You can make the Creamsource lights work in a lot of situations. They are punchy in daylight but can get into small spaces, and they dim down really well – the colour stays true all the way through, they are very consistent.
Reg Garside, Gaffer
Reg Garside is a gaffer with over 35 years’ experience in the film industry. His credits include The Bounty (1984), Strictly Ballroom (1992) Gorillas in the Mist (1988), The Matrix (1999), King Kong (2005), and the Hobbit trilogy (2012-14), and he is currently working on the next Marvel film Thor: Ragnarok which is filming in Reg’s native Australia. Outsight caught up with him between scenes to discuss his use of Creamsource lights on his most recent projects.
I started talking to Tama and Sasha when they first began designing the Creamsource Doppios and Benders – they spoke to quite a few gaffers and we put in our two bob’s worth to help with the design. I thought at the time that they had some good ideas, and so it proved.
The first film I took Creamsource units on was The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, shot by the late, great Andrew Lesnie. I found the lights very useful in the amount of ‘grunt’ they gave out, and Andrew had already been impressed with them when he used them to light Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
You can make the Creamsource lights work in a lot of situations. They are punchy in daylight but can get into small spaces, and they dim down really well – the colour stays true all the way through, they are very consistent. The Doppios are also a lot brighter than most other lamps on the market. I love the amounts of light I get from them.
The Doppio is also my favourite for car rigs, especially being able to use the external dimmer control. I can chase the light levels as we drive through different light situations.
After the Hobbit films, I used Creamsource units on The Water Diviner and San Andreas, and now I’m using the Creamsource SKY units, mix and matched with ARRI Sky panels, on Thor: Ragnarok. To my knowledge the Creamsource SKY units haven’t been used in such large numbers on a film shot in Australia before.
We have used the Creamsource SKY units in various situations other than the normal spaceflight configuration. I have built small soft boxes with two units in them, as well as building a large 40 x 20 box with 18 units in them. They are great for building exterior softboxes as they are weather proof. They are quite a robust unit but easy to rig and as they have a yoke they can be easily stand mounted. I also had some purpose built ‘skirts’ made with silver reflectors on the inside to reflect a lot of light downwards.
The SKYs are quite heavy but they’re robust, and their design makes them very easy to rig. We’ve put them all on motors so we can move them around easily. They are also totally waterproof so I can use them outside in all sorts of weather, and they are really versatile. We’ve had a lot of different conditions on this film – day, night, interior, exterior, greenscreen – but they’ve performed well for every eventuality.
I’m really happy with the SKY’s overall performance and versatility and would definitely use them again.