Essential lighting kit for interviews and scenes.

traviswears

traviswears

Well-known member
Self-taught DP here and always wanting to improve my lighting kit.

Right now my local kit is 2X Kino Divas, an Arri 650 kit and a 1X1 LED kit. I have c-stands, stingers and a few pieces of diff but looking for other items to add light shaping possibilities.

Was thinking about the Matthews Road Rags II kit or the Matthews 48x48 silk as I'm not sure the Flozier on the Divas is giving me a big enough soft source. Any other ideas on pieces I could add to upgrade my kit?

If it can be traveled, that helps as I fly a lot for work. Local kit is needed as well though.

Thanks!
 
that's a question with a whole lot of answers...depending on where, what, and how you shoot. Definitely the 48" silk or something like it is necessary. Some reflectors similarly sized are useful. Howabout a cookie and a dimmer (or scrims) for the arri fresnel? Do you have both 3200 and 5500 tubes for the Divas?
The roadrag kit with single and double scrim would also be very useful.
But again it depends where and what you shoot, as well as your style.
 
forbyfiev said:
that's a question with a whole lot of answers...depending on where, what, and how you shoot. Definitely the 48" silk or something like it is necessary. Some reflectors similarly sized are useful. Howabout a cookie and a dimmer (or scrims) for the arri fresnel? Do you have both 3200 and 5500 tubes for the Divas?
The roadrag kit with single and double scrim would also be very useful.
But again it depends where and what you shoot, as well as your style.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! I do have a dinner and scrims for all the Arris and I usually use black wrap with some holes poked through for a homemade cookie. I have some reflectors as well. Both color tubes for the Divas. I shoot a lot of reality TV, docu-style stuff and sit down interviews.
 
If you've got the car space to transport them, I'd highly recommend adding maybe three 48x48 knife blade frames to your kit (along with some 216. 250 and 251 to skin them with). They're really the minimum size you can get away with for a nice soft source in my experience.

The Matthews Road Rags kit or equivalent (I have the Digital Juice Pro Flag Kit, which is similar) is another item I'd never leave home without.
 
I would also suggest a Dedolight as a good addition to an interview kit. I keep one on the van along with projection lens & patterns. They are great for backgrounds, hair light, eye light, and they pack easily for travel.
 
Grug said:
If you've got the car space to transport them, I'd highly recommend adding maybe three 48x48 knife blade frames to your kit (along with some 216. 250 and 251 to skin them with). They're really the minimum size you can get away with for a nice soft source in my experience.

The Matthews Road Rags kit or equivalent (I have the Digital Juice Pro Flag Kit, which is similar) is another item I'd never leave home without.
Click to expand...

Great idea. Planning on picking up a Matthews break a part frame today. Any thoughts on the silk v standard diff?
 
traviswears said:
Great idea. Planning on picking up a Matthews break a part frame today. Any thoughts on the silk v standard diff?
Click to expand...

I'm not very fond of Silk as a diffusion, I just find it kinda uninspiring for the most part. My preference is for Silent Grid Cloth (comes in Full, Half and Quarter strengths)
 
For travel, it's hard to beat the Westscott Scrim Jim setup. That's a lot of frame in a little bag, and the rags can be stuffed into plastic bags and used for packing when it's tight. Pricey but very versatile, and did I mention they're super packable?

Life-changers for me:

Steel Beefy Babies - about the price of a turtle-base c-stand, easier to pack, hellaciously capable.

Dimmers - just those HF boxes which are now about $18 (used to be 30+)

More daylight - the Alzo bulb/ballast, the cool lights style CDM fresnels. Found a $50 ballast that strikes the cool lights 150 bulb, yeah!

Audio upgrades - added an OST mic to my G3 and I have a killer AKG hyper. Really like the Tascam DR-60D.

Considering some kind of pocket jib - I have an 8' Kessler, but it's heavy and takes some setup time.
 
Michael Carter said:
More daylight - the Alzo bulb/ballast, the cool lights style CDM fresnels. Found a $50 ballast that strikes the cool lights 150 bulb, yeah!
Click to expand...


Where'd you find those ballasts? I have two Coolights 150w CDMs but both ballasts are stone dead - was pretty close to throwing them out, so if I can get them working again with a new ballast that'd be awesome!
 
The truth is… Essential for one bloke might be a null for someone else.

How do we feel about maybe starting a thread like… "Light Kits, why one size does not fit all" Where we could contribute our experience in regard to different light kits and how and why we use them?

For example… "Interview lighting" can mean many different scenarios where you would choose different lighting instruments based on a number of criteria.

Ultra small office space with no windows

Medium size living room with 2 windows in front of talent

Large kitchen with full windows behind talent

Front porch swing exterior

Each setup has it's needs, and yet there are a number of ways to shoot each one.

Budget also plays a factor in lighting, even after you have purchased your light kit.

For example, the amount of time it takes to light an interview. A small sit-down might only have a budget which supports 20min of light setup time, while a national might budget a full day.

So there are a number of different factors involved when selecting a light kit for one's particular needs which we could discuss.
 
David W. Jones said:
The truth is… Essential for one bloke might be a null for someone else.

How do we feel about maybe starting a thread like… "Light Kits, why one size does not fit all" Where we could contribute our experience in regard to different light kits and how and why we use them?

For example… "Interview lighting" can mean many different scenarios where you would choose different lighting instruments based on a number of criteria.

Ultra small office space with no windows

Medium size living room with 2 windows in front of talent

Large kitchen with full windows behind talent

Front porch swing exterior

Each setup has it's needs, and yet there are a number of ways to shoot each one.

Budget also plays a factor in lighting, even after you have purchased your light kit.

For example, the amount of time it takes to light an interview. A small sit-down might only have a budget which supports 20min of light setup time, while a national might budget a full day.

So there are a number of different factors involved when selecting a light kit for one's particular needs which we could discuss.
Click to expand...

Great points and I whole heartedly agree. That being said, I was looking more for "essential kit" that others with more experience have found to be the most versatile in many different scenarios, rather than discussing which kit would benefit a particular situation. You mentioned the dedolight in your first post and I found that super helpful as I've seen that light used in numerous situations effectively, whether as a hairlight or accent light on something in the background or put through a cookie to generate some pattern on a wall behind the subject.

Great suggestion. I just picked up 2 4x4 frames with grid cloth, an ultrabounce and a floppy with some beefy babies because I'm noticing that the Floziers on my Divas aren't large enough to give me the soft source I'm looking for. These collapsible frames will hopefully be small enough to travel with me and assist in numerous shoot scenarios.

Also thinking about getting an Area 48 remote phosphor LED as well. I like the versatility there and that it can travel!

Thanks all for the suggestions and keep 'em coming!
 
As of late, my current ride-along light kit I keep in the van is something like…

1 1.2K HMI Par
2 575w HMI Fresnel
1 400w HMI Par
2 200w HMI Par
1 4x55w Biax
1 2x55w Biax
1 Dedolight DLHM4-300 150w
1 Source 4 750w
1 Mole 2911 Nooklite 650w

I will then supplement with any other needed light on a per job basis.
 
Nice kit!

HMI's always tend to fall out of my budget to own. I've thought about a cool lights CDM fresnel as its in budget and close to an HMI. With hotlights so cheap to rent these days I find it hard to put my money there.
 
My travel kit - travel meaning where airtravel is involved - is:
-- Medium Arri case filled with (2x) Lowel DP, (2x) Lowel Omni, (2x) Lowel Pro, (1x) Lowel Rifa, (5x) light stand, basic gripology that will fit into the case.
-- Pelican case with (3x) 1x1 LitePanle daylight
-- Pelican case with Dana dolly (if the production needs it)

Then carry on:
-- Pelican case with camera + accessories
-- soft tripod bag with, well, tripod

What i get locally is:
-- a few stingers
-- a few c-stands
-- an HMI or two
-- maybe some flags etc
-- some sandbags
-- some dolly pipes and whatever is necessary to mount it
 
Yes, HMI's will suck up a budget. But I purchased all of mine used which helps out a bunch.

I also have around 45 Tungsten lights which I can add to the van as needed, but I plan on cutting that number down in 2015, and probably adding a Joker Bug 800w HMI to my kit.

I will likely not invest in the nicer higher end LED solutions for a couple of years, as I honestly don't think they are quite there yet for the cost.

Anything larger than my 1.2K HMI Par is a rental item now.

I sold all of my bigger Tungsten lights a few years back, and now my largest Tungsten fixture is a 2K. But I will likely sell them next year.
 
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