lighting in a car - help

C

c.g._eads

Veteran
I would like to get some light on my actors in a car, to balance out that huge backlight of that thing called "the sun". I have two questions. What kind of cheap small powerful lights should I get? And how do I power these lights?

Thanks.

Chris
 
LEDs are used a lot for this but a battery powered fluorescent worklight or some similar type thing would work too. Many times they'll place something on the dash facing the driver and sometimes even have someone on the floor on the passenger side, holding the instrument toward the driver.
 
John_Hudson said:
I have used one of those AC converters (They plug into the cig lighter / ac adapter and convert the power for regular use)
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I've got one, too. They're great. I can run 150 watts through the lighter adapter (400 if I'm wired directly to the battery) so I usually use daylight balanced fluorescents.
 
Use nd or limo window tint to the back and side windows that are in the shot.
This will help lower the difference in exposure from outside the car to the interior.
John Hudson's suggestion is a sound one for powering lights. You can also use a battery operated 200 watt Joker, or even use the 400 watt if you use a 1000 watt inverter. I wouldn't count on a 750 watt inverter for a Joker over 200 watts. I know the numbers work, but not my choice for shooting over a long period of time. I have mounted 200 and 400 watt jokers to the hood of the car before... Specialized rigging , but works great..
 
filmat11 said:
Use nd or limo window tint to the back and side windows that are in the shot.
This will help lower the difference in exposure from outside the car to the interior.
John Hudson's suggestion is a sound one for powering lights. You can also use a battery operated 200 watt Joker, or even use the 400 watt if you use a 1000 watt inverter. I wouldn't count on a 750 watt inverter for a Joker over 200 watts. I know the numbers work, but not my choice for shooting over a long period of time. I have mounted 200 and 400 watt jokers to the hood of the car before... Specialized rigging , but works great..
Click to expand...

All good points! Especially about the size of the inverter. Don't forget the startup pulse with these HID units which is huge.
 
Using limo tint is the best thing to use first before using too many lights. The easy way to get it on is to use windex and spray the whole window and slide it on. The water tension will keep it on. Just make sure to cut it as close to the window shape as possible. You don't have to peel the clear stuff off since you will be taking the tint off again anyways. You can double it up also if its not strong enough. After that a small daylight balanced flouro for under kitchen cabinets will be enough light.
 
You can buy rolls of the window tint that is just vinyl cling, meaning it sticks with static. I'm using it for a feature I'm shooting right now in a taxi. Try to plan the driving so you work with the sun, not against it.
 
I know you're not fond of my answers to your questions, especially from the audio board. But just this last weekend I did my first car shoot. I had a pro-gaffer do my car-rig. He did it with *2* full Kino-car kits (a Kino taped to the front of ever single person, 4 in total) and you know what? A Kino isn't bright enough to compete with the sun! Damn, I wish I had learned this earlier. I was on a pro set last week and watched them do a car scene and they had an HMI blasting the person from like 2 feet away, it was either a 575w or 1200w.

The low-wattage solutions only work at night.
 
haha, shawneous. I may not always be fond, but I respect and appreciate the time you take to answer them. So for what I'm reading, maybe putting the diffusing gel on the outside of the windows IN ADDITION to putting the kinos on the actors. Maybe that will be enough for day shooting?

Shawneous, what time were you shooting this? In the middle of the day? Or towards the beginning/end?

And for the experts, what if I want to shoot some scenes with the windows open? Is my only option shooting early or late in the day? Or just finding a way to blast some major wattage on my actors?
 
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