Attachable lighting for backstage handheld gig

[jazzmanfilms]

Hey all,

so I've just been hired to shoot backstage interviews during fashion week. I looked at some footage the last guy working for this company shot, and it seems that while most areas are pretty well lit, brightly and evenly, there are a handful of areas where people congregate that are extremely dark. His mounted light was on the fritz and everybody looked like eyeless zombies (molly sims, super beautiful model, looked like she'd be on a year-long bender).

I have an HVX200a, and i want to know what you'd recommend as a nice, soft light to fill in the faces of the interviewees. I will be op'ing handheld, so i need something to attach to the camera and that won't seem like a hardcore spotlight and blind the person speaking. Any suggestions?

Is it worth the investment of buying a light like this, or just renting for the week. The fact is i do more videographer work with my HVX, but have a friend with a great RED kit that i can use for narrative work, so if it's not a ridiculous price i'm thinking it may well be worth buying it to include in my kit.

Also, if you can recommend a good shoulder mount that isn't too expensive, that'd be great.

Thanks!

-Jordan

 

[tony240sx]

Look into a litepanels micro or something similar. Around 300 bucks, light and most importantly dimmabe. You will probably want something that dims to counteract the varying light conditions.