Videocrafts: Don't Knock It (Over)

Solve a lightweight light problem with homemade heavyweights.

Whether you light your videos with a fancy professional light kit or those ugly-but-effective yellow halogen shop lamps, you're sure to encounter portable lighting's worst enemy: gravity. Video lights somehow have a natural tendency to fall over and crash to the floor. A fact that can be not only embarrassing, but downright dangerous. Not to mention that this type of disaster usually means having to replace a bulb before you can continue with production.

If you fear that your teetering lamp stands are a problem unique to you, take heart. The falling lamp phenomenon is not confined merely to the hobbyist. A recent network news promo aired nationally showing a scene in which the President and First Lady dashed fearfully from falling CBS light stands. So what can be done? Are we doomed to the perils of tumbling lights? Hardly. In fact, this simple Videocraft can all but eliminate the problem.

The primary reason that lamps tend to tumble is the fact that they're top-heavy. A simple homemade weight placed on the base of your light stand is an effective way to keep your lights from crashing to the floor. While there is a variety of ways to weight your stands, we've selected this easy-to-create solution to help your stands, well ... stand.

Get It Together
All that you'll need to make this handy light-stabilizing weight is a couple yards of material, some thread and a couple of bricks. You may have everything you need right at home. If not, your local X-Mart store has the materials available for just a few bucks. Select a heavy cloth that will be able to withstand a bit of abuse, as you'll be stuffing bricks in and out of it. For our weight bag we chose a heavy denim. We selected a heavy gauge thread as well, again keeping strength and abuse in mind. A lightweight fishing line works well. To provide the bulk needed to weigh down the bag, we elected to use a pair of bricks. While several handfuls of small landscaping stones would provide the weight needed, the bricks are much easier to remove from the pouch for neat and easy storage. Sand also works, but it can be messy if the bag develops even the tiniest hole.

Make it Happen
Cut your material to size. Make sure to leave the material long enough so that when you make your folds there is enough fabric between pouches to straddle the leg of your light stand. Fold the ends at about the 10-inch mark and sew the two outer edges to make a pocket. The top is left open for easy brick installation and removal.