Cheap way to hold up China Balls?

DavidBeier

DavidBeier

Veteran
So, I'm working on several projects now. I personally only own an HVX200 and tripod with NO lighting equipment (can't afford it and got to place to store it).

Anyway, I was working with my DP on this narrative piece I'm directing and he decided that he wanted to start using China balls for a lot of the close ups because of the really soft and diffused lighting it creates (he saw them being used on a lot of recent big budget films). He bought a couple with various light bulbs (150 watt and 300 watt) and it looked great. I was so impressed that I asked him if I could borrow one for some interviews I was shooting for a low budget documentary I'm making (one which I'm having to double as DP for).

Anyway, I've been really impressed with the results and am thinking of perhaps grabbing three china balls with various light bulb sizes to start lighting all my interviews from now on. Like I said, it looks very nice and it's cheap as hell ($5 for China ball, $5 for light, $10 for powercord with socket).

The one thing I'm trying to figure out though is if anyone can figure out a cheap way to hold the damn things up. They are light but one needs to hold them from the center of gravity. On my interview I just had one of the PAs hold one. My DP suggests C-stands but, once again, those are currently out of my budget.

Can anyone think of an easy/cheap way to hold the balls up so I don't have some poor PA always dangling one?
 
Well I don't really know how much C stands cost but you can get a cheap mic stand on ebay for as low as $10-20 sometimes...Check like 2nd hand stores, garage sales, op shops, I see them all the time for real cheap.
 
Microphone stands WILL fall when unattended (at least believe that they will and you will never have any accidents)...

light bulbs + paper + falling on a hard surface = FIRE!

Unless you are weighing them down accordingly they are a real hazard to have around (trust me I've set two china lanterns on fire before).

You could also get some cheap light stands on eBay that will do the job. Worst case you could sandbag a microphone stand but I would still keep a close eye on them... their base is just way too small. The size of the base is going to be your primary issue when dealing with extension arms.

A cheap way to make a sandbag is to take the leg of an old pair of jeans, stitching it in half at the knee and then filling both sides with sand and stitching them closed. You can use a plastic bag to put the sand in if you are worried your stitches might leak. The legs on mike stands aren't really designed to be sandbagged (as opposed to the turtle base on a C-Stand) so you just have to be careful to make sure they don't slip off.

Also I strongly recommend you gaff tape all the connections on the china lantern (bulb socket to extension cord especially). This will keep any nasty accidents from happening.
 
If you're indoors, you will always have a ceiling above you, right?

Either get some Autopoles, wall spreaders, or Math poles, or just tape the stuff (as mentioned) to the ceiling.

.
 
I used to use a painters pole and hang the light off of that and have a PA hold it back when I was super broke.
 
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