HMI lighting scenario

[dlang]

This could be a really silly question, but I'm confusing myself trying to think of this scenario. My question is, what size HMI should I use as a key light shooting in a park and in the shade? Even if it's a rough estimate that I can start with would be handy. The only place in town that rents hmi's only has a 1200w, which would be three times the light that a tungsten light would put out right? Is that overkill? Anyhow an insight to this scenario would be appreciated. Oh by the way we will be shooting in the morning.

 

[bcheong]

A 1200 HMI can put out a decent amount of light depending on its circumstance. A PAR will put out a little more than a Fresnel also. It depends on the situation of the day - if it's a really bright sunny day you're not going to see its effect as much as a cloudy day. If it's high noon you're going to see less than 5pm in the afternoon. If you're shooting in the morning you'll probably be good. It also depends on how close you have the lamp to the action..

And then there's issues of power. You can generally run a 1200 easily of a small genny. Once you get up to 2500 and 4K's it gets trickier. Also watch for flicker on certain gennys if you're using magnetic ballasts!

 

[filmat11]

If it's too much, use scrims to knock it down a stop or two. You can place a silk, flag, or other fabric between the light and subject, and you can also move the light further away from your talent. I think you will be fine with the 1200...Ditto to what bcheong said about the ballasts and genny if you need one. But if your near an outlet, (some parks do have them)you should be ok.

 

[Icarus2005]

if its a bright day a 1200 won't do much. You're better off with, if it will work in the given curcumstance, having shiny boards and bouncing them through a silk. no power, not noise, just beautiful light. Catch is you have to adjust them every 5 to ten minutes as the sun moves.

in the film world you throw up a 30x40 to block the sun and create your own sun with a 12 or 18k and fill with a 4 or 6k or bounce off the bigger head.

the best thing in low budget gigs is to write something that doesn't require a pricey setup.