Aaron Sims Creative (ASC) is a full-service creative boutique that focuses on cinematic visual effects (VFX). ASC has provided iconic characters and worlds for a broad number of high-profile projects, including the Netflix drama “Stranger Things” and the Warner Bros. movie “Ready Player One.” ASC has adopted Litepanels’ Gemini 2x1 Soft LED panel. 

Gemini delivers precision color control along with a broad array of dynamic lighting and cinematic effects in a highly portable, battery operated, and lightweight LED panel, providing the ASC team with newfound flexibility and versatility in creating unique lighting applications. 

According to Mauricio van Hasselt, production manager for ASC (see photo below), “Lighting plays a critical role in our work, enabling us to add real-world components to our computer-generated visual effects for enhanced realism. We need highly versatile lighting tools that are not only dependable but offer fine-tuned control. I had heard about Gemini, but once I saw it for myself, I knew I’d found the ‘all-purpose utility knife’ we needed for lighting our projects.”

“Gemini produces true, full-spectrum white light and offers an extensive choice of control options for most lighting applications the team might dream up. The light’s exceptional color and realistic skin tones virtually eliminate the need for color correction, saving our clients time and money in post-production. And since I’m no stranger to Litepanels—their Astra LED panels have been my mainstay lighting kit for many years—I knew I could count on the product’s durability, performance, and outstanding light quality.” 

Gemini delivers flicker-free light for any frame rate, shutter angle, or intensity, making it ideal for high-speed photography, with smooth dimming from 100 percent to 0.1 percent for the smallest glint of light. The ASC crew is able to set Gemini’s correlated color temperature (CCT) anywhere from 2,700 to 6,000K to get accurate color rendition and add or subtract green with the turn of a dial. The crew can select virtually any color in the different color modes from the 360-degree color wheel in HSI Mode or create specialty colors in RGBW Mode by controlling each color independently. With Gemini’s new firmware release, the units now offer a broad array of dynamic special effects ranging from emergency lights, lightning, and fire, to pulsing, square, and strobe, just to name a few. 

In one on-location example, the ASC crew can use Gemini to generate on-set muzzle flashes that the actors and environment can react to, making the scene much more realistic than if the effect were added later in post-production. In another example, a scene with a laser beam, the crew was able to use Gemini to change the color of the laser instantly to support the director’s creative vision as he tried different scenarios for the scene. ASC also uses Gemini to generate interactive lighting on location that will later be motivated by sources created in CG. 

Van Hasselt added. “We were especially impressed with Gemini’s extremely light weight. I can carry the light with me to any location, and we can easily mount the panel on a boom—a phenomenal advantage when dealing with tricky top-lighting situations. Also, with Gemini’s highly intuitive and easy-to-use control interface, we can achieve a desired effect almost instantly. We’ve been able to save multiple USB presets for a variety of different looks, such as action or horror, and then trigger them any number of times with the touch of a button.” 

ASC VFX continually pushes the boundaries of cinematic visual effects, and its otherworldly creatures and setting have brought chills and thrills to audiences all over the world. Through the use of Gemini, from Litepanels, this single lightweight piece of equipment provides the ASC visual effects team with greater flexibility than they’ve had in the past—and with a wider range of solutions. 

For more information: 

Litepanels 

Aaron Sims Creative

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