say i want to shoot in the rain, something short of a tropical storm, what would or could i use to cover the cam and lense...yada, yada, yada.....besides something make- shift like a trash bag or whatever.....i mean like professional gear or what-not.......thanks a lot

We hav done thi before, both for features, and our own little stuff. For the most part, you just cover the cam. Plastic bags, and umbrellas seem to be the order of the day. Im sure there are more "proffessional" ways to do it, but these work fine. You might be able to rent a camera dive box, and do it that way, but it seems you would get alot of water streaming infront of the lens (from cascading down the box.)

There is something else to bear in mind. Rain in films is almost always created by rain towers. The reason being, unless the sky opens up, and it is dumping HUGE amounts of rain on you, it wont really register on film (or tape) There are a couple things you can do though. One, is add to the rain. I have often shot in the rain, and added to it by spraying a house up in the air, so the water comes down just in frame. You can also stick actors under a tree, or overhang, spray up into it, and let it drip out. Generally, the drops are much larger, and reflect light better, making them visible.

Another trick, is when shooting rain scene at night, get a light in the background. In a real production, it would be an HMI, but you can use whatever. A street light, security lights on a building, headlights. With light behind them, the raindrops will have a better shot at registering on tape. If you can control a large light source (or rent one) you can do the always effective "lightning" effect. This is where the sky is black, but when lightning hits, you see the rain coming down (see the escape scene in the rain, in "Shawshank Redemption")

I hope this was of some help to you, and good luck. I love elemnts of both rain, and fire in film. Both seem to have an emotion all their own.
R. Michael

And you shall know us by the trail of dead.

thanks a lot, i appreciate it

good advice. I'll add that keeping the shutter speed as long as possible (i.e. 1/60th sec) helps to accentuate the rain.

"Spraying a HOUSE into the air"

Good lord!

I meant to say, spraying a HOSE into the air. The common garden variety. Sorry...

R.M.

And you shall know us by the trail of dead.