Can someone assist me with figuring out what lighting we need?

Azmyth

Azmyth

Veteran
I've been trying to find a lighting tech with his own stuff, but that task has proven to be more difficult than I thought. So at this point, we are going on as if we won't have one. Our director of photography and set photographer have lighting experience, and said they'd be willing to do it if we weren't able to find a dedicated lighting person. They have a few lights between them, but I know that we are going to need more. The DP only has the bulbs and no fixtures/stands, and the photographer has 2 3300k lights with softboxes. I'm trying to get my head around what else we'll need to rent. I'd like to give someone specifics and see if we can figure it out.
 
This is a pretty huge question.....we have no idea what kind of setups you'll be doing, what kind of locations, what type of power, what budget, what kind of actors, style etc.
 
right, I knew that when I posted. I was saying that if someone who knows more about this than I do (lighting) wants to help me decipher it. I'll be glad to go into specific details on those things. I just didn't see a reason to initially do so before making sure someone was up for trying to help.
 
Ok..

Most of the scenes will be inside houses, both in the day and night.
There are a few scenes on the exterior of houses, in the drive way and in the front yard area. Some of these will be illuminated in part by the porch and street lights which I will need to supplement with other sources of light.
There are some interior car scenes shot at night as well.

The scenes I am the most concerned with lighting, are exterior night shots that are in somewhat of a large open area.

For example, there is a scene around a large missile encased in chainlink fence and razorwire. It has "spotlights" on it, and there are street lights close by, but it will still need more light. I think I will probably need to go out and see exactly what kind of footage I can get with only the lighting thats there, to see just how much.

The other is a party scene, thats held at an outside Bungalow/shelter type area. The shelter has its own lighting, and we will have tiki lamps lit up as well for dramatic lighting. Possibly even a bonfire. This scene is at night as well.
 
Ok... First off by lighting person do you mean a gaffer? The DP should be able to pick his own lights. I pick all the lighting/camera packages. I do collaborate with my key grip and gaffer but I dont leave it to them to decide. I think that you are in for a ride if your G/E crew for a feature consists of the DP and the set photographer. I wouldn't walk onto a feature set as DP without a professional gaffer and a grip for safety reasons.

best of luck
 
Yea...sounds like you're just getting yourself into trouble when starting a feature without somebody on set who's familiar with the equipments and know what you will need. Why isn't your DP advising you on what you will need based on his own experience? Really only someone who's seen the locations and are familiar with the script can tell you what will be needed. Our advice won't help you because we'll basically be guessing. "Inside and outside" of houses really aren't very specific, there's a ton of variations and equipments that might be needed to deal with specific situations.

If you can't find somebody who's knowledgeable, don't start, period. You'll just be wasting time and money and the final product will unlikely to be satisfactory.
 
Along with the very fine advice you're getting here, there are still a few pieces to the puzzle missing. Notably, what camera package are you using.

If you choose to shoot this, do NOT shoot your night scenes at night. Shoot them at dawn or dusk. You'll have 20-30 minutes maybe. The Sun will provide enough ambient light for you to shoot the scenes with a reasonable camera, and you can darken it post to get a good night look. This is a well established practice, and I've done it a number of times. Try to keep the sky out of the shot, especially if shooting in the direction of the Sun.
 
We are working with a skeleton crew.
This is a super low budget production, and as thus many people are wearing many different hats.

I guess the best thing to do is get together with the DP and go out to the locations to determine what exactly we will need. We have some lighting already, but I guess we'll need to do that to see what else we'll need.

thanks for the tip about the night shooting.
 
Take photos of your locations. I use my camera phone. This will let you see sight lines, places to put lights and other gear, and help us figure out what might help you.
 
Azmyth said:
We are working with a skeleton crew.
This is a super low budget production, and as thus many people are wearing many different hats.

I guess the best thing to do is get together with the DP and go out to the locations to determine what exactly we will need. We have some lighting already, but I guess we'll need to do that to see what else we'll need.

thanks for the tip about the night shooting.
Click to expand...

I think the best thing to do will be to raise money... I have a feeling that you cant find a G/E crew because they dont want to work 20+ days un paid. Also how do you expect to get more lighting without money?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top