Lighting a hotel room

[FilmBoy77]

what's the best way to light a typical hotel room? is there a way to do it without having to light from the floor up?

i'm going to have about 6 people in the scene including myself and a boom op and there is going to be a lot of movement between the actors and i'm trying tio minimize having to keep moving lights from every single anle at a time.

how would you do something like this?

 

[Postmaster]

Rig up a view china baloons with 120 W flou bulbs.

Frank

 

[FilmBoy77]

what is the best way to get them to hang from the ceiling if there is nothing for it to hang from?

 

[scorsesefan]

You might want to just bounce some light off of the ceiling and walls (if they're light or white). Chinaballs are good, too, but you have to conceal the wires or use a boom which is a problem for wide shots. Is it a day or night scene?

 

[Gohanto]

what is the best way to get them to hang from the ceiling if there is nothing for it to hang from?

There is some bar (don't remember the name) that's designed to stretch across between two walls and extend tightly onto each wall (like a car jack) so that you can hang lights from it. I don't have much experience with them, but I know a few people that have used them with Kino Flos attached. Maybe someone else can chime in on using them.

On your original question, I wouldn't recommend thinking of it as a "typical hotel room". Every story is different calling for different tone, colors, light quality, ect...

Once you really know what you want the scene to look like to fit the film, usually it becomes much more obvious how to light it. Trying to go for any "general" look almost always leads to a mess imo.

 

[FilmBoy77]

There is some bar (don't remember the name) that's designed to stretch across between two walls and extend tightly onto each wall (like a car jack) so that you can hang lights from it. I don't have much experience with them, but I know a few people that have used them with Kino Flos attached. Maybe someone else can chime in on using them.

that sounds like a good idea. i wonder what its called?

On your original question, I wouldn't recommend thinking of it as a "typical hotel room". Every story is different calling for different tone, colors, light quality, ect...

Once you really know what you want the scene to look like to fit the film, usually it becomes much more obvious how to light it. Trying to go for any "general" look almost always leads to a mess imo.

i understand that. to clarify, by "whats the best way to light a typical hotel room" i meant moreso where to actually place the lights without having them in the way being as we will be pressed for space and there will be a lot of movement. "typical" as in the room size.

 

[Davdo]

There is some bar (don't remember the name) that's designed to stretch across between two walls and extend tightly onto each wall (like a car jack) so that you can hang lights from it.

Autopole or Polekat (depending on the manufacturer). It's a good piece of equipment, but be careful how much weight you put on it. You'll probably get away with a 4bank or 2bank, but I don't know if I'd rig a Diva or similar light (anything with a built in ballast).

As for lighting the room, we can't tell you how to light you're room without knowing what you're going for. A basic way could be as follows: Start with just carrying the practicals (using off-screen fixtures to cast stronger light motivated by the on-screen fixtures). Then depending on what you're going for, raise the base level of the room with some ceiling bounce.

If you're question is purely about rigging, it depends how you intend to light it. If you're going to be moving around and want to be able to change setups/directions without moving lights around, there's only one place to light from - overhead. If you just want to get exposure, bouncing fixtures off of the ceiling would work well. If you want careful, intricate lighting, find places to clamp things. If there are overhead fixtures, you can purchase special non-conducting adapters that screw into light bulb sockets and have baby pins on the end so you can mount movie lights. Gaffer grips are useful, as are baby plates which you can gaffer tape up (though the weight limit is low for this method). Autopoles are great depending on the space and, like I said, the weight of your fixtures. If you're using china balls, tape 'em up.

Good luck.

~~Dave

 

[ChrisHurn]

That Auto pole thing looks really useful for chinaballs etc. Thanks for that!

 

[utako.o]

There is some bar (don't remember the name) that's designed to stretch across between two walls and extend tightly onto each wall (like a car jack) so that you can hang lights from it. I don't have much experience with them, but I know a few people that have used them with Kino Flos attached. Maybe someone else can chime in on using them.

if you need to hang something light weight between two very close walls, i use xtensible poles meant for gyproc. yellow adjustable things you can find in a construction store.

however, if you need to really cross a 15ft room, manfrotto came out 3 years ago with the CrossPole ( manufactured and forged with pure unobtanium )

http://www.manfrotto.com/Jahia/news/site/manfrotto/pid/8834

yet most drool worthy and wet dream of any grip..

i think it's $1400 per pole. the pricing is very confusing since there are many peices you need to make one working pole.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJPYxX-rR4g