Using Reflectors:

“One of the best materials to make frames with is electrical conduit (EMT). The pipes come in ½-inch and ¾-inch sizes in lengths up to 10 feet, and you can get 90-degree elbows or straight couplings so that you can fashion them into frames. You can also use plastic PVC plumbing tubes. They have 90-degree PVC corners as well, but PVC is a little flexible. There are two ways to stiffen it up a bit. First, you can fill the tubes with spray foam, which makes the PVC very stiff. Just make sure you do it somewhere flat, because if the PVC is bent while it dries, the tube will stay bent. The other way is to put a wood dowel in it, just like they used to do when they made old aircraft; the crews drove a wooden dowel into the aluminum tubing, and this made the tubing very strong while still keeping it very lightweight.”

Burum has discovered that many of the materials used in filming can also be found at local hardware and fabric stores. “A lot of people like to use Griffolyn in frames as a bounce reflector. Griffolyn was originally developed for farmers in the Midwest to cover their haystacks, and then somebody thought it might work for movies. Another popular material to use in frames is gridcloth, which is essentially rip-stop nylon. You can go to any fabric store and ask for white rip-stop nylon; you’ll have the same thing as gridcloth, only it will cost you half as much. Other useful fabrics include percale sheets, sail cloth, silk and taffeta.

 “There are all sorts of ways to attach the material to frames,” he continues. “You can put grommets around the edges, or use the little garter-snap-type fasteners that you can find at camping stores. To make a fold-up reflector, use a space blanket [plastic material with one aluminized, reflective side], which you can get for $13 at any camping store. For less than $25, you can make a great reflector.”

Another material many cinematographers use for exterior light modification is scrim, also known as bobbinet. “Scrim is very expensive, but your local home-builders store has a substitute that works terrifically: fiberglass windowscreen. It comes in very large widths because it often has to cover large sliding doors and such. Again, you can use grommets or those garter-snap tie-offs from the camping store to tie the material to your frames.”

For not-so-handy cinematographers, or those who are in a rush, Burum recommends whole pre-fabricated windowscreens. “Those are nice because the frame is already built with plastic corners, and the plastic screen is held down with an O-ring that goes into a slot, so you can even change the material in the frame, perhaps putting in some of your cheap rip-stop nylon,” he advises. “The biggest windowscreen frames I’ve seen are about 8-by-8 feet and go for about $25. Even though they’re not the strongest frames in the world, you can still have an 8-by-8 scrim in a frame for $25!”

“There are many other hard-surface materials at the hardware store that are useful,” he concludes. “One old standby is plywood painted white or silver, or with various foils stuck on it. Solid foam insulation — beadboard — sometimes comes with a silver as well as a soft white side.

“These reflectors can be set down on the ground and held at the proper angle by a single or double pole, depending on the size. If you wish to elevate your frame, you must use a pair of century stands. To hold the frame in the C-stand heads, you must make an adapter to first hold the frame, then clamp it to the C-stand head. Your local hardware store has pipe-repair clamps in various sizes that will hold PVC or EMT tubing. Then fit a flat piece of 1/8" aluminum, steel or ¼" plywood with a ¾" slot 2 inches long. This will do the trick.

“The century stand  is the only must-have piece of equipment. Used C-stands can be purchased on the Web. There are two sizes of century heads,  2 ½" and 4 ½"; the larger size fits bigger stands to support frames up to 20 feet square. The smaller heads and stands can only safely be used for frames up to 8 feet square.

Other Build-it-Yourself Tips

1. Standard sizes for flags and open-end scrims are 18" x 12", 18" x 24" and 24" x 36". To create your own flag, take an 1/8" piece of lauan plywood and cut the wood to the appropriate size. Then paint it flat black and cut a ¾"-wide slot that is 1¾" to 2" long. This makes a flag to completely block the light.
   
   Open-end scrims to cut light intensity can be made by cutting a U-shaped frame out of ¼" plywood. Fiberglass or wire windowscreen can then be stapled in double or single layers to complete the job. This works for colored gel, too.
2. Holders for scrims and flags use the slotted 1/8" aluminum, steel or ¼" plywood C-stand adapter bolted to the scrim frame. (See illustration of pipe repair clamp on Sidebar.)
3. Weld 3/8" steel rod to a flat piece of 1/8" x 1" steel and drill two or three ¼" holes. The round rod is the correct size to fit the C-stand head. ¼" bolts will hold the adapter to flag, scrim frame or pattern cutouts.
4. Many sizes of fittings for schedule 40 tubing and pipe come in standard sizes: ½, ¾, 1, 1 ¼, 1 ½ and 2". Plastic PVC, steel and aluminum all come in these sizes. You can use fittings made of all these materials interchangeably. Electrical tubing (EMT) is a different size and must be used with its own fittings. The pipe-repair clamps fit schedule 40 pipe.