Any Lighting Gurus Out There? Trying to light a large garage...

S

schishprod

Member
I've just been hired to shoot a commercial in a large garage. It has phosphorous lights in it and a large bay door which can be opened. My subjects are the machines being sold, so they are metal and shiny..... I've been shooting dvx100 for a few years, but this is my first gig where I am responsible for renting and setting up all the lights... Any tips, links, or advice would be a HUGE help!!! Thanks!
 
Well since the subject is the machines, you want to focus on the reflective properties of the subject. Right off the top of my head I would say use the bay door to your advantage and fly a 12'x12' or 8'x8' silk outside, right as the sun is parallel with the shop. Golden hour. Accent the subjects back and sides with HMI's to really make it elegant. Could you describe more of your shoot?
 
Thanks InvisionProductions!! Great Advice so far. In regards to the location, that's really all I know at this point.... From what they descibed, it seems like they just want a bunch of basic shots of their products as well as close ups, showing how to operate them. If the bay door turns out not to help, do you think I should use a large solf source as my key? If so, what size? Thanks!!
 
I would use the soft source as fill, to bring up the overall levels, but use some more direct lighting to accent the surface. Think like what a BMW commercial looks like, how the light streaks across the metal, etc. The size of the frame/silk is purely dependent on its distance from the subject, as well as the area you are trying to cover in your shot.
 
Solid advice Invision....As the day progresses, you might need- at Minimum, a 1200 watt par Hmi and a couple of 400 watt jokers with the option of softboxes or 4x4 silks to fire them thru. An additional 1200 hmi on standby, if the punch of one 1200 is not enough to fire thru the 12x12 or 8x8 as described earlier and with the same cavet as to the size of the shop,and distance from fabric.. Direct- overhead lighting should also be considered, depending on what your shooting as well. Perhaps just a 200 or 400 watt joker thru a softbox or chinese lantern or pancake lantern....My 2 cents- good advice from Andrew.
 
Thanks Filmat. Use the Joker 800's if you've got em! Just used a few on a shoot recently, worked wonders. I backlit the talent from across the club floor. I love these little lights!
 
Thanks guys!! I'm picking up everything today so I can experiment over the weekend. Thanks again for the great tips. Gotta love this place!!!
 
I would say box the stuff in with 5 12'x12' silks like a tent and try to get light from all sides creating a light dome and maybe putting a floruo with long bulbs to get nice long highlights like if shooting a car.
 
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