I picked up some cheap lighting, think this will work?

These are work light and are not intended for photographic purposes. That said, like others have comments, you can bounce them into a white all or ceiling or a hunk of white foam core to get a soft bounce light.

I would look at scoop lights and some china lanterns if i were you. Also, you could look at some homemade florescents from the hardware store, but the color temp could be a problems.

Check the video tech tips and articles on my site for some hints.

http://www.scottspears.net/filmmakpg3.html

Scott
 
hey,
I thought your lights looked great. I would love a close up of the hinge. I have some worklights but I don't think they have that wire around the light where you are attaching the flags to.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but replacement bulbs for these lights cost about $4-6 at home depot. (hardware store) how about getting replacement bulbs over the internet that are meant for a more expensive light. These would cost around $16 each, but if you can get the same size bulb, I would imagine they would have better color correction. (after all, the bulb in the light is where the actual light comes from. the other parts of the light are for reflection, focusing, and controlling)
 
those will work great man, all you need are some umbrella holders and white diffused umbrellas to shoot that light through.

you can use tinfoil to act like barned doors as well. You can make great stuff with those lights man, i certainly have, lighting wise.
 
How about this for a ceiling lamp? I wanted a soft light and I purchased one of these to test it out:



By the way, I went to a few stores and none of them had any Chinese lanterns.
 
hey Morox,
You might want to try Ikea or Pier 1 Imports. they might have some chinese lantern type lamps. the good things about those is that they have a permanent opening so you can put a high wattage bulb and the heat can escape. the one you have might only be rated for a 75 watt bulb?? Plus the other ones are paper. and are really cheap. I've never used one, but I will be getting some soon.
 
Target had them as well.. but you will want to get the plain white ones and not the off white or colored ones.. unless you are going for a paticular look. Then you can buy some photoflood bulbs and be off and running.


Also, through my buddy TJ, I inherited 10 of those home depot cord work lights with the clip and the metal dome... They are really nice and a lot easier to lug around than the work lights you have. I have put 500 watt bulbs in them.. but it's almost too much. Make sure to get the ceramic type and I've been using 300 watt photoflood bulbs in them. In a small backpack I can put 8 complete 300 watt lights and i have a small bag for the light stands.

This type of stuff is great for large surfaces and keying and stuff like that. I too think that the foamcore is a good idea..
 
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Justyn said:
Target had them as well.. but you will want to get the plain white ones and not the off white or colored ones.. unless you are going for a paticular look. Then you can buy some photoflood bulbs and be off and running.


Also, through my buddy TJ, I inherited 10 of those home depot cord work lights with the clip and the metal dome... They are really nice and a lot easier to lug around than the work lights you have. I have put 500 watt bulbs in them.. but it's almost too much. Make sure to get the ceramic type and I've been using 300 watt photoflood bulbs in them. In a small backpack I can put 8 complete 300 watt lights and i have a small bag for the lights.

This type of stuff is great for large surfaces and keying and stuff like that. I too think that the foamcore is a good idea..
Click to expand...

I am filming a short movie and I want a gritty effect. I figured that the off-white light would soften the lighting more to make the appearance a bit darker.
 
it will make it look more orange, a pale blue one is like a color temperature blue gel built right in. Althought is is not accurate to real CTB and you cant judge its percentage.
 
Arson has it right... It'll mess with your color temp and it's kind of unpleasant looking to the naked eye and on cam unless you white balance to that.. but then if you have color balanced sources.. you'll be kind of SOL..

I love the china balls. Have 4 of them in my office as office lights....


I'm also such a firm believer in the fact that film lighting is WAY WAY WAY out of line when it comes to pricing. I mean my 4 light arri kit was 3K... It's probably 2k more expensive than it should be... and I know it's a niche market and they make their money on the mark up and not the number of units.. so then it becomes up to us to be able to find alternatives that work almost as good. I also know that with a bit of inginuity no client cares or can tell that they are homemade and or lesser lights. I mean that guys barndoors and set up looks sweet. Almost nicer than the lowel lights... in looks that is.

GenJerdan... That's so friggin cool that you made that and put that up there. GOOD SPIRIT in you my man. This is why this forum and others are so important. Helps the little man to keep on rising up. What you did looks great...


I'm hoping that Brian can get that DVD and book series going on home depot lighting and grip stuff. That would be so damn cool... I'm all for using quality lighting.. but I hate to pay for it. I'm a SCOTTISH FILMMAKER. That's actually going to be a bit we are doing...


have fun bro and you are on the right track
 
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I'm thinking of disassembling the lights, drilling some holes in the top and baffling them for light-leakage (if necessary).

Those sukcers get HOT, and there's no real need for them to. It's just that they're made waterproof, so it all gets trapped.

(I also find myself using 150 and 300W bulbs in them. 500 is a bit much for close quarters, and 1000 is just silly.)
 
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