Hello Crew, it’s Rob and Rich from The Film Look where we drop filmmaking knowledge bombs.
AND in this video, we are going to share 10 reasons why we think the Aputure MC is perfect for indie filmmakers.
Campfire Setup
Welcome to The Film Look campfire setup. This is quite a basic and simple setup, anyone can do this. We are using two Aputure MCs that are going into a white reflector. Then we have another MC acting as moonlight, to combat the warm glow of the fire. I am controlling everything from the app, so I can turn the light on and off and I can change all of the settings and frequencies of the firelight.
Out of the box, the MC comes with a bunch of pre-programmed lighting effects, but what takes the MC to the next level over other RGB fx lights is the Sidus Link app, which is free.
In the Sidus Link app, you can set up your scene, add each light, and you can keep everything organised by renaming everything.
For the firelight, we grouped two MCs together as they had the same settings and using the app it allowed us to quickly flick through different firelight settings to see which one looked best in the scene.
We use the same moonlight colour for a bunch of scenes we shoot, so we’ve saved it as a preset in the app for future use. And if you haven’t already subscribed for future videos like this one.
The app does have a learning curve, but if you spend time messing around, setting up some scenes as we did, you’ll be ready to use it on set. Just make sure your phone is fully charged throughout the shoot.
TV/Cinema Screen Setup
This is our TV Screen reflection setup, we’ve got 3 Aputure MCs, we’ve got these two our keys on both sides of the camera, one in party mode, and one doing a TV flicker mode
After looking over the footage for the TV screenshot shot, we think we chose the wrong effect settings on the MCs. The TV Flicker and Disco effects aren’t random enough, so we are going to get back and try some other lighting effects.
NEW TV/CINEMA SCREENSHOT
This is the new and improved TV screen setup.
The lights are in the same position, but this light is set to fireworks mode, and this one is set to faulty bulb mode, both of which are a lot more random and give a more convincing TV screen look.
As you can see there is some black wrap on the faulty bulb light, that’s because these don’t come with barn doors so they are going to be open and spread the light everywhere.
So to help cut and shape your light we would definitely recommend getting some black wrap. It’s a great alternative to using barn doors and is a cheap piece of lighting equipment that you’ll be using for years.
The Aputure MC does come with this rubber diffusion, which we use most of the time to soften the light which is a great little addition.
Now, let’s use the Aputure MCs with a bunch of other light.
SIXTY SECONDS
Our short film Sixty Seconds is about a bomb defusal duo and we used a bunch of lights to film the scene.
We used a flex panel as our key light, Aputure mini 20Ds for background and edge lights, and to help establish there was a police presence we used the MCs in different parts of the location.
We did some screen tests and the built-in cop car present flashes Red, blue, and white 3 times, and we didn’t like, so we jumped into the app, cycled through the settings and customize a police light that flashed red then blue.
It’s a simple change, which looks better on screen, and thats why the MC beats every other small RGB FX light out there. You don’t have to make compromises, you can customise it to suit your film.
POWER
We shot Sixty Seconds over 3 days, with each MC running for about 10 hours. The internal battery life runs for about 2 hours, which is decent for a light this small, but to use it for the entire shoot we powered it via USB plug.
A common USB plug won’t give you enough output so you’ve got to use something like this 9V/2A PD USB Type C plug. This was a little bit of trial and error for us, so we’ve added links in the description to the ones we use.
Also, if you use a 3 meter long USB cable the light will only output 80% brightness. We’ve got a couple of 1 meter and 3 meter long cables depending on how we are using and rigging the light.
Affiliate Links
USB PD 9V/2A Plug - https://geni.us/Si6yT6
Meter USB Type C to USB Type C cable - https://geni.us/C1TP1Ng
3 Meter USB Type C to USB Type C cable - https://geni.us/aVAK
Black Warp - https://geni.us/8JvTw3
If you are rigging the light up high, a 3 meter long cable makes it a lot easier to power the light and because these lights are so small and also have magnets on the back, you can mount it to drop ceilings like the ones we have in the studio. They work great as a flashing emergency light.
We’ve even modded one of our clamps and attached a ball head. Now we can mount the MCs anywhere you can clamp on to.
The MCs have all these fancy RGB effects tricks, but they are really great to help motivate practical lights.
Links to all of the extra pieces of equipment we have mentioned, like the black wrap can be found in the description.
And lastly, before you click away, I want to thank our supporters on Patreon for helping us continue to make videos just like this one.
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If you like what we do here and want to support us, head on over to Patreon.com/thefilmlook where we have a bunch of rewards including a community discord page, bonus filmmaking videos, and 1-on-1 chat sessions with us.
Thanks for watching, and...bye!
DISCLAIMERS:
Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!