Decent Starter Kit? Suggestions...

F

Filmmaker04

Member
Ok, so I've read almost all the lighting posts on this forum pertaining to my question. Now I'd like to see if the combination I chose is a good mix of equipment to last me some time and provide multiple uses.

First off, I chose Mole Richardson lights, seeing as they are the hollywood standard and seem to last forever. I've used both Arri and Mole, both are great, but mole seems a bit tougher.

Mole Richardson 5 Light Kit w/ Chimera

Would you consider this a good general purpose kit? I primarily shoot with an XL2, however i'd like the ability to shoot other higher formats and still light well. Most frequently they will be used for narrative shorts, however interviews and product commercial spots are also possible.

Of course, I know I'll need some grip equipment, and to start out I chose Matthews stuff, since it's also a hollywood standard and lasts forever...

RoadRags C Vival Kit

Added to this will be an additional two C-stands with 40" arm w/ griphead, a 24x36 roadrags kit with two silver lame reflectors, and an additional 18x24 black flag. Is there any other additional grip stuff that I am missing (other than sandbags, gels, cubetaps, C-47s, and stingers)? Portability is a big issue as to why I chose the roadrags, and C+ stands, so no traditional flags or scrims for now. Oh, and by the way, I do have a budget, I'd like to keep this all less than $6 grand, and right now its around $5,500 including shipping.

So any thoughts, comments, criticisms? I'd really appreciate the input!

Oh and last question... is this a good book for film style lighting on video?
It's Lighting for Digital Video and Television, by John Jackman.
 
You will never go wrong with Mole and Century equipment. Both of these kits along with the added accessories would make an excellent rig. Throw in a few China balls and some globes to replace practicals would be something I would add, but otherwise, this would be a great kit.
 
Suggestion

Suggestion

Mole is solid and durable, but the wattages are a bit low in that kit. 200watt fresnel? Almost useless once you have a few other lights on--and forget about competing with daylight from a window. The problem with 1000w lights is that they kill household circuits quick and are hot--much better to use Kinos. I'd bet a kit with (2) 350w and (2) 650w lights would do you much better in terms of fresnels.

But let's look at it from another angle. How much shooting will you do in the next six months? Be very realistic. If it's only a few days of actual production, I would seriously look into renting lights, or hiring a gaffer for a couple days on a project so you can get some education. Lighting is cheap to rent, expensive to buy. Get some experience with various instruments and keep an eye on what you actually use. Orlando probably has adequate rental facilities so you can sample Kinos, fresnels, and dedolights--even HMIs. In the meantime, keep an eye on e-bay and other classifieds and buy lightly used if you can find it.

I'd say the ideal portable kit is probably a combination of Dedolights and KinoFlo Divas. More flexible, more compact, more efficient, cheaper lamp costs (these can add up) and less heat.

I'd suggest you look at:

$3200 - 3 light dedolight kit (150w)
$900 - KinoFlo Diva 400 (including bulbs)
This will easily match the output of the Mole kit, but give you more versatility. And will never blow a circuit.

Another few lights that are cheap and portable, but not so controllable are:
$250 - 2 Lowel tota-lights
$300 - 2 Lowel omnilights
Useful for sloppy, quick lighting of backgrounds/walls/rooms/ceiling bounce etc.


This will cover an absurd amount of scenarios and will fit in your back seat with room to spare.

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It's wise to budget for grip equipment. But the Roadrags kit only includes two frames and thus is very expensive. Much wiser to buy a larger collection of real flags/nets/silks fpr the same money. I have one and have decided that the portability factor isn't worth it.

Don't forget the various mounting equipment. You need fewer C-stands if you have a few mafers, cardillini, gator, spackle knife and floor mounts.

Shot bags are better than sand bags, if space is at a premium. The Boa Bags by Matthews are expensive, but you will never regret buying them.

Gels, stingers, blackwrap, back-up lamps. It gets expensive, so you either have to love it--or it's smarter just to hire someone who actually loves it.

--

Good luck.
 
Now I do understand this kit is essentially useless competeing with outdoor light. I put two silver reflecters in a road rags kit so i could control some outdoor light, but as of right now I can't afford large reflectors or HMI's.

Usage wise, I do plan on putting these lights to use quite some bit... I'm a film student, so I intend on using them at least twice a month, likely more, plus renting them out to other film students on a steady basis. Also I will be working on a low budget national product commercial with them, probably shooting a 30 to 60 second spot every two weeks.

I've done my fair share of rentals here in orlando, and yes you can get some pretty good stuff. Typically I rent a 4 light arri kit consisting of two 650's and two 300's... seems to work great for me. When I saw this kit I was abit hesitant at first due to the low watt lights... but when I thought more about it I realized that a 200watt may be useful in highlighting, or background, the 2 300's are always useful as a backlight or fill, a 650 makes a good key, and the 1000watt softbox also a good key or fill. I also have a friend with two 1000w and a 650w Briteks (crap) but will add significant light to any shoot. In time I plan on getting a Mole Biax, or Kino Flow, but for now these fresnels should do alright.

As for ampage... I know the 1000w can quickly kill a circuit, but that kit isnt as unfriendly as it appears... A Mickey Mole (1000w) fixture pulls 8.3 amps and a tweenie (650w) pulls 5.4 amps. Totalling 13.7 amps, safe enough for a single 15amp breaker, and plenty safe for a 20amp breaker in most apartments and commercial buildings. The rest of the lights could easily sit on another 15 amp breaker, as their total is only 7.1 amps... still leaving room for camera, monitor, etc.

Now don't get me wrong, the dedolights may be great, I just dont have much experience with them, I was thinking a good set of fresnels which I could easily add to would be more user friendly in the long run.

As for the roadrags, I agree they are a bit pricey for what they are, but I did manage to have 4 frames, two 18x24 and two 24x36... the mini grip kit comes with two Matthelini Clamps, and I have a local dealer where I can purchase more grip accesories, including BOA bags, shot bags, and other such items.

I considered this C+ survival kit, but the 12x18 flags seemed a bit small for my uses. Am I correct in this assumption?

Last question, would this kit be of any use on a 35mm or 16mm film shoot, of course I would likely rent a grip truck, but I'd like to put some of my lights to use as well if they would be of any help.
 
It comforts me to know that all of the other people on this site have so much cash for lighting. I am still in debt for my camera and am looking into a feasible audio alternative. My lighting setup is as follows:

2 150W funnel lights w/clamps and a piece of window screen clothes pinned on to keep it in place. (lights= $5.99/each;clothes pins= $1.99/bag;screen=free from my window)

2 500W Halogen lights on yellow tripod (Yep, worklights $24.99)

That is all I can afford for lighting and I live. Sure I prefer outdoor lights but my setup is slightly more ritzsy than Robert Rodriguez's for El Mariachi. He is the one-take master. (Not to mention low-budget master)
 
I would second the idea of traditional flags. You can get a little more bang for your buck. I find that for myself I often need more than one single or double playing at once. 12x18 size is often too small. 18x24 is generally just right for flagging the size of fresnels that you're looking at. I find 24x36 is generally unnecessary in most cases.

Extra grip heads and arms (I like the 20" short arm) is extra handy too. Combined with a cardellini or maffer w/ pin you can get away without having extra c-stands for flags. Just clamp to the riser of the light stand. Make sure to sandbag!
 
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