Light Source: Guerrilla Lighting: Professional Tools from Builders Depot (page 2)

Movie lights (even our workshop lights) use serious wattage, so before getting to cables and such, we should insert a big CAUTION sign. There's nothing illegal about do-it-yourself wiring, but unless you know what you are doing, you should stick to ready-made accessories.

The first of which are extension cables. They should be:

• No more than 25 feet long.
• Single-plug only, no three-ways.
• 12-gauge wire. (Even most outdoor-grade extensions are 14 gauge, which is thinner.)
• Day-glow safety colors.

I like to install an in-line switch about one-fourth of the way from the female end. That way, I can switch high-mounted lights without bringing them down and ruining their aim and focus. If you work in a school, check fire codes. In some areas, they prohibit all electrical extensions from classrooms.

Water weights are essential for securing light stands and reflectors. You can buy collapsible plastic water jugs for a few dollars in any camping supplies department. The two-gallon size is usually big (and heavy) enough. Because they are already fitted with hang-up grommets or even chains, they're easy to affix to the bottoms of stands. Of course milk and water jugs work fine as well.

Finally, don't forget the small stuff. Good leather gloves are essential for handling hot lights. Duct tape is not gaffer tape, but it's fine for mounting diffusion, securing cables and a hundred other chores. I keep an assortment of clamps on hand, from wooden clothespins to plastic alligator clamps in graduated sizes.

Good shooting!

Contributing Editor Jim Stinson is the author of the book Video Communication and Production.

A long time ago in a Hollywood far, far away, equipment makers adopted a new kind of movie light that was smaller, lighter and longer lasting than regular tungsten lamps. These lamps were also better because they didn't blacken with time, reducing light output and lowering color temperature.

Instead, their color maintained an absolutely reliable white balance of 3200 Kelvin. Why 3200K? Through no coincidence whatever, Eastman color negative movie film was balanced for precisely that color temperature.

Some people called them "quartz lights" because their extra-hot filaments was enclosed in envelopes of quartz rather than glass. Others called them "halogen lights," for the gas that filled the lamp.

Many years later, others noticed the virtues of halogen lights and began adapting them, first for industrial uses and then household. Though there was no need for utility lights to have any particular color temperature, the lamps they used were lifted directly from the movie industry, which enabled them to come full circle and provide 3200K lighting for low-budget video.

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