Ten days of principal photography, atmosphere in most interiors, and a producer who wants one number for the whole run. This is how to build that number without guessing, and without the mid shoot phone call where you have run out of fluid on a Friday.

We supply atmosphere to episodic productions across the GTA. The coordinators who never have a problem all do the same thing: they work out the burn rate in week one and order to a rhythm instead of ordering in a panic.

Start with machine count, not fluid

Fluid consumption follows from how many machines are running and how hard. Work out the machines first.

A contained interior usually needs one machine and a fan. A large stage or a practical location with volume needs two, sometimes three, because you are trying to hold an even level rather than push output from one corner.

• Viper S: $1,900. Small to medium interiors.
• Viper NT: $2,450. The workhorse for episodic. More output, still controllable.
• Look Solutions Unique: $2,600. A hazer, not a fogger. Different job. Use it when you want an invisible atmosphere that reveals light beams rather than visible fog.

Fogger or hazer is the decision that changes your whole fluid budget, so make it deliberately. A hazer runs continuously at low output across a shoot day. A fogger runs in bursts before takes. They consume very differently and the fluid is not interchangeable.

Work out your burn rate in week one

Consumption depends on machine, output setting, how open the space is, and how often the door opens. Nobody can give you an accurate litres per day figure sight unseen, and you should be suspicious of anyone who tries.

What you can do is measure it. Start the run with a known quantity, note what is left at the end of day three, and divide. You will have a reliable number for the remaining seven days and for every block after this one.

Write that number down and give it to the next coordinator. This is the single most useful thing you can hand over at the end of a block.

Buy in 20 L, not 5 L

The price difference is the whole argument.

• Regular Fog: $100 for 5 L, or $320 for 20 L. Buying the 20 L saves $80 on the same volume.
• Slow Fog: $145 for 5 L, or $450 for 20 L. Saves $130.

On a ten day run you are almost certainly past the break even point on day two. The only reason to buy 5 L on an episodic is to trial a fluid you have not used before.

Three realistic fluid budgets

These assume one machine running through most setups, and they are starting points to check against your own week one measurement.

Light atmosphere, roughly $960

Three 20 L jugs of Regular Fog. Suits a show with atmosphere in some interiors rather than all of them.

Mixed look, roughly $1,860

Three 20 L of Regular plus two 20 L of Slow Fog. This is the common shape. Regular for general coverage, Slow for the setups you need to hold while the director works.

Heavy atmosphere, plan above $2,500

Multiple machines running most of the day. At this level order in advance rather than reactively, because we will be bringing stock in for you.

Order to a rhythm

The productions that never run out do the same thing. They set a reorder point at roughly a third of remaining stock and they order on a fixed day of the week, not when the drum runs dry.

Tell us your shoot dates when you place the first order. We will hold stock against the run so you are not competing with three other shows for the same pallet in October.

Budget for a machine going down

On a ten day run, assume one machine will give you trouble. Plan for it in the budget and it is a minor annoyance instead of a lost afternoon.

The usual causes are dull: fluid left sitting in the line from the last block, a pump reaching the end of its life, or the wrong fluid run long enough to gum the heat exchanger.

We are an authorised Look Solutions service centre in Toronto and we stock parts on the shelf, so common repairs do not wait on an order from Germany. Diagnostic is a flat $75 with a written quote and timeline before anyone touches it. Typical turnaround is 5 to 7 business days from the day it lands on the bench.

Two things worth doing before a block starts. Run every machine for ten minutes and listen to it. And flush anything that sat over hiatus with fluid still in it.

What to add to the order

Atmosphere is rarely just fog on an episodic.

• Movie Dust, $100. Used constantly and always forgotten.
• Bio-Ash, $220. Anything that has burned.
• Antari AF-3R fan, $850. A fogger without a fan is half a package.
• Unique side air filter, $20. If you are running a hazer, have spares.

Talk to us before the block, not during it

Send us the shoot dates and the rough shape of the atmosphere and we will tell you what to order and what we will hold. We ship across Canada and to the US, and our showroom at 333 Bering Ave, Unit 100 in Toronto is open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm if you want to run a machine before you commit to it.

Call 416-487-3211 or email sales@spfxsupply.com.