Lighting kit options for more 'filmic' look

I had that feeling about the Tota. I'm realizing I can really only afford either the Omni or Pro-Light at the moment. Seems like a background light is more necessary than a rim or kicker, so I think I'll go for the Omni first.

I was planning to use my Litepanel as an eyelight, but could I use it as a rim and something else for an eyelight? I mean, my first interview is my dad for his latest book. He's got a couple of worklights and I've got a bright flashlight. Surely some combination of those could be used to get a rim and an eyelight, right?
 
Yeah, I started out just buying individual lights as I went along. Turns out, some of the Lowell Kits are pretty much what I put together for myself. I love the Pro lights. I can use them as kicker (back lights) or as a moody key light with a snoot on the front so I only light the actor's face with no spill on to the background... Very 1930's Film Noir look. And indeed, that's how I have approached lighting. I will find a scene with a look that I want to emulate, and then observe it very closely to determine how I could duplicate the look...where do the shadows fall? Are they hard edge or soft edge? What light would I use to get that look? a softbox? and open-face? a fresnel? into a reflector? through a scrim? As many have said here... That's more what lighting is all about.
 
Just reading through this thread....
I've been using Lowel Lights since my days shooting weddings and such. I've learned over the years that simply using a 3 (or 4 with a reflector out of foamcore board) light setup with a balanced set of bulbs for Key (750 or 1,000w), Fill (500w) and Back (250-300w) lights seems to work the best for my uses. After that, you can use gels (mounted with the proper gel frame of course) for adjusting for Daylight/Tungsten color temp., diffusion, etc., as well for accent colored lighting. It's a good idea to have some sort of barndoor system for each light you own...

Next, consider how you are going to support (mount) each light SAFELY. Lowel offers all manner of stands, clamps, clips and other grip devices that use 5/8" baby grip heads. You can hang lights from a door (or doorway), from a ceiling grid system, with a baby plate screwed to a piece of plywood, or clamped to the back of a chair, desk, table, etc. When hanging lights, remember to use a safety cable of some sort to prevent a fixture from falling. When using stands, it's always good practice to use a sand bag on a stand leg to prevent the stand from toppling over. Lowel lights in particular are very light weight... if you don't have a sandbag, they will easily fall over with the slightest jossle.

Enough bookwork... set up your lights and shoot some test footage of your spouse sitting in a chair, or your cat sleeping on your dining room table! LOL

Jon
 
frost,

Thanks for that. As it happens, I already did exactly what you suggest. My father just finished another book and I interviewed him for it for his website (which I now have to rework to accommodate). All I had was my Rifa 55 and 88 and the curtained light from the south glass doors, with Dad sitting on the couch flush against a wall, but I think it came out pretty well. I'd like it to be a little brighter, actually--for it to "pop" a little more--and for my dad to be less stiff, but overall I'm pleased.

Two questions based on that, and not:

1) The couch against the wall is the best looking place in the house, and that room is the only realistic one for setting up lights. What's the best way to light somebody against a wall?

2) Where are some good places to buy lighting equipment used? I don't mean B&H and eBay; I've tried them. I'm talking Craigslist-type sources. I need some basic C-stands, gel frames, etc., and it just seems like there ought to be some better options, especially locally, for that, but I'm not sure where to look. (I'm in Dallas.)

Thanks to all.
 
When your subject is up against a wall, it's always difficult since the shadows will be right there on the wall. That's why we usually want the subject away from the wall to allow the shadow to fall before it reaches the background. So now, if you have no choice, you might have two ways to go: 1. a very soft key light off to the side so that the shadow is indistinct and soft... or 2. go for the dramatic harder key light with its sharper shadows which will give more of a 1940's film noir look since they used mostly stage lighting techniques back then. You'll get a lot more "pop" with a harder key light, but the trade-off will be the harder shadows. Sometimes you can use a bit of both, hard key with a soft fill, to get some interesting looks. In any case, with the wall right behind the subject, you'll always be dealing with the shadows on it.
Where to get used lighting equipment? What you discovered is the typical. You generally don't find much in the way of used lighting equipment for one big reason... It doesn't obsolete like other equipment. A 30 year old light is still useful today as it was 30 years ago. It may not be as efficient as the newer lights, but it still works. That certainly goes for C-stands and the like. You just don't find them for sale. The only time I've ever been able to buy used stuff is when it's broken, or someone is going out of business. Unless you get lucky there, you might realistically have to buy new.
 
So here's a question: I was going to post a couple of still frames from the interview with my dad to get some comments, but when I generate a still frame in FCP6 with the Quicktime converter, the resulting PNG looks nothing like what I have in FCP6. It's like someone turned the lights off. The pixel aspect ratio is off as well (I shot in 720/30p).

I've never dealt with video in Photoshop before. What do I need to do in FCP or PS to bring the proper color space into Photoshop?
 
FrankC said:
Yeah, I started out just buying individual lights as I went along. Turns out, some of the Lowell Kits are pretty much what I put together for myself. I love the Pro lights. I can use them as kicker (back lights) or as a moody key light with a snoot on the front so I only light the actor's face with no spill on to the background... Very 1930's Film Noir look. And indeed, that's how I have approached lighting. I will find a scene with a look that I want to emulate, and then observe it very closely to determine how I could duplicate the look...where do the shadows fall? Are they hard edge or soft edge? What light would I use to get that look? a softbox? and open-face? a fresnel? into a reflector? through a scrim? As many have said here... That's more what lighting is all about.
Click to expand...

Frank:

Would love to see some stills of your neo Noir looking shots to see your lighting.

Dan
 
If you have Lowel lights, why not go with their stands as well. I recommend getting the KS stand since it will rise to 9' and you can find them for right around $100 ea.
Don't forget to include a gel frame for each light... and a safety cable...

As for sources, I just bought 2 DP lights from Matt in NYC... and some Tota lights from another guy in Illinois.... Check out the obvious sources ... Craigs list, E-bay, DVXUser.com, 2-pop.com, and by googling the part number from Lowel's site.

Have a nice day.

Jon
 
I think you should save your money, honestly, and get some Arri fresnels. Those lights are the industry workhorses and are much more controllable. I have both Lowel lights (Dp, Tota, and Rifa88) and Arri lights, and once you go Fresnel, you usually don't go back to open faces unless you have to. I use my lowel open faced lights to shoot through 216 or silks, to raise ambient exposure, to shoot in Chimeras, ect.

But nothing beats the beam sharpness and shadow quality of a Fresnel. And Arri's new True Blue line have incoorporated major improvements.
 
Hey guys,

I just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. I am making the transition from still frame photography to digital video lighting and you comments have been helpful in clearing up some questions.
 
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