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Jared Paul | Gaffer💡

@primogaffer

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primo lighting.
💡Gaffer & Owner-Op.
🚐 1 ton G&E Lighting Package
🏗️ IPAF Licence 3B-3A-1B
🚚 CE Licence loading…
🇪🇺 Frankfurt / Europe

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Why Gaffer Owner-Operator?💡

It means providing a service as a gaffer together with a curated lighting & grip package - carefully selected, well maintained and ready to work as one complete package.

One of the biggest advantages actually happens before the shoot. 🎬

Prep time is often short and stressful enough already. Instead of spending that time building equipment lists piece by piece, coordinating different rentals and figuring out logistics, an owner-operator package takes a lot of that work out of the equation.

That leaves more time to focus on what the prep should really be about: the creative approach, the lighting setups and how we actually want to light the project. ✨

And once we’re on set, having more options with us also makes it easier to adapt when things change. 🛠️

Less time managing equipment. More time thinking about light.

Any other owner-operators here? 👋

#gaffer #gripelectric #owneroperator #lightingpackage #griptruck by @primogaffer

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a month ago

Less time building lists. More time for prep. 📑

👇 Discount code inside.

—

I use @lumolist to build and manage equipment lists for my jobs as a gaffer.

What I like most is that it becomes faster over time.

✅ Save previous jobs
✅ Create your own kits and templates
✅ Build complete packages through organized categories
✅ Export everything as a clean PDF

Instead of rebuilding every order from scratch, I can simply add my standard grip package, consumables, distro and other recurring gear, then adjust it for the specific job.

And you can even add things like trucks, generators and lifts, which means I can keep track of the entire job in one place.

The result? A much cleaner handover to producers and rental houses — with pickup, return, contacts and job details already included.

🎁 Use my code PRIMO20 for 20% off if you want to give it a try.

—

#gaffer #gaffing #gripandelectric #filmproduction #filmmakingtools onsettools rentalhouse lightingdepartment setlife filmlighting gaffertips filmcrew lightingworkflow equipmentlist producerlife electricdepartment lumolist primogaffer by @primogaffer

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4 months ago

work for @kia.worldwide x @leagueoflegends

In total there were 3x 30s-spots of which two of them were located inside a Kia EV3 parked on a parking lot infront of LEC Arena.

The challenge for this was to build something outside (hell yeah wind…) yet simple and flexible enough to have control over ever-changing lighting conditions (cloudy sun) - but also taking care of reflections/ being ready for windshield shots. —> taking control 💡

I pre-lit everything within @elixxiersoftware to see which minimum size frame I’d need to fly overhead and with certain focal lengths in mind. Since this software is photometrically correct I could also realistically light it with the light‘s I planned on using. I also got to test V3 Beta where the options are endless so I utilized HDRI Maps for more realistic planning, also with reflections - which was super helpful for this scenario.

I played around with different looks and decided to go with an Ultrabounce (white side down) as the overhead since it entirely blocked the sun, also wouldn’t soak up too much in case of rain. And since the car wasn’t moving in the scene I also dropped the idea of going with Black Scrim (where you still see overhead reflections passing by… like trees/branches).

White side down? I tested it and it looked better than black side down because black felt more present.

Skypanel S360 as key with some help of an 8‘x12‘ Ultrabounce - which really helped with more punch in case of the sun coming out… keeping it proportionally 🤝🏽

Two T5‘s as rim and a 12K Dino for background extension on the reverse shot.

Production @innocean.eu
Producer Naomie Mahray @eimoanaomie
Creative Producer Morten Frantz
Director/DP @fynnopynno
Creative Director Timo Kanehl
Art Director: @johnny_schepp + Ana Magdalena Marques
Gaffer @primogaffer
BBE @erik_hellfeier
SLT @niklasschraut
AC @niclaslenhard
Prod. Sound Mixer @lukashasiba taken in Berlin, Germany by @primogaffer

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a year ago

Not your typical G&E van 👀⚡️🚛

———
#lightingforfilm #onsetlighting #gaffer #setlighting #gripelectric #griptruck #filmighting #gripandelectric #gafferlife #setlighting #griptruckbuild #filmgear #FilmTools #lightingdepartment #onsetlife #towplant #genny #arri #nanlux #filmsetlife by @primogaffer

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a year ago

Work for @dunkindonuts_de

Shooting a commercial in a bus was a first! 🚌

Lighting big window fronts can be challenging especially with limited resources.

But that’s why (generally) recces are important in order to make a solid game plan.

Slide 2️⃣: Sun position/cylce of shooting day

☀️ DP wanted to go with a hard afternoon sunlight look for this one.

Slide3️⃣: I originally thought about building a truss build on two stands with a 12x20 topper to extend/cast shadow and place a couple fixtures beneath it to cover the window front.
Which I think would‘ve worked flawlessly also with "hiding“ your setup on camera.
—> but we didn’t have the capacity to do so.

Lacation‘s roof helped with broadly blocking the sun, creating some shade which enabled us to go with smaller fixtures, too.

Setup on Slide 1️⃣:
We were shooting in the back of the bus later due to sun positioning.
3x similar in output fixtures on the side acted as our sun. Sun into CRLS-100 DIFF2 for fill on the ceiling in the bus (especially for wider shots)

20’x20‘ Black Art. Silk 1/4 to take some edge of the sun coming through the front. (not the best for this purpose but worked fine. also being a net/black silk helped with wind in that case)

Slide 4️⃣: On this push-in shot the sun was backlighting the bus, except it didn’t entirely due to the roof. That‘s why I added a Evoke 1200 as a controlled sun/backlight on our favored position. Sun again into CRLS-100 DIFF1 creating a nice harsh sunlight on our Bus Driver‘s body.
This and an old italian 4K HMI Fresnel pushing into a 12‘ Art. Silk for a nice big and soft fill.
which was also acting as a bounce too once the sun was out.

—> giving us that nice SOFHOB look (soft on face, hard on body)

Some Solid T-Bone to give it some shape, and we were running everything off a 15kVA Diesel Generator.

Client: @dunkindonuts_de
Production: @focasfilms
Director: @nils.castner
DP: @_moritzforster
AC: @julian_gehrig
Gaffer: @primogaffer
BBE: @xrdrey
Key Grip: Thomas Spitzbart
Genny Op: Julian Krauthäuser
Grip/BTS: @mustafaahmed.aim3
BTS: @moritz.knoellinger
HMUA: Elisa Schaller
Editor: @nils.castner
Colorist: @jared.film by @primogaffer

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a year ago

Stop guessing your light levels. Here’s the tool I use to know exactly what I’ll get. Confidence > assumptions. 👇 Bonus tip + discount inside.
—
I use @lightcalc.io to figure out whether a specific light is strong enough for my setup — before even stepping on set.
In this case, I wanted to go for a sunset look using a 12K Tungsten Dino. The light needed to: A) overpower ambient on a cloudy day B) still enough output on the subject at 10 meters distance
✅ LightCalc helped me run the numbers — and it worked. Spot on.

🔑 Bonus Tip: I like to take ambient readings during tech scouts (inside buildings etc.) so I can input real values and get more accurate results in LightCalc.
💡 You don’t always need to guess or rely on gut feeling — especially in new or high-pressure setups. This gives you confidence and helps justify the gear you actually need.

🧮 LightCalc is a one-time purchase — just 39€ 🎁 Use my code “JARED” for 25% off :)
—
#gaffer #lightingtools #setlife #doptools #lightcalc #gaffertips #filmmakinggear #onsetlighting #lightingbreakdown #cinematographytools #filmlighting #gripandelectric #onsettools #learnlighting #setlighting #avengergrip #primolighting #lightingforfilm by @primogaffer

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a year ago

It doesn’t always have to be complicated!☀️💡
For this intro scene of NEO TENIA (feature film concept) We only used 2 lights.

—> Coverage with lots of wide angle shots challenged the lighting / or forced us to keep it simple, besides budged.

Exterior:
A 12K Maxi Brute/Dino or actually 10K for that shot because 2 bulbs went down (we shot this opener last)
and an Arri M40 HMI bulbed with a 2.5K globe for the front/ first bit of the dolly tracks (12K Dino extension) Through some 1/2 CTO and 1/2 CTS + 1/2 White Diff (LEE 250) to match the 12K tungsten.

interior: 12K Dino thru big window on easy lift (~6m) and 1K Baby to extend where the 12K couldn’t hit.
No more than a 4x4 solid floppy for the close up.

The final setup seams simple - which it is but planning was key to get the most bang for the buck and also for having the best fixture for this huge window.
I preferred the 12K over any HMI. Maximum we could do power-wise was M90 with a 6K globe. (We had 32A & 16A three-phase on location)

We were planning to go warmer in color temperature anyway, since we wanted a “lower-standing sun” look - and tungsten is so cheap and “plug and play” compared to HMIs. (this project was super low-budged)

So in the end, I just needed to figure out and calculate whether a 12K would be bright enough to overpower the ambient light.
With the help of @lightcalc.io I was able to quickly decide on what fixture would do the job.

Of course all of that was dependent on the type of weather. But I was going all-in on overcast ambience, based on weather forecast. Plus it was winter so I had high hopes.

Production: @focas.films
Writer/Director: @nils.castner
PM: @chrisduewel
DP: @_moritzforster
1st AC: @julian_gehrig
PD: Julius Castner
Set Designer: @wasnunjune
Costume Designer: @nastyaawwwwww
Gaffer: @primogaffer
Key Grip: Thomas Spitzbart
BBE: @erik_hellfeier
BBE: @niklasschraut
SLT: Matthes Rommel
SLT: @marius.krft
SLT: Julius Enczmann
SLT: Christian Haubold
HMUA: @susi.retter
PA: @moritz.knoellinger
Prod Sound: @raphi_m_fits
Sound Design & Mix: Steve Wühr
Editor: Nils Castner
Colorist: @jared.film
Cast: @thienphuoc__nguyen @annaafiliz Stefan Drücke taken in Leipzig, Germany by @primogaffer

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a year ago

You would want this for every project but for this tv-commercial in particular it was key to have consistent lighting. Meaning weather changes (sun, clouds, rain, snow) shouldn’t affect your lighting. Especially since this was shot in January.

Throughout the first day of production it was sunny, cloudy, rained and snowed towards wrap.

1) I was utilizing two @aputure.lighting LS 1200D/Storm 1200X into an 8x8 Ultrabounce to give consistent ambient levels through the sheers. Additionally a CRLS 50 #2 for some punch extension onto sheers on the side.
Sunny side of the 'sunroom' was blocked with solid /duvetyne as well as the top.

A @nanlux_global 2400B for the sunny punch also giving her a nice edge light, but with an open end art. silk in between to keep the hard light on the background but softer on her.
Two F22C‘s as a key+wrap on a D650 Junior Boom.
Infinibar PB12 as a light rim/background seperation.
Infinibar PB6 into a small bounce board to lift the package/box. And some more solid inside to kill the spill.

5+6) Bonus: Days are short in January. Keeping the lighting consistent for the ›office shot‹.

7+8) Night for Day with some morning sun (waking-up shot)
9)🚨

Client: @liebscher.bracht
Production: @grizzmount + @grainlab.media
Talent: @diane.boedrich
Director: @kreativernickname
DP: @niko.sprl
AC: @paul.winning
Gaffer: @primogaffer
Spark: Martin Molenda
Set Decorator: Lars Werneke, Maike Schiffler
Ass. Set Decorator: Hanna
Composer+Sound Designer: @julian_m_michel
Editor+Colorist: @niko.sprl @grizzmount by @primogaffer

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a year ago

I’m a big fan of CRLS, but they’re not always the best choice for lighting a scene. I’ve been guilty using them unnecessarily - overcomplicating a setup for only a minor improvement. Not with this one though.

The goal was to create sunlight, highlighting the girl during a pregnancy conflict counseling session—visually reflecting the emotional weight of her decision—while keeping the counselor more in shadow.

The scene was set in a raised ground floor office, and since the budget and logistics didn’t allow for a condor or big stands like a @Avenger Long John Silver (which would’ve safely reached the height), we had to find another way. That’s where the @thelightbridge C-100s came in - on wind-ups at about 4m, just reaching top window height. Keeping fixtures on floor stands and aiming them up, got us the right angle thanks to physics. Plus it kept the footprint of the setup narrow so we didn’t need to shut down the plaza.

The first window was used as our key: an @arri D25 paired with an @aputure.lighting 1200D. Both into a C-100 DIFF1, which combined and blurred them into one source - essentially doubling the output - and gave us a wider spread and beam angle (something you tend to lose when bouncing into a relatively small, distant square), while still packing enough punch. On the other window we had roughly half the output - 2x @Arri D12 - same setup, pushing “sunlight” through the background window.

From there, we only needed to shape the light for close-ups: some neg, and I think a ¼ White Diffusion to take the edge off on her coverage. For the reverse, besides the natural bounce off a prop document on the desk, just a bounce board to wrap the light.

Slide 5+6: A “Night for Day”. Next time I’ll fix the double shadow though 🥲 Slide 7: Bonus Slide 8: DP with his signature angle

PM @aberttv DIR @xdrey AD @nils.castner DP @_moritzforster AC @julian_gehrig CLT @primogaffer BBE Julius Enczmann Sound @yannik.horn
Matthew, Asher HMU @marleyy.bae Editor @xdrey Colorist @jared.film by @primogaffer

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a year ago

Gaffer + Color 💡🎨 work for @levis (spec ad)

Levi‘s - True Love Begins With An Old Jeans (Commercial)

// My favorite project of past year! Got to shoot in a to me very familiar area of Catalonia, Spain.😊
Stills and lighting set up of each, also including some behind the scenes photos. Some shots were nice and easy just lit with sun and bounces some others required to block the current sun to create our own lighting direction to be able to shoot in that tight schedule. On the last day (first 2 slides) it was raining. All in all the setups turned out exactly how I‘ve had planned them. Just adapted to different blocking or weather conditions.

Let me know what you think of these breakdowns!

Director: Tom Ruckes @tom_rks
EP: Tom Ruckes & Delia Eifeler @tom_rks @deleeyuh
Production: @405curated
DP: Oscar Tiedge @oscartiedge
AC: Timm Biedermann @timm.biedermann
Gaffer: Jared Paul @primogaffer
Lighting Tech: Lorenz Sponholz @lorenzsponholz
Lighting Tech: Jan Ruckes @ruc.kes
PD: Delia Eifeler & Jan Ruckes @deleeyuh @ruc.kes
Sound Design & Mix: Jojo Grote @jojo_grote
Editor: Jay Benzler @jaybenzler
Colorist: Jared Paul @jared.film
VFX: Marlene Sandmann @marlenesndm
Hair & Makeup: Julia Waltner @juwa.makeupartist
Photography: Pau Recasens @pau_recasens
Rental: @napalmrentals taken in Provincia de Gerona by @primogaffer

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2 years ago

Head over to YouTube to see how we did the lighting for this driving car scene! (link in bio) 🚗💡⚡️

Passenger Princess: @desireekottwitz
Upset Driver: @isabelle.art.ffm
EP: @jared.film
Gaffer: @primogaffer
DP/Cam Op: @paul.pokes
Producer + HMU: @juwa.makeupartist
Lighting Tech: @timm.biedermann
Grip + BTS: @lucchevalierr

#gaffer #filmlighting #cinematography #nanlite #crls by @primogaffer

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2 years ago