Puma November 2019

Puma’s creative team are alway pushing the boundaries to produce the best possible content over an increasing range of media. And, of course this needs shoots to be flexible enough to produce content that fits all these different outlets.  

Back in November last year, Falca Visual, Sham Tanna and Andrew Howe were tasked with designing the complete set to allow for a number of shots of kit and boots for each of the star players.  This involved building multiple sets to shoot action shots, moving image clips and some behind the scenes footage.  All this gives Puma the option to spread their marketing communications across many types of media as they strive to continue to build their brand to the vast football loving audiences.  

One of a number of difference stages built by the team

As you can see, the most sophisticated kit and techniques are being used on this set, all handled and managed by a large team of really talented crew.  It has also been designed to ensure that players’ time is used in the most efficient way possible.

All designed with flow in mind!

Cine Reflect Lighting System

A few years back, we did a lot of research into the possible growing use of reflected lighting systems, particularly for stills shoots as well as moving image projects.  It then went all a bit quiet for a few years, until recently.  

We are now finding that photographers and DOPs are enquiring about using this system on more and more jobs.  

So, briefly, I promise, what is it?

CRLS involves reflecting beams from a source that produces a parallel and concentrated beam as close as possible to the parallel light produced by the sun.  So, what you get is an incredible quality of natural light giving the crew way more flexibility to create different, really interesting effects from a single source.  

With the advance in sensor design, and with that the expansion of usable ISO range, this system is becoming more and more attractive, especially where shoots mix both stills and moving image.   

Reflection is something I’ve championed for years as it gives much greater possibility to create the ultimate natural look, something that we are finding clients love.  I’m very passionate about this too!

And, with the prospect of being able to use less bulky kit and fewer lights, that also helps us to move towards carbon neutral shoots and helps make sets Covid safe.  

We are going to be testing this system more over the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

You can now rent the Dedo Lightbridge CRLS system, as well as the Lightstream CRLS Move / Drive kit and CRLS 100 kit from Gripvan alongside our grip packages or as part of a bespoke kit list.

Get in touch with our rental team to discuss your requirements and find out how Gripvan can support your film or photo shoot with everything from lighting and grip rental, through to crew and production equipment.

Gripvan and Andrew Howe featured in the AOP newsletter!

On the 14th August, Andrew, creator of Gripvan was interviewed by the Association of Photographers to discuss his passion for the industry, and a little more about what Gripvan has to offer and what makes the whole team tick.  

It is a great opportunity for us to take stock in what is a testing time for all, to acknowledge how far the business has come and to think about the future; sustainability is now a top priority for the business.  

Here is the link to article - do have a quick look and let us know what you think.

On Your Bike!

Here at Gripvan, we're doing all we can to keep our vans for working on set only, with our cargo bike (along with support from the Pedal Me fleet) handling the vast majority of deliveries and collections between us, our suppliers and our customers.  This means that van journeys into central London are reduced significantly.  

As the city becomes full of cars and vans again, the advantages of moving kit by bike is clear; it is far faster for most journeys and, of course, cheaper. Not to mention that our crew are more refreshed (and tanned) having not spent hours sat in a van.  Also, we all absolutely love riding our cargo bike around, especially on a beautiful day like today!  

If you want to get on board with a better way to move things (and even people) around London, check out the services offered by: Pedal Me, Zedify UK, SMS ecofleet Limited and of course, if you want your camera or lighting equipment delivered by bike, give us a call - if we can, we deliver by bike!

Sean loves being on the bike! Here, he is delivering a 2K Voltstack to set; green transport, green power!

The Lightstar Luxed 9

It's been far too long since we last posted to our blog, so we are delighted to get this all going again with a feature on one of our newest additions to our lighting stock - The Lightstar Luxed 9.

Lightstar, founded in 2001 is a Beijing based manufacturer making lights for TV and film. In addition to their ranges of Kino, Dino, Fresnel and Parnel luminaries, they also manufacture LED fixtures including fresnels, panels and the Luxed range.

The Luxed range is all based around a 180w LED array mounted behind a glass lens giving a beam somewhere close to a medium flood Par 64 lamp. There is also a clip on plastic fresnel available to alter beam angle but we haven’t got our hands on these yet. Dimming from 0 to 100% is very smooth and the units are Bicolour - adjustable from 2800K to 6500K.

The Luxed 9 is the fixture best suited to our needs offering the most appropriate compromise between output and convenience in terms of size and weight.  At 39kg it's not exactly a quick lamp to work with and is definitely a two man lift but at just over 4’ square.  However, it is still manageable as part of a kit list on one of our 3.5T vans

The Luxed 9 offers a punchy light with good throw which is uncommon in LED fixtures - OK, it will not give a single crisp shadow, but for a power consumption of just 1620w it will give 6600 lumens at a distance of 6m - that’s 87% of what a flooded M40 would give you but you can run it from a domestic socket.

For us the Luxed is useful in several ways - firstly, as demonstrated it is a great choice when you need plenty of light but can’t use a generator. There will still be occasions when an M40 installed with a 2.5k lamp is the best choice but the Luxed gives us the option to add a lot of light with a small power draw. Recently, while lighting for stills and motion, we needed to recreate a wash of daylight in a hospital corridor during working hours. Of course using a generator was not an option, as this would have meant running cables through the hospital.   The Luxed 9 through a 6x6 frame was perfect, giving us enough stop for the stills camera without having to relight for the motion, all from local power.

Our favourite use for the Luxed is as a window fill used in conjunction with an M90 or M40. For a late morning or early afternoon feel the additions of one or two softened Luxed 9s adds just the fill needed.