Car Lighting

[S. Spade]

Has anyone out there had any previous experience of lighting the interior of a moving car for a scene. Any ideas would be great..

Cheers

[shirt]

I can help... what are you shooting on though? Is it film, and if so I need to know what kind it is... or is it video?

[S. Spade]

Hi shirt, I'm shooting on digital, I own a couple of 300w lights but they are mains powered. The area the car will be driving down is a motorway, either lit of unlit whatever will be easyest, I'll also be shooting in the car around the countryside at night. Any advice would be great!!

[shirt]

There are three things that I suggest...

1. Use the cars interior light... see what it looks like first.... and if it looks bad, the try sticking two lights under your characters and light them from below... just enough to get a light reading that you camera can work at...

or

2. Shoot during the evening, right when the sun is going down... this sometimes can pass for night, if shot properly. Just make sure the sun is not in any of your shots... it is best to do this on a cloudy day. If you think about it, it makes sense... ever notice how dark it can be during the day, on a really nice overcast day...

or

3. Try screwing around with the gain on your camera... the gain decreases the amount of light your camera needs to work effeciently... but you WILL lose quality, so this should really be a last resort...

Hope I helped...

[S. Spade]

Thanks Shirt! I'll try those ideas out and let you know how I get on.