lighting options « Videomaker Community Forums

lisa33
Member

Hello I was wondering if this is correct. I am going to do an interview using the xl1s and I need to purchase affordable lighting. I was thinking of this as a 3 point setup:

key light -> 500 watt quartz worklight
fill light -> 1000 watt quartz worklight (bouncing it off a wall)
backlight -> 500 watt quartz worklight
chinese paper lantern-> 2ft in front above my subject (200watt)

Does this sound ok? There will be no other light (all ceiling lights and house lamps will be turned off and there will be no sunlight shinning through windows) I want to start off with a dark room.

Any suggestions or pointers would be great!! Thank you
Lisa

Posted 5 years ago #
Tom Scratch
Member

Hi,
You ask if this is correct. If it works for you, that makes it correct!
It sounds like you are using something like Home Depot type work lights. They are reasonably priced and work well for video shoots.
However, they are designed for large work spaces, like garages, hangers, or backyards, and they fill a lot of space with light. When you take them inside, you will quickly find that they produce a lot of heat and very bright light. Due to brightness and heat, you will need to put some space between the lights and your subject, maybe 8-12 feet or more.
Because of brightness they can cause discomfort in the subject (subject may want to wear "shades") and produce unwanted reflections.
These lights come with a metal framework on front to prevent accidents with the hot bulbs (looks like facemask of a football helmet). You may want to put some condenser material on the front of the lights, such as paper or cloth, to act as a filter/condenser on the light, making the brightness less intense and reducing obvious reflections. If safe, attach the material to the metal bars using clothes pins. Test your setup to make sure nothing overheats. If you can't attach your old tee shirt directly to the face mask without seeing a curl of smoke, improvise something safe! (E.g., a bedsheet hanging down bet light and subject, not touching either...)
REGARDS ... TOM 8)

Posted 5 years ago #
Furball
Member

Be CAREFUL! You don't want to start a fire!

You may want to try using a filter, like the ones used in a home furnace. They are generally made out of a glass fiber, and much less succeptable to bursting into flames.

I believe it was Brent at Videomaker, that touched on this topic at one of the workshops.

M

Posted 5 years ago #
sacredream
Member

that's a lot of light for an interview. and like tom said especially with work lights. my suggestion is keep the china ball use keep the five hundred as your key go to 200 or better yet just use a reflector for the fill. If you still adimant on keeping the 1000 watt i would suggest bouncing it off a wall and not directly at the subject. and besides you don't want your fill to be brighter than your key it defeats the purpose of the key.

but the best thing about lighting is there is no right or wrong way of doing it. as long as it looks good and no gets hurt it's awsome lighting.

good luck

Posted 5 years ago #
gerardoiluminacion
Member

hello!

I have seen your post and... mmm how to put it.

Lighting is art, actually is the best and cheapest way to improve image quality.
To think about light in terms of wattage... Did you buy a car of how much gasoline consumes?

think of light as

1) quality of light
2) volume of light
3) control of light.

Then think about lighting.

Wattage does no tells us nothing in terms of exposition.
Grab a exposure metter, then take the lecture of your key, then fill the contrast zone... enoug just for your image drops completly on your gray scale... from black to withe like 7 to 10 f stops. then you have lighting.

The mood, will come later.

Dont you have a exposuremetter, use your automatic exposure of the camera, then exposure your hand. this will give you aprox your middle gray on the scale... then light with this in mind... do not over expose whites and do not dissapear your blacks.

Best tools I have found.
For interview.

1 Divalite 400 kinoflo. for key light.
This have a dimmer... is fluorecent so you have a good soft light key
1 stop by dimming it, 1 stop by using the flozier.

then
2 Dedolights... DLH4 150W 24V and you have an output of 9k lux on spot at 3 mts. hell lots of light.
no damage to the instalation,,, extreme control, and they have dimmer built in.

To expensive to buy them... rent them.

price is about 4000 usd for the hole kit Kinos and Dedos.

Rent, per day should be arround 400 usd... easy chargable on the client budget and quotation.

Posted 5 years ago #
On a Roll
Member

With the exception of your double negative sentence "Wattage does no tells us nothing in terms of exposition." I agree with all of that! :D

Lighting can be tricky to get just right, and you can have too much light. There's a lot to be said about making sure your key, fill, and backlight are all at apropriate levels.

I'm too cheap to buy "real" lighting (although I am tempted to buy some here soon), but I've discovered that halogen work lights have a pretty fair ability for the price. They are pretty bright, and you'll need diffusers, but they work.

All in all, if the end product looks nice, it's a good setup. Just be sure to test your lighting before filming the project, so you don't have to go back and re-do everything!

Posted 5 years ago #
gerardoiluminacion
Member

On a Roll Wrote:
With the exception of your double negative sentence "Wattage does no tells us nothing in terms of exposition." I agree with all of that! :D

Lighting can be tricky to get just right, and you can have too much light. There's a lot to be said about making sure your key, fill, and backlight are all at apropriate levels.

I'm too cheap to buy "real" lighting (although I am tempted to buy some here soon), but I've discovered that halogen work lights have a pretty fair ability for the price. They are pretty bright, and you'll need diffusers, but they work.

All in all, if the end product looks nice, it's a good setup. Just be sure to test your lighting before filming the project, so you don't have to go back and re-do everything!

Dear Jim you are right! jaja, sorry... in spanish we have that double negation issues.
Sorry again.

Posted 5 years ago #
compusolver
Member

I don't see no double negative!

Bienvenidos, Gerardo!

Posted 5 years ago #
gerardoiluminacion
Member

compusolver Wrote:
I don't see no double negative!

Bienvenidos, Gerardo!

LOL thanks! Hank.. hope that we all can learn together!

Posted 5 years ago #
On a Roll
Member

It's more fun than learning apart! Great input! :D

Posted 5 years ago #
;0)
Member

I'm a working pro photographer, and am learning video to expand my business.
I'd go with two or three torchiere floor lamps (free standing, halogen, dimmer switches, and look nice with any decor to raise the ambient light). A 500 watt worklamp bounced into a photographic umbrella for a main light, a 250 watt work light with umbrella for a fill light, (main and fill same distance from subject, at 45 de angles, main above camera height fill just below, will give you perfect portrait lighting. an additional 250 watt light on a boomstand 45 deg up high, behind your subject to highlight the hair and seperate subject from background will astound! Warm light from the lamps will work fine for people. keep your ambient light a little less than your fill and it's all good!!
total cost:
lights: $100.00
lightstands: $160.00 (2 kits with umbrellas)
boomstand: $260.00 (optionallly use another kit above)
(canadian money)

Posted 5 years ago #
duotone
Member

WOW! This is a great forum.... and this topic is just what I was searching for...

Tony

Posted 5 years ago #