Gel

simchapup

Lighting Technician
i need a inexpensive gel i am doing narnia and the director wants a red gel for the war scene but im not sure what red i was thinking of a deep like scarlet red almost any help would be great
 
well i have not seen the movie so tell me bout the scene you are doing?
 
the scene is the white witch against aslyns army. its just a really big battle where the white witch gets killed
 
yea but you have to be careful of wat you get cuz we got some gel at my school that started to melt after the frist use so yea
 
well all gel will melt if you let it... it depends on the saturation level... a deeper more saturated color (R88) for example will melt in about an hour of strait use... R04 on the other hand will run forever without melting.... it also depends on the fixture, wattage, intensity, how well its benched, and about a million other factors.... Rosco tends to hold up pretty well... and most lee's do as well.... and if you choose a really saturated color a heatsheild would be a good option, just be sure to put the heat sheild in a seperate frame... and if you have to ask where the heat sheild goes in the mix then you should consider a career in accounting
 
<Apollo gel is what we use, it holds up well to heat >

Bill's right- it holds up well and has a decent price tag. Give it a try!
 
lee has a clor called blood red, often names are decieving i.e bastard amber, but blood say battle to me and its a nice looking color too me. i can't really suggest anything unless i can see your particular show...
 
nez said:
yea but you have to be careful of wat you get cuz we got some gel at my school that started to melt after the frist use so yea

If you're using ellipsoidals, make sure that they're bench focused properly. Recently I had a Source Four 36 degree (with a 575W HPL) melt a sheet of R59 in about 5 seconds. Even though R59 is a very saturated color, it shouldn't have burned in 5 seconds. Further investigation revealed that the lamp was not centered in the reflector. After centering the hot spot and setting it to flat field, it didn't burn through immediately any more.
 
Footer4321 said:
well all gel will melt if you let it... it depends on the saturation level... a deeper more saturated color (R88) for example will melt in about an hour of strait use... R04 on the other hand will run forever without melting.... it also depends on the fixture, wattage, intensity, how well its benched, and about a million other factors.... Rosco tends to hold up pretty well... and most lee's do as well.... and if you choose a really saturated color a heatsheild would be a good option, just be sure to put the heat sheild in a seperate frame... and if you have to ask where the heat sheild goes in the mix then you should consider a career in accounting
While this is true, i tried some of the stuff we have at our school that nez was talking about and gelled my mini mag, and that melted it after about 20 minutes of cable running...
 
Several good coments here... just about all dark heavy saturated colors will burn through and loose their color in about an hour of use. You will start to see more and more white at the center of the gel.

On the other hand, no instrument should actually melt the plastic. Either you've been using some really bad gel product or something's wrong with the focus of the instrument. Try a bench focus first.

As for gel itself. All gel brands cost about the same ($5-$7). As far as I know, Roscolux is the only gel out there made from two layers of plastic with the color sandwiched in the middle. I believe Rosco E-colour, Gam, Lee, and all the other companies use a single sheet of plastic with the color "painted" on one side. Roscolux usually costs a buck or two more a sheet but in my opinion it holds it's color longer.

Rosco has several good articles about color filters on their website. Some of it is just sales propoganda but it's worth reading: http://www.rosco.com/us/technotes/filters/index.asp
 
gafftaper said:
On the other hand, no instrument should actually melt the plastic. Either you've been using some really bad gel product or something's wrong with the focus of the instrument. Try a bench focus first.


Depends on the situation. I had a WFL Source4 PAR aimed at the ceiling with a very saturated blue in it on full for about 5 or 6 hours and I ended up with an interesting gaping hole in the middle of the gel.

(It was for a party, so I geled the House Lights to make the gym look better)
 
<Depends on the situation. I had a WFL Source4 PAR aimed at the ceiling with a very saturated blue in it on full for about 5 or 6 hours and I ended up with an interesting gaping hole in the middle of the gel.>

After the color migrates, the polyester is at the mercy of the beam and heat and WILL begin to separate. Dichroics are a great resource for long running shows and installs, but you can't beat the cost of an expendable sheet of gel.
 
Also on this topic, if you are using red colored paint as fake blood, with red gel, it is hard to see the red paint.
 
mbandgeek said:
Also on this topic, if you are using red colored paint as fake blood, with red gel, it is hard to see the red paint.

That would be logical, since everything else is red, you do not get the contrast that you would get under "white" light. This would be expected with all colours
 
once I made the mistake of putting a red gel in what I thought was a gel frame for a 1,000 watt work light, it was about and 1 1/2" from the lamp and pretty much disolved in front of me when the light was turned on. I'll never make that mistake again.

I am a fan of Apllo gel, it seems a bit thicker than rosco or lee.
 

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