Planning a movie shoot (early stage) and some of the shooting will be outside where there's no power. Have been researching generators but curious what others have used. The daytime shoots will be easy but the outdoor night shoots will be harder. Looking for any suggestions on outdoor night shoots with no power.
lighting suggestions
- Thread starter robbailey
- Start date
Michael Carter
Veteran
There are dozens of posts on Roger Deakin' forum regarding this - his replies often deal with rows of 12k HMIs and generator trucks, but there are many responses where people present some cool solutions.
He and others recommend shooting close to a free way to get some height - 2-story building, platform, etc, and getting some bounce and an HMI up there if simulated moonlight is driving the look. Unless you need really wide vistas, when you get to the outskirts of most cities there are homes on wooded land, parks, stuff like that, where power is available.
Plenty of info here and on RedUser regarding generators and night shooting - plan on some HMI rentals and a generator that can drive them - if you rent some 4Ks, a small genny ain't gonna cut it!
He and others recommend shooting close to a free way to get some height - 2-story building, platform, etc, and getting some bounce and an HMI up there if simulated moonlight is driving the look. Unless you need really wide vistas, when you get to the outskirts of most cities there are homes on wooded land, parks, stuff like that, where power is available.
Plenty of info here and on RedUser regarding generators and night shooting - plan on some HMI rentals and a generator that can drive them - if you rent some 4Ks, a small genny ain't gonna cut it!
David W. Jones
Veteran
You know better than we do the type of scene you are shooting, the tools which may be available for this shoot, as well as the given budget you have at your disposal to make it happen.
Until we have that info, we can only blindly suggest.
One might suggest a small generator or battery powered LED Lights. Another might suggest renting a 45K towable generator and a pair of 12K HMIs, or the standard just hire a light & grip truck.
I don't know if it is a help or not, but until we have more info, my advice would be to "write within your means".
Example: Don't write night scenes and then pick a remote location without power if you lack the manpower/tools/budget to make the scene happen.
Some would see it as a negative, but I like to look at it as an exercise in limitation. By limiting your script to a known range of scenes/locations/production design elements within your control, you greatly increase the chances of your project succeeding, since you have discarded any production negatives before you even start shooting.
Don't know if I have had not enough, or too much coffee this morning, so I'll just stop now.