Doc Lighting

S

Sluze

New member
I'm looking at shooting a documentary and I need a little help with the best way to light things on the fly. I'll be shooting with a dvx100b and i'll be in dark bars and clubs quite a bit which is why i need a quick and easy lighting solution that will give good results for a one man crew.

all help is appreciated thank you

sluze
 
I just ordered a Pag C-6 on camera light and I'll be getting it Thursday. Something like this would probably work very well for you. I'll let you know how it works.
 
I would go with a Kino Flo Kamio on camera ring light. It will give you a big light in a little package. It also has a dimmer so you can do what ever you want. And remeber just beacuse you are one man dosen't mean you need to forget that you can use proper light. An Arri light kit dose make a big differece. I would use this on the key interviews of your doc. It takes some time for one guy to set up but it is worth it.
 
I'm in the process of making a handheld battery powered fluorescent for this purpose.

An assistant will handle it, and have instructions to keep about a 45 degree angle between the light and the camera.

I tried a top-mounted light, but it looked too newsy.

I'm hoping that a fluorescent will be soft enough that the assistant can move it around and it won't throw weird shadows.
 
The litepanels (www.litepanels.com) are pricey, but terrific -- daylight-balanced LED softlight, fully dimmable with no change in color temp. They do add a lot of weight to the camera and make it front heavy, but they works like a charm.
 
Stas_Tagios said:
The litepanels (www.litepanels.com) are pricey, but terrific -- daylight-balanced LED softlight, fully dimmable with no change in color temp. They do add a lot of weight to the camera and make it front heavy, but they works like a charm.
Click to expand...

I remember there was a user somewhere here that built his own litepanels, and had pictures how to do it. If I remember, it was just a bank of LED's and a battery hookup. $700+_ for those things?! That's nuts, especially with the quick fall -off.

If you are shooting in darker areas, consider buying some large 4x8' sheets of foamcore, and bounce light off of them to fill the foreground of shots you are doing. It's low-tech, and effective. You can use totas, Arris, whatever. Then rim-light with a lensed light (fresnel) for some edge lighting. If you balance the lights and keep them lower in brightness, you can match to the lighting in the environment.

My 2cents.

Jeff:thumbup:
 
Sluze, I have shot a lot in those types of settings, and one thing you have to think about (unless you're in California) is Smoke. There is so much of it in bars. It usually traces light paths.

Most of the time, I tried to get some lit activity in the background, throw it out of focus, and use a small 20W camera light the PAG C6 suggested earlier, but with a homemade soft box about 6" by 6", high above camera and slightly to right, on a stand, also supporting the battery. 2 hours of runtime with one battery, very soft Rembrandt key/fill, the smoke doing the rest of the work with the diffusing of the beam. Just make sure to keep lit activity in the background, to get a sense of life at the bar, and to increase density in the frame. Out of focus neon signs work great too, just so you can't read the "Budweiser" logo.

If you use a radio mic, you can allow people to walk in front of your camera, which gives an even better sense of reality and urgency.
 
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