Getting the "light beams thru the trees" look

jcolman · Mar 7, 2008

These are some stills taken from a recent HD shoot I did for a documentary.

We simply brought in our own fog.

andrew99 · Mar 7, 2008

Wow, so that's how it's done! The first shot is awesome.

jcolman · Mar 7, 2008

You can rent a fog machine for as little as $35/day plus the fog juice. I own a small generator so we used that for power.

Big Mike · Mar 7, 2008

Cool 'behind the scenes' shots.

I guess it goes to show you...don't believe what you see on TV...even in a documentary.

Arch · Mar 7, 2008

very cool, thanks for sharing :thumbup:

jcolman · Mar 7, 2008

Big Mike said:
Cool 'behind the scenes' shots.

I guess it goes to show you...don't believe what you see on TV...even in a documentary.

:lmao: This show is about the history of NC. What we're filming is a scene discussing the events that happend 400 years ago so I had a little artistic license to play with.

Stranger · Mar 7, 2008

thats awesome! i was always curious about how this worked

nicfargo · Mar 7, 2008

How much fog are we talking about here. Does it take a long time or is it a relatively short process.

jcolman · Mar 7, 2008

nicfargo said:
How much fog are we talking about here. Does it take a long time or is it a relatively short process.

The fog machine takes about 15 minutes to warm up but It only takes a minute or two to actually make the fog. There are also different types of fog machines available depending on your needs. The one we used is a small hand held device that heats up a mineral oil based "fog juice".

If the wind is blowing (which it was when the first couple of shots were taken) the fog dissipates rather quickly. I only had about 15 seconds to get the shot before the fog blew away.

On the second setup, it was later in the day and the wind had died down a bit but the fog would still dissipate within a minute.

Obviously calm conditions are better than wind.

Seefutlung · Mar 7, 2008

when I forget my fog machine I just kick up some dust

Gary

jcolman · Mar 7, 2008

Seefutlung said:
when I forget my fog machine I just kick up some dust

Gary

or light up a lot of cigarettes.

Seefutlung · Mar 7, 2008

jcolman said:
or light up a lot of cigarettes.

lol ... not in California ....lol

ToddB · Mar 7, 2008

jcolman said:
:lmao: This show is about the history of NC. What we're filming is a scene discussing the events that happend 400 years ago so I had a little artistic license to play with.

Very cool behind the scenes Jcolman. What's the documentary and where did you do this at?

kundalini · Mar 7, 2008

Yeah, I'm curious of the location as well. I live just 20 minutes east of Raleigh.

Cool shots and setup.

JerryPH · Mar 7, 2008

jcolman said:
You can rent a fog machine for as little as $35/day plus the fog juice. I own a small generator so we used that for power.

During the last halloween season I saw fog machines renting for $15/day, and you could buy our own cheapie machine for $175-250 depending on the model.

If it is something you enjoy doing at the hobby level... its very affordable to purchase yourself. The "fog juice" was going for $20 for a nice sized bottle, about a gallon or more, I believe.

Its not a pro setup, but then again, unless you are shooting seriously, this would last you a nice long time.

Very nice shots, BTW!