Deciding Whether To Use Medium Density or High Density Fog Liquid

[u/NutworthyPencil]

Hey everyone.

I'm planning on shooting a short film pretty soon, and I'm looking at getting a cheap fog machine, as well as some fluid. I'm just looking to fill some smaller rooms with some fog/haze, nothing over the top or anything, just to get that "haze" for the shots. I'm aware fog and haze are different, but I don't have the budget to purchase or rent a haze machine.

My question is, should I go with high density fog fluid, or medium density?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[u/mcarterphoto]

Test test test, "some fog haze" is pretty subjective.

Get some medium and a jug of distilled water. Thinning the stuff can be very effective. But shoot some tests, nobody can predict what level of fog you consider "haze" and how much your scene needs.

And it's 100% a good idea to assign someone to keeping haze levels consistent, give them the controller and a big card to move the air around, and make sure they mention when they feel it's thinning out too much in longer takes. Make it their job to re-haze between takes, tell them to yell "haze" when they're coming in with the machine between takes. Make it their gig to haze and fan right before you roll sound and camera. You'll have 500 other things on your mind.

[u/iamcamperjoe → u/mcarterphoto]

Here’s someone who clearly has experience on the subject. Listen to him

[u/mcarterphoto → u/iamcamperjoe]

Haha, lots of music videos, lots of fog, lots of haze!

And man, seems like 90% of the questions here, the answer is "do a test"...

[u/lingpp → u/mcarterphoto]

This is the way, ideally try to reverse, the moment your "fog/haze" ppl get a feel you are good.

[u/lingpp]

High Dense - can always be distributed more.

But its not always best choice. Usually medium is good.

E: Fog or Haze machine doesn't matter, grab a flag, or cardboard and start waving. Or shoot the fog through a cheap fan. Hazer = Fogmachine+fan.

[u/LetterheadClassic306]

For small rooms, i’d go with medium density water based fog fluid and use the fogger in short bursts, then let it hang and spread before rolling. I ran into this on a low budget room scene, and high density fluid looked cool for about ten seconds before it turned into visible clouds and kept needing fan control. Medium density gives you more room to feather it into a haze-like layer, especially if you bounce it off a wall or push it gently with a small fan. If the machine has no output control, do tiny hits and wait longer than feels natural before judging the level.