ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

11 years, 11 months ago - Scott Reed

HI there, Shahid,

Shane Hurlbut put up a blog about using non film lights for lighting, he dop'd Terminator Salvation, the new Need for Speed film and mentored under Herb Ritts. It may be of interest to you.

The first part is about lights and effects, follow the link below.
http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2011/11/lighting-basics-going-with-what-is-available/

The second part shows how he lights a scene for a commercial.
http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2011/12/lighting-with-home-depot-lights-part-2/

This is done with 'home depot' lighting.

Good luck with the film buddy,

Scott

11 years, 11 months ago - Kays Alatrakchi

It's doable, but your control will be limited and you'll need to shoot wide-open on the lens to capture as much light as possible which will make focusing more of a challenge. Alternatively you can bump up the ISO of the camera, but depending on the model, as you move up above 800 you'll start to introduce a great deal of noise.

11 years, 11 months ago - Shahid 'Shez' Hussain

hello everyone

I tried to copy paste an image here for you guys-a visual reference of ideally what I would like to emulate. Unfortunately I can’t include it here –no option.

So just for now I have uploaded it in my profile photo section (I can’t leave it in there for too long-not my work). So please if you have a minute check out the three images. 2 interior night shots and one interior day shot. I would love some input of how to achieve that kind of look.


To Roland.
Oh man I would love to change the wall colours, I personally love dark grey walls but there is no way I will get the permission from the owner to repaint the walls.

To Scot
Cheers for taking the time to share those links with us all. Some valuable info right there. I will get in touch with my Dp and have him take a look at those links too.

Thank You to all of you for being so helpful and responsive.

cheers

shahid

11 years, 11 months ago - SP User

If you are using soft lights (like China balls) you are not going to create shadows and flags aren't going to work. For shadows you need hard light. You can shoot by practicals and you'll get an image, but it won't necessarily be the one you want. That may be fine for a documentary but crap for a horror film.
The first thing is to decide what you want your shots to look like, then work out how to achieve that look. Yes small fresnels (Mizars, Minims or Dedos if you can afford them) are great for small spaces where you want to control the light. Let your actors get soft. Soft light in small spaces just spreads and can end up very bland.

11 years, 11 months ago - Shahid 'Shez' Hussain

to John
I like the idea of dimmers but my Dp says with dimmers the colour temp changes and I have noticed this in redheads and dedos.

to Eric
I can get hold of flags and c stands-How about If I use flags to block any spill/create shadows?
Also Fresnels will get hot especially the three apartments we're hiring are not very spacious. The largest space will be 25m squared. Crew of 5-7 and 4-5 actors will occupy that space - so will get pretty crowded.
I will get together with my Dp and do several tests, I will pm you for the pointers cheers mate.

to marlom
Testing on location It’s going to be difficult because I won’t be able to afford the locations in advance prior to principle photography. But I can do various tests in my house to get an idea of what to expect.

thanks to everyone (inc kays) for your responses.

11 years, 11 months ago - Eric Lau

Shahid,

If the apartment is small, the last thing you want is to put C-stands and flags all over the place. A few small Fresnels will not be too toasty and is much better in controlling the light and give you the shadowy mood you want, and more powerful, save you time, space and no one will be tripping all over.

Please make sure your DP knows what he's doing. Take it from someone who's nearly 40 years in the biz and has seen too many low budget, hot-blooded young filmmakers crashed and burned.

And beware that 90% of online videos are junk. Some are not bad but far and few. Talk to someone who's more experienced is better. I totally disagree with Chris's suggestions. You don't need to go to Ikea for "film equipment." You're not making a home movie. If you know what you're doing, you really don't need to spend a lot.

Spend your budget wisely and spend it right.

Good luck and go make a great film!

Eric Lau

11 years, 11 months ago - Marlom Tander

Yes but TEST, TEST, TEST. It's not "can you shoot?", it's "can you shoot to get the look you want?", and testing is the only way to go.

11 years, 11 months ago - SP User

Sorry that should be 'flags take up a lot of space' not 'fags'. Apologies for any offence caused.

11 years, 11 months ago - Chris Cory

Hey Shahid
Truth is most lights can work if you test them first. There so many cheap lighting tutorials online too. Normal indoor lights have different colour casts, but you can work around it all to be honest, again as long as you test first. With horror movies you can usually get away with more creative lighting too. I would recommend. 1... looking into some cheap led light panels from ebay, the small 300 leds are about £30 and take about a week to arrive (no matter what the seller tells you). These are great as they are cheap, they come with filters for different colour balance, they dont heat up and are amazing on batteries. Great for a bit more control. 2..... Halogens! there are cheap, bright and reads as pretty nice white light on camera, point the hotspot away from the camera and it can give great cheap ambient light, also harsh horror light too, if you point it more directly at the subject. B&Q do a clamp halogen with a mini tripod which i find very useful. 2.... go to Ikea! they have so many lights out and working and there bargin section near the tills can be full of cheap lights. Also they do these tall lights for about£15 with the white fabric over them, they look amazing on camera.

Chris :)
http://www.youtube.com/user/boygetslost

11 years, 11 months ago - Eric Lau

If you use China balls, it'll spill all over and hard to control, and won't give you the dark mood that you might want. Don't know why anyone would recommend LED if you are low/no budget. They are in fact more expensive. Get a few small fresnels and you can have much better control and it's more powerful, even though they get hot.

Give me a call or email and I can give you some pointers.

Good luck!

Eric

11 years, 11 months ago - Franz von Habsburg FBKS MSc

I agree wth the B&Q lights, and they burn around 1700k. All drop colour if you use a dimmer except for the Kinoflo but they will too expensive for you. Use B&Q plus gels is the cheapest. The 3/4 salmon will also correct the colour.

11 years, 11 months ago - John David Clay

Lights with dimmer capabilities are very useful - the LED type I think they are not too expense not sure - more practical the helogens with I've work on set with. they get very hot very fast. - as long as they are 800w or approx the latitude is very handy for many situations include low key horror type situations.

Hope this is helpful

and best of luck with the web episode!

Best

John

11 years, 11 months ago - Eric Lau

Agree with Roland. Ask yourself 2 questions:
1) How many lights do I need? That concerns your budget and a wise decision on which type of lights will you get.
2) Where do I put the lights? If your DP choose the wrong lights or put them in the wrong positions, you'll end up with bad lighting.
You need to know the look that you want, what equipment to use, and how to execute them.
Good luck. If in doubt, shoot me an email or just call.
Eric

11 years, 11 months ago - SP User

I agree with Eric. If you are just concerned with filling a big space with light you might get away with a load of cheap lights from Ikea or B & Q, but if you want to create a mood and put shadows where you want them, there is no substitute for lights that you can control. If you don't have lights which have lenses built in to them - like fesrnels or dedos - the only way to control a hard source is with flags, but fags take up a lot of space and you are shooting in a small corridor. Sometimes shooting with practicals can be great, sometimes they won't give anything like the mood you want. That's why the place to start is 'how to I create the image I want to create' not 'how much do I have to spend on lights'. My principle has always been to light with as few lamps as possible - but they have to be the right sort of lights in the right place.

11 years, 11 months ago - SP User

Just to throw in another element - have you thought about painting the walls? Seriously, for the cost of a couple of cans of paint you can transform a location. A white corridor is always going to be difficult to light in any moody way - paint it a dark colour - or even black - and you have a totally different situation. White walls are anathema for cinematographers. On low budgets the design of the location can be more important than the lights you have. The best way to shoot cheaply is to find locations that already look right. You might find a dark corridor that only needs to be supplemented by the minimum amount of additional light to highlight details.