We have come a long way since the standard “soft light“ situation consisting of the 5/10K fresnel with the necessary forest of C-stands, frames and flags. For starters the 5/10K has to be far enough away from the frame of diffusion to fill it with light. Even with a piece of thin diffusion on the doors of the fresnel a distance of 6 to 8 feet is required to fill a 4X4 or 6X6 frame of diffusion held by one or 2 C-stands to make it a “soft source”.

Now you have the “soft source” and need to contain the spill. This requires 2 to 6 C-stands with usually 4X4 floppy flags on the sides and top between the fresnel and the frame of diffusion. Then to “shape the light” or put it only where you want it on the subject and not on the walls etc. additional C-stands and flags of various sizes and shapes are required in front of the frame of diffusion, the light source. This entire construction from the back of the Fresnel to the flags shaping the light could easily be 12-16 feet deep and 6-8 feet wide requiring up to 10 or 12 C-stands 6-8 4X4 floppy flags and 2 or more blade flags and the stand the fresnel is on. Depending on the size of the crew this could take up to 20 minutes to construct, getting it just right. Now the director needs to move the subject just 2-3 feet to the right or left and the entire construction needs to be moved. Get the picture? It takes time and time is $.

Along came Chimera, a revolutionary time saving idea . Now most sets use numerous Chimeras of all sizes. As great as the Chimera is there are flaws in the system. In most cases the fresnel does not fully fill the front screen. Usually there is a hot round center with at least 25% of the front screen not illuminated. This means it is not all that soft a source for the size of the screen. Additionally the tilt lock on the lamps were not designed for the addtional weight of the Chimera and metal grid or even soft egg-crate hanging on the front. In the middle of a shot the light could and often does tilt down. DP Thomas Ackerman ASC aptly coined the occurrence the “rogue tilt”. In order to change light intensity a lamp operator still has to change hot scrims. Moving a 5 or 10 K fresnel with Chimera more than a few feet is difficult. The marriage of Chimeras and fresnel lamps is one of convenience at best . They were never designed to be fully compatible.