night shoot, lighting, and generator

K

kgg

Active member
Hi. First post. :) Sorry if this crosses into various fields--I am unsure what section this would go under.

I am starting to budget for an indie film(2 years in pre production).
I dont expect to be in a position to shoot for a few months yet. I will be looking for a DoP later, but just to get a head start, I am trying to get more technical info to reduce the surprises. Pardon if the questions are naive:

My first question is, if i have a few scenes that are night shoots--and I want adequate lighting, what am I looking at in terms of purchasing costs for a)the light units I would need to cover say--a full shot with 6-8 performers standing around on a gravel or dirt field.

b)electrical power--outlets or generator to power the lights, (I am looking into shooting with an HVX 200--so the requisite power needs for such a camera and its supporting hardware would be appreciated. I am going to look for locations that may be close to electrical outlets since unwanted screen elements can be removed later--but would a simple two plug outlet be enough? I have heard generator rentals are expensive--but how expensive?

I am more inclined to rent equipment than buy unless doing the latter would remove considerable headaches with scheduling for equipment.
My film budget can afford buying a HVX(though it would take almost half my budget with it) but as I cant say I plan another film after this I am less inclined to do that.

I also have some scenes where there is supposed to be reflection from a pulsing blue light--supposed to be like an energy curtain around a spaceship--any thoughts on what could be used to do that?

Thanks


PS I used to film stp motion animation with a 16mm bolex and got a cam from Leo's here in BC. I remember Leo and the parrot they had in the store. :)
 
Rent Rent Rent.. You will not be able to light a proper night shoot with what you can afforded. It takes big lights to get the right look 650W to 2K and up . Get in tuch with a grip and see if you can get some advice from him he might even work on the project for a couple hundred and beer and pizza. So you never know.l
 
Thanks for the input!
Yes I am hoping to find some experience crew who might be interested in working on it--from my earlier inquiries I know some can bring their own gear.

I havent looked for them or a DoP yet because they ask: what's the schedule?

I dont have it yet. :)

I have the film storyboarded and colourized so I am hoping that will aid in resolving the technical issues.
 
If the purchase of an HVX is consumming half of your budget for a feature, you may want to consider raising more money first. Your going to have a real hard time bringing a movie in for that. As to your question, rent. If you rent a full truck 5 ton or bigger it should have all the lighting instruments you need.
 
There is some excellent information on lighting a night scene in "Lighting for Digital Video and Television" by John Jackman.
 
Have you considered insurance? Remember its not cheap... In order to rent a grip truck you'll likely need million dollar liability, $250,000 equipment, and auto insurance. I know here in Orlando all that costs me around $1,000 a day. Also on a truck, HMI's are usually extra and not included with the truck price... you can try to negotiate with the rental company. If you can, try renting over a slow weekend, one with a monday or friday holiday. Here, alot of companies will only charge a day rate for the weekend, and on a holiday weekend its like getting another day free! Don't forget expendables, gels, cinefoil, c47's, etc. That stuff costs a good amount too! Also, find a DP with his own camera. Then you can negotiate a day rate that includes the camera, plus the DP will be very experienced with that camera... less likely to waste time learning the HVX. I'd suggest finding a DP with either some sort of 2/3" DVCpro, DigiBeta, or even HD camera like a cine alta. It will do alot better than the 1/3" HVX. So thats all I can think of for now, but I'm sure more will come to mind.
 
No I hadnt considered insurance yet beyond it coming up in casual discussion with a lawyer. I was looking at that with respects to camera rental, not lights!

My outdoor crowd scenes are small enough that i think I could shoot those shots in a single night(a long night).

My plan is to see what the standard costs are for such things--check around for rentals, then see where I can chip it down by finding people with lights to borrow, rent, whatever. If I cant do what needs to be done without major compromise then I can chop the film into sections and deal with the first few scenes which forms its own little story unit(mostly indoors, a couple of rooms).

Most of the film either takes place indoors or in front of a greenscreen, or in situations where there is only one or 2 cast members outside.

With these other cameras my question becomes--what sort of impact would it have on post production editing? I was planning to deal with someone who has an editing suite, but failing that I can raise some more money(a few $1000) after production to upgrade my present system which I have been using for maya work(not a work station). I am trying to keep the production phase to $20 000 CAN maximum. I can probably squeeze out another $10 000 for post production.

If you knew what i was planning your hair would stand on end. But I am crazy enough to believe it is doable.

But beyond a grip truck--what sort of on site power do i need for the camera set up?
 
Now I don't know post rates, but I'm sure for the money your talking you be able to at least get 4 of 5 days in an edit bay somewhere with the proper equipment. If not, you may be able to rent the computer equipment you need for a decent rate... If you shoot DVCpro its just a matter of renting a deck, or even using the camera your DP shoots it with. Just hook it up via firewire and you will be set for how you usually edit. HD would obvioulsy be more expensive to edit due to storage and deck issues. As for digibeta, for non-linear editing you will need some sort of analog capture card like an AJA, which can be rented, as well as a Digibeta deck... shouldnt be too expensive as they are older. Sorry this isnt my expertise, but glad to give you ideas.
 
Find a guy that owns a small lighting/grip truck. He's usually a gaffer. Most experienced gaffers can light the crap out of anything with just a little direction. No insurance hassles, since it's his truck and you're hiring him as your gaffer.
 
I live in the third largest filmmaking center in North America(or so the story goes, we dont actually make our own movies as much as play host to foreign productions) so maybe there are a lot of indie crew-equipment options. Will check!
 
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