lighting results and questions

[dr.sanchez]

I just got a few rolls of k40 back from switzerland. They were the typical home movie 1970s shots--grandma opening presents, eating christmas dinner, mugging for the camera, etc. I shot everthing indoors with one of those 650watt sun guns. All shots came out well but the ones where I pointed the light directly at people appeared to have caused pain in my subjects and the skin tones were washed out, while the shots where I bounced the light off the ceiling were nothing short of spectacular. It's like I can now see the true capability of k40. Everything was subtle, lots of detail, people were not squinting, colors were accurate.

Soooo, my question: Does anyone know of any attachments for those 650 watt lights that can direct the light better as well as diffuse it? I know of such things for flashes (for still photography) but it seems like it would need to be a little different for the sun gun, with it generating the extremely high temperatures.

[Greg Crawford]

Dr. Sanchez,

Glade to see someone who "Gets It," you have several options. If your lighting kit has barn doors, you can simply buy some wood close pins and diffusion gels sold at most good camera stores or lighting and grip companies or on line at a variety of stores like Calumet or B H.

The gels come in small sheets that you can cut up to fit your lighting needs. Prices are pretty reasonable.

Made by companies like ROSCO, GAMCOLOR, TIFFEN and others. Your bigger stores can give you a sample swatch book of the gels in a variety of colors including the materials you want with names like matt silk, tough white diffusion Opal tough frost. If you local deal does not have the free sample books contact the manufacture or a bigger store.

You could also bound your light source into foam core, you will get a softer light, but you'll pay for it with less light reaching your subject. glade to. Keep the foam core away from the hot lights since it could catch on fire.

[dr.sanchez]

Thanks. It looks like I'll have to rig something up on my own. I think the phrase "lighting kit" doesn't quite describe the $3 light I got on ebay. I'll search the still photography stores for ideas and maybe sacrifice a light or two trying to make something.

[Greg Crawford]

I am working on a couple of low budget lighting solutions for people shooting in film and video and lets say a lower price level.

A friend of mine owns a lighting and grip company and makes and sells French flags on an adjustable arm. I am thinking that a set of small scrims, flags and cutters that can attache to any light stand, with his same adjustable arm, would be a welcome accessory for the person on a budget shooting in film or video. The idea is to have a stand that mounts to the light stand directly eliminating the need of a C-stand.

One of the major players has a little grip kit but you still need to attach there stuff to C-stands..and it cost around $180.00 C-stand run from $180 to about $250.00 each.

For now, you might consider making say small 3 x 3 or 4 x 4 scrim frames out of PVC and have fabric cut to size and add elastic corners to attach to the PVC, then all you needs is a way to attach it to a light stand.

Yes, you will probably need to have a second light stand with this apparatus in front of your light stand with your $3.00 light. And you thought you were getting a bargain! Or if your good at making things perhaps you could make your own one adjustable arm, that would hold a scrim or flag in front of a light.

If you make such a device you will need to add weight to the bottom of your stand to keep it from tipping over. As I am sure it would be top heavy.

[tfunch24]

My own experiences with lighting...

You're right. For home movies, bouncing a light off the ceiling is the fastest and easiest way to illuminate a room, no matter what stock you're using. Illumination is evenly spread among your shooting subjects.

For the short films I've done, I've shot interior scenes with a 750-watt Lowell Tota as the key light and a 650-watt (or 500-watt worklight, depending upon the situation), Atlas-Warner as the side-light. For a backlight, I use either a 300-watt or 200-watt Incandescent work lamp. I've not done much with diffusion, except for cutting up an old bedsheet and strapping that across the light. That seems to work well, it's cheap, but I'm trying to get some gels, scrims, and flags.

Bossjock, what you're doing definitely sounds interesting. Keep us updated, please.

Tom

[chas_ucla]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><table border="0" width="90%" bgcolor="#333333" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="0"><tr><td width="100%"><table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" bgcolor="#FF9900"><tr><td width="100%" bgcolor="#DDDDDD"><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by dr.sanchez:
All shots came out well but the ones where I pointed the light directly at people appeared to have caused pain in my subjects and the skin tones were washed out,...
Soooo, my question: Does anyone know of any attachments for those 650 watt lights that can direct the light better as well as diffuse it? I know of such things for flashes (for still photography) but it seems like it would need to be a little different for the sun gun, with it generating the extremely high temperatures.</font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE>

Those 650 W movie lights burn hot and I'm not sure you can diffuse those -- I know from sad experience, having melted things, set clothing on fire and burned the hell out of my actors. It sounds like what you did -- aiming it away from the direct action was the best you could do with them.

[rcroster]

I have found that "Tough Spun" makes for a very durable diffusion material for hot lights and for long durations. It's fiber based versus a gel, so it won't melt, but it will start turning brown after a while if it is placed too close to the lamp. It produces a similar diffusing effect to the Opal diffusion mentioned before although I like the light quality better than Opal, especially when doubling or even triping it up. Tough Spun can be purchased at Rosco and other similar companies.

[dr.sanchez]

There seems to be two trains of thought on this thread: 1) rig something up for your cheap hand-held floodlight, 2) get a real lighting kit. I'll follow both paths. But I think that for the home movie stuff (I often just shoot a roll whenever I get together with friends or family) I prefer something small, light, and definitely lo-tech. I guess for that purpose I would like a diffuse, on-camera, battery-operated 400watt light. For my home movies where I'm not taking things seriously I'm just looking for adequate exposure. But, when I take my time to make my 3 minute 20 second masterpieces, it would be nice to spend the time and set up the appropriate lighting with gels. So your suggestions are good and it's about time to start buying good light stuff.

Thanks for all your tips. By the way, does my dream home-movie light exist? The on camera 400W (add color-corrected) light? Just curious.

[dr.sanchez]

There seems to be two trains of thought on this thread: 1) rig something up for your cheap hand-held floodlight, 2) get a real lighting kit. I'll follow both paths. But I think that for the home movie stuff (I often just shoot a roll whenever I get together with friends or family) I prefer something small, light, and definitely lo-tech. I guess for that purpose I would like a diffuse, on-camera, battery-operated 400watt light. For my home movies where I'm not taking things seriously I'm just looking for adequate exposure. But, when I take my time to make my 3 minute 20 second masterpieces, it would be nice to spend the time and set up the appropriate lighting with gels. So your suggestions are good and it's about time to start buying good light stuff.

Thanks for all your tips. By the way, does my dream home-movie light exist? The on camera 400W (add color-corrected) light? Just curious.

[Greg Crawford]

Nigel's ideas were good ones. You can't go wrong with getting a lighting kit and some C-stand if you have the bread. It's just alot of the folks are singing the blues about cost.

I got some used Mole-Richardson stuff , a 1K Jr, a 2K Zip light and tweeny and one at a time at a cost of about 1/3 of the new stuff. From time to time they unload older rental equipment. I also got a total light. All are doing fine 12 years of service and who knows how old the Mole-Richardson stuff was when I got it.