Robe attends International Cinematographer's Guild Workshops

The event was staged at the Local 80 grips soundstage. Rose from Design Partners, worked with Mark Weingartner and Mark Sanford of the ICG national training committee to devise the programme which included 'The difference between a Cinematographer and a lighting designer' and 'The History of Advanced Lighting technology'.

Jonathan Erland of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences scientific and technical council presented 'The Science & Perception of Colour' and 'Light : The Raw Material of our Vision', and a seminar by Tom Morris of Ocean Optics/SeaChanger examined 'Light Emitting Plasma Lamp Sources'.

The 2 days of workshops right in the heart of Hollywood's finest film production activity - were aimed at cinematographers and other interested parties working in the area. Demand was high, with over 60 people attending on each day.

Harry von den Stemmen, sales director of Robe lighting and CEO of Robe lighting Inc represented the company with Heather Busch, Robe lighting Inc's rental & staging segment manager.

Robe was one of a number of technical partners invited to participate in the sessions, as a manufacturer producing new innovative technologies applicable to this specialist field.

Scenery was also donated for the Workshops, which was built up into a stage set to demonstrate first hand the effects of using the different available lighting technologies. Film set lighting by definition has to be 3 dimensional as cameras will look at scenery from all directions at any time.

Many issues were discussed in depth, including colour temperature, CRI, etc., and how it all relates to tungsten lighting which has so far been the de facto reference for cinematographers. 'Chromatic chaos' was also a hot topic - when multiple sources with varying colour temperatures coexist in the shot,  creating a challenging environment for cameras.

Once the presentations were finished, participants had a chance to examine the various products that were there close up.

Says von den Stemmen, "It was an interesting exercise. Cinematography is a very specialist area with very precise needs. It was an invaluable insight for us into how lighting is used in this context and a great opportunity to meet some of the most experienced and authoritative practitioners of the genre".

He adds that some of the new technologies that Robe is developing like the Plasma and LEDWash series will definitely be of interest to cinematographers and the world of film.