to be others.

 

Not sure exactly what you want, but it sounds like a flash unit with adjustable duration and DMX control should work for you, provided that there is no premature/uneven output peaking over the duration of the flash.  You can double-up heads if you need more output.

[The Chris]

Looks like a DJ light would do the trick from the sample the OP posted, I'm sure they can be rented relatively cheap.

[Hans Punk]

Can confirm LED strobes that have 'decay/pulse/fade' option work well. Did a shoot recently where gunfire flashes needed to be simulated as interactive lighting. No rolling shutter /half frame issues. Don't recall the brand but they were consumer grade DJ fixtures. DMX controlled - or 0-10v trigger input (which is what I rigged up to a simple nail board to manually strike multiple flash runs on cue). Should be a cheap rent or affordable purchase. Ideally do a camera test first with one or more units before ordering 50

[zerocool22]

Ok how about this. Can it be done with a beamer (3000 lumen)? Where I just make a video full black, and just 1 frame white(the flash). Would that work out, or are the black levels of the beamers/projectors not good enough? Or something else I forgot about?

 

Thanks!

[M Carter]

Often flash effects rely on the "persistence of vision" thing - a bright pop that fades across a few frames. I would guess old-school flashbulbs would do that, and they are out there (eBay). I'd never heard of adjustable duration strobe lights, those could be really useful too.