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I have two lamps that I use for photography and shooting super 8. They are able to hold up to 500 watt bulbs without melting.
I am interested in doing clay animation and I would like to be able really control a shallow depth of field for many of these shots since the characters will be small.
My question is: Is it possible to hook a dimmer switch up to a lamp so that I have more control over the amount of light and depth of field?
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Yes, if the dimmer is rated high enough you can use it on a lamp like that. However, consumer dimmer switches are notorious for not holding their level during long durations. They work okay for live shooting where they only need to be on for the few minutes needed to get the scene down on film. As someone that has done a lot of stop motion, I can tell you that the two problems you will face is 1)getting through the scene without the level suddenly changing, as these dimmers are want to do and 2)if you have to stop on a scene and come back the next day to resume the same shot, the lamp will never get back to the same level and you will notice an on-screen shift in density.
For animation, I would recommend using ND gell. That way the lights can be on full all the time. Also, when you turn down the lamp, the color temperature is going to change a bit. Not so bad on color negative where the final color balance can be fixed in post but K40 saturates the warm colors FAST. Doesn't take much to send it over the edge, in terms of un-fixable saturation of the reds.
Finally, if you are doing minature work, depth of field is already going to be VERY shallow. Turning down the lights is only going to make it worse. I'm not sure that using a dimmer makes sense in this case.
Roger
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Roger Evans
MovieStuff
http://www.afterimagephoto.tv/moviestuff.html