Could Poly Be Past It?

A year or so ago, a crew member (not a gaffer, I hasten to add) mentioned the idea to me that New Zealand is possibly one of the very few countries – possibly the only one – still using polystyrene sheets as reflectors for lighting purposes.

He suggested that while polystyrene is really useful, since it’s very lightweight and provides a clean, perfectly white surface, other countries have ceased using it because of its environmental unfriendliness. It’s not biodegradable, and when it breaks, little beads fly off in the wind or get buried in the ground, never to be retrieved.

Intrigued by this report – doubting its veracity, but not having personally filmed overseas for many years now – I became a touch curious. So, we sent out an email to Guild members in the camera and lighting areas, inviting comment. For a topic that one member clearly regards as a trivial non-issue (see below), our query received a surprising number of responses – in fact, more than any other question NZTECHO has ever asked of members! Thank you!

So, has polystyrene passed its use-by date within the film industry? Or are there no decent convenient alternatives available?

An edited selection of your replies:

From: Martin Cowan

I used to use them all the time, but they do break up. Now I wouldn’t be without my Lasto-lite. There are many variants around, including “Litedisc” by Photoflex. Basically, it’s a fold-up reflector that can easily be clamped to a lighting stand, available in oblong or circular shapes, either white or silver. Excellent product, available at Panavision.

From: Tom Burstyn

From my experience with polystyrene sheets, or ‘styrofoam’ as it is called in North America, it’s still in wide use everywhere I work. This includes Los Angeles, Vancouver, Toronto & Montreal. How I normally use poly is in 1.2m squares, covered on one side with white card or silver bounce, and the edges taped to prevent shredding. True, when it does come apart the bits fly everywhere. It is a nasty material, but I have yet to see a suitable replacement.

American and Canadian film technicians seem unconcerned with the environmental sustainability of their business. Producers are beginning to step up to the plate, however: On the last film I shot in Vancouver, the producer had a carbon footprint assessment done for his production. What he did with this assessment is anyone’s guess, but it’s a start!

From: Stephen Joyce

I’ve been trying to get the guys to use 0800 nz recycle (Onehunga Poly Recyclers) down at the shed, but it’s a matter of being there for the weekly pickup at the same random time they come around… I think SPP has one of their bins on site; Rangers and Seeker should get one too… Righto!

From: Mark Olsen

Poly boards are still very much in use in Asia. Every shoot. Bits are broken off, small pieces discarded, and so on… Zero consideration to the everyday environment in most Asian countries – and in all but the most sensitive of locations.

From: Richard Parsonson

One great thing about poly is how long it lasts if treated well. I have half-sheets that are 8 months old and still in regular use – that’s got to be an environmental plus. Also, I don’t think we go through that much of it as an industry, compared to, say, the building industry.

Here is a question for you though – where do all the wooden pegs go? They seem to mysteriously totally disappear from sets in their hundreds!

From: Pieter Huisman

A quick email from Hilversum, the media-hub of the Netherlands. I can tell you that we definitely still use polystyrene boards here. Whenever I hire a lighting kit, big or small, I can always take out a medium or large board (one side white, painted black on the other). We’re not that environmentally conscious here either!

An alternative we sometimes use is a ‘depron’ foam board (actually used for floor insulation, I believe) – black and white also. Very light, like cardboard but less vulnerable. But whether or not they’re more environmentally friendly...?

I personally prefer a ‘Lastolite’ reflector for my camerawork on location, but of course this doesn’t fly on larger, feature-like sets.

From: Mark Gillings

Let’s not go over the top and get too PC with this, for God’s sake! Worry about something else, like the harmful electromagnetic fields that the HMI ballasts emit or the often unsafe working hours that crew working on feature films and TVCs alike are often subjected to.

Let’s think about the art department and set construction crew that use access machinery without proper training or certification; and also how about the lack of safety officers on set during preproduction set builds and prelights?!!

In my 20-plus years, I have found poly is the best, most available, cheapest product to bounce light from, and if looked after, it lasts a fair while.

Move on!

Goat.

From: Kevin Riley

I’d appreciate any thoughts or suggestions on the elimination of polystyrene as a reflective material. On one studio job, we are using large white calico sheets hanging from the lighting grid to achieve the same thing. This works fine where gravity is on your side, but having rigid sheets of white material that can be rigged at various angles to bounce light is where polystyrene has been firmly established.

In theory, any lightweight rigid material that could be covered with sleeves of calico or reflective coating could do the same job. If someone comes up with something that does all this, plus can be cut to any convenient size, then that would be great.

There is a product in the United States called “Gatorboard,” although I’m not sure of what it is made of – it may be similar to “Foam Core.” Here’s what I could find on it:

Gatorfoam is an extruded polystyrene foam mounting board encased between layers of a melamine and wood fibre veneer. Gatorfoam/Gatorboard has a harder outer surface than other foam core boards and resists warping. For miniature builders, Gatorboard is often used as a backing for wet materials like paper, clay, or stucco finishes, which require a water-resistant backing while the coating dries. Gatorboard is more durable than foam core boards and is a good choice for non-archival applications, where strength and light weight are important.

All the gaffers carry aluminium “4x4” frames in the truck and some carry “6x4.” These frames are usually covered in diffusion material, but by carrying a set of white textiles with elastic corners that can be stretched over the frames, an instant flecky board can be made out of a diffusion frame. Another advantage of this method is that “off-white” textiles can be offered as an alternative, which are sometimes more complimentary to skin tones than pure white.

I think it will be some time before we see poly sheets eliminated from our sets, but in the meantime, responsible use of the material can help eliminate impacts on the environment.

A thin-bladed, very sharp knife will cut high-density poly without loose beads flying around. The edges can be trimmed with gaffer tape, to reduce further abrasion and loose beads escaping. And before cutting a new sheet to fit a corner, consider using a folded calico textile instead.

And finally,

From “el presidente”:

An interesting subject, and one that we should address. There are alternatives to polystyrene sheets as reflective surfaces, but none that give quite the same versatility or quality of light. The fact that poly is lightweight and easily cut to shape is an advantage for rigging. The most commonly used alternative is coreboard, which is also light and easily cut, and has the advantage of not blowing to pieces in a wind. But coreboard has a harder, more shiny surface and therefore not quite the same soft quality to the light coming off it. The slightly stippled surface of poly gives a lovely softness to light it reflects. It can be a menace, particularly outdoors where something that’s not going to blow to pieces, such as coreboard or cloths, should be used. It’s also a worry if a light is placed too close to poly and it starts to melt. I don’t know what the gases are that come off it, but I’m sure they’re not good for either us or the planet.

But let’s not get too precious; polystyrene is being used for many applications in many industries apart from ours. It’s an extremely good insulation material, used extensively in building. If, as an industry, we are to concern ourselves with our impact on the environment, as of course we must, then we need to start with the art department.

Art departments are using all kinds of weird and wonderful chemicals and concoctions, including polystyrene, to construct all kinds of weird and wonderful visual effects. We don’t want to do away with the weird and wonderful visual impact, but we do need to look at how we achieve it.

... AlBol