One light what would it be?

I agree, as I said a few pages back, I too would go with an HMI, for exactly these and other reasons.

All I can say is that luckily I have never been forced to work with just a single source!
 
If your talking for Dramatic and not Documentary then it would have to be the Arri 1200 Par HMI. You can just do so much with it and it will run on normal house power. That said I also love the crap out of the Arri 300 and 650.

Basically all I'd want would be the 1200 (or a joker), 650, 300, and a 2' 4 bank kino.
 
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Nathan's list is pretty complete, but I gotta have some smaller stuff in my kit too. My favorite small (and highly focusable) source is the 150W DedoLights (the ones with the self contained ballast). I just love these and use them all the time. If not the Dedos then a few Mole Betweenies would be my second choice.
 
well the origional question was 1 light and 1 light only, if we wanna talk kit... thats different.
 
The problem with picking one light is it so depends on what your shooting. How big is the location, Day or Night, INT or EXT, Generator or house power, what camera, what film stock, what ISO/ASA, high key, low key, what shots does the director want, male or female subject, Drama or DOC, or for that matter what genre?

I could think of a million other variables that make choosing one light really near impossible.
 
puredrifting said:
Hi Timur:

I have a 2k Mighty and it does not operate well on 15 amp circuits. How does the Arri differ?

Dan
Click to expand...

Depends on what voltage you are, in 120 volts, you need 16 amps to run a 2000 watt light. 110 volts you need 18 amps.

But if you're in 220-240 volts you only need 8 or 9 amps. Basically I can't turn on a 2000 on a 15 amp circuit in my country. The most is 1,500 watts.
 
I was shooting on an old antique train once. It was the middle of the night but the scene called for the middle of the day.

We didn't have any HMIs and my biggest light was a 2k Mole. Of coarse we didn't have a generator (yeah indie!) so I was forced to plug in the 2k and cross my fingers. I knew it would pop the circuit so I made sure at the grid that everything looked in working order. The 2K would stay going for anywhere between 5-15 minuets, but once it heated up it would pop the breaker. We'd wait a few minutes and then flip the breaker back and shoot a little more. We were able to finish the scene and it turned out really well.

I would never advise this to anyone, but if you feel confident with your wiring and breaker box you can cheat your amps a little bit.

We also had everything we needed to know about the beefiness of the trains wiring days in advance, and had it check out by someone with way more experience then us

you can watch the trailer at

www.whoisedwardcole.com
 
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Hi Nathan:

I too own and use a Mighty (2K) Mole. You should also be aware that www.bulbtronics.com and other vendors do stock a 1,500 watt bulb also for situations like this. With a 2k, you also have to be very careful of meltiing extension cords. I made my own 10 gauge stingers for just this application after melting some 14 gauge ones with this light.

Be careful with Mightys, they are a different breed than other lights.

Dan
 
Hi Timur:

It's not so much the quality of the stinger, it's the size. Larger diameter stingers can dissapate the heat from a high current draw much more efficiently than small diameter ones.

10 GA. work very well but weigh a ton. Try carrying a whole box of 50 footers ;-) You will have to make them yourself most probably, I don't think many places carry anything that big for 110 although perhaps they do in other parts of the world with 220/240?

Dan
 
so- i finally done the deed, and got myself some lights.

Rifa55,tota,KinoFlow so far...
some cutters, massive reflector...
12v Dedolights next..whos buying what at the moment.

regards
 
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