First time lighting - need help

[Ferdi Willemse]

Hi guys,

I'm probably going to be contracted to make a promo for a gym. I've visited this gym today and noticed that it is very dark inside. It is basically a large warehouse with only two windows on the side.

I want this promo to look good, so I want to use lighting, but I don't have any lighting except an on-camera VidLED

I first need to earn some money in order to be able to buy some pro lighting.

So in the meantime, what would be best to light the scene, for example some people doing bench presses? Maybe hire two construction lamps with a white sheet in front of it to get some nice diffused light?

The thing is that in this area, you can hire absolutely nothing for the film business, that includes lighting. So I'll have to be creative at first.

If you need a raw top-down sketch of what this gym looks like, just let me know.

I greatly appreciate your help!

 

[Cool Lights]

That's what I would do if I didn't have the budget is go and get some worklights from your home improvement store and bed sheets or a shower curtain hung a few feet away on another portable frame or rack of some kind. You may be able to make a makeshift frame out of PVC pipes that you just fit together and take apart for easy transport. When you're in a no budget position, DIY and inventiveness is your best friend; so use your imagination. Sounds like you already started out doing that because you provided your own best suggestion for how to do it. Good luck!

 

[Ferdi Willemse]

Thanks, Richard! Though I made a great discovery today. I found a company around here who hires their Fresnel lamps (starting at 1K watt, but dimmable) for 10 Euro a day per light. So I don't think I'll be spending money in the near future for my own light set unless I'm going to need them very frequently.

 

[Michael Carter]

"Bedsheets" seems to be the first response for on-the-cheap scrims 'round here, but for about the same $$, you should be able to find something at the fabric store that's a little more sheer; not like a gauze or anything, but a bedsheet can eat a stop of light or more. Look at some nylons and polyesters; just grab anything white that comes on a wide bolt and see how much light it lets through. I have yards & yards of some kind of white material that has a bit of stretch to it, and with a few C-stands and 10-ft. lengths of conduit, I can soft-light some remarkably big areas.

As always, don't get the lights too close (but you can get some fabric from a hot-air balloon shop for those situations, too. Eats close to 2 stops, but won't burn!)

Amd finally, don't overlook large - like 48" - umbrellas; nice soft light if they're close enough to the subject, and when your main lights are the "wall of fabric" approach they can be really useful for fill. Pretty easy to rig 'em to work lights or pro lights.

 

[Cool Lights]

Thanks, Richard! Though I made a great discovery today. I found a company around here who hires their Fresnel lamps (starting at 1K watt, but dimmable) for 10 Euro a day per light. So I don't think I'll be spending money in the near future for my own light set unless I'm going to need them very frequently.

Great. That's the solution then because at that price it doesn't make sense to fool around if you can be earning money making video then it enables you to go forward and you're not spending time on makeshift solutions.

 

[FBAS]

Instead of a big sheet for diffusion you could also use flexible styrofoam insulation boards as a reflector. I have some flexible, white boards which are pretty reflective (they have a rather shiny white surface) and they can be fixed to the barndoors. You have to point the light upwards like 70 degrees and fix the reflector to the barndoors so the light hits the white board. This is a very flexible setup (no extra stands etc.) and the light is really nice and very soft. On the other hand there is a lot of uncontrollable spill.

In case you need more light I'd also get some white diffusion (Lee 216 or 400 or similar strong wd). Fix it to the barndoors of the lights directly - depending on the length of the barndoors you'll get a rather soft light as well but with the least loss in intensity.