Decent Lighting for Music Videos?

M

matt9b

Well-known member
Hi,

I'm looking for a decent basic continuous lighting for music videos. Daylight.

Will be filming whole subject foot to head so need an ok ish power.

Checked out red heads on ebay, £150 for 3 red heads seems a bit dodgy to me :0)

Would prefer decent LED lighting as it doesn't heat up and for 2011 I guess I should get up with the times :P Does such a thing exist?

Can anyone recommend?

Thanks,
 
Matt,

You said daylight and everyone ran for cover. Think large amounts of $$ and then double it.

Redhead type fixtures have tungsten elements which are 3200k. You will have to gel them to get daylight at 5200k. In the process you will lose a bunch of light. For a large set like music, in daylight, you will need HMIs which you would probably want to rent instead of purchase. You might also consider bounce lighting if you are going on the cheap. This will make your life more difficult.

For small amounts of fill light, larger gelled tungstens or daylight LEDs might help a little and I do mean little. Go inside, your life will improve.

Grant
 
Whole subject, foot to head - but how big's the set, does it need to be lit, etc ....

I've bought a couple 4-bank flos from eBay in the last month. They do put out a decent amount of light for $300-ish. They're cool, they don't pull much amps, they're lightweight. I've been stocking up on biax flo fixtures when I find deals, I've gotten a few that are really well built - import quality is definitely getting up there. Lotta daylight photons for your dollar.
 
If you are going that route, and just need very basic flat lighting, think Cool Lights CL455s, but nothing like this is going to help you much in a daylight situation.

Grant
 
ggrantly said:
If you are going that route, and just need very basic flat lighting=
Click to expand...

Hiya, I'm not going down any 'route' in terms of brands of lighting, thats why I'm asking for advice. If by basic 'flat lighting' you're assuming I won't be needing a rim light or the ability to get sharp contrast with dark blacks and bright sides of the face, then no, that's not what I'm looking for. So I'm guessing the Cool Lights CL455s you mentioned are no good for me?

I'm looking for lighting that can cope in these situations:

- portable daylight lighting for documentaries / interviews outside & inside - yes, will need to light whole face / neck with even lighting
- for studio music videos indoors (i.e. sharp contrast, rim lighting, lighting that allows you to light subject without lighting background, so you can bring exposure down + make background darker than subject etc.)

Ideally would be happy with an all-rounder to do all of the above. Will LEDs 600W or 800w with barn doors do the job?

Is there an all-rounder for this?

Would I need separate lighting (e.g. red heads for contrasty studio stuff, LED for interview and outdoors work)

Thanks
 
Sounds like you need an hmi light. With the cool lights you can really only get soft light. With an hmi you have the choice of using it as a hard light or throwing some type of diffusion in front to make it soft if need be. Plus hmi is the most powerful daylight light you can buy I believe.
 
If you're really on a tight budget you could get shiny silver beadboard or 48" mirror boards (into a large diffuser). Since you're doing a music video, sound is likely not as big a concern and you can get a little more creative if you need to.
 
Some of us are still confused by your use of the word "daylight" in your original question.

Are you looking for fill light for shooting outdoors? You never answered that question.
Else why are you asking about "daylight"? Do you mean "5600K" color temperature?
 
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