Newb: How to cable safely

N

nyvideo

Active member
I'm looking at using several lights for shooting a few short narrative films (no- to low-budget). After doing storyboards, I put set diagrams together to include as many as four or five lights on stands I became concerned about talent and crew tripping over cables, possibly knocking over the lights.

Any suggestions on where I could learn to cable safely and with flexibility to do proper lighting set-ups on locations (living rooms, bedrooms, a small restaurant, etc.)?
 
Film sets have cables on them, they also have lights. People should be able to navigate the majority of the set without tripping over cables or knocking things over...I feel like one of my number one pet peeves is people insisting that we tape cables down. 95% of the time it's a waste of tape and time. If there are cables going across a heavily used doorway try throwing a rug over them instead of taping them down. This way you don't use up your expendables and it can be very quickly moved if need be.

You can do a few things to keep things neat though. For starters, always run your cables at 90 degrees, so instead of going at a 45 degree angle across the room, go straight over to the wall, then your cable makes a 90 degree turn and heads towards the outlet. This will minimize the rats nest feel that most sets have when you're starting out. I usually don't bag things inside unless we're arming something out, or its just especially precarious, but if you're nervous about people tripping over stuff you can always bag it.
 
Yes.

There are other good tips. You can coil up excess cable either at the outlet or the stand. Always do so at the stand because sooner or later that stand is going to be moved. And make the coil so when you move the light it will pay out smoothly from the top of the coil not the bottom.

There are two big safety hazards I see on sets: 1) Not enough cable is used so at the light stand, instead of hanging straight to the floor it goes off at an angle before it reaches the floor. This is called clotheslining and you never want to do it. 2) The other thing I see a lot is the cable on the floor is not lying flat, rather it is in standing coils that are easy hooks for tripping or pulling a light over. If cable is soft, with a rubber-like sheath, when laying it you can pay it out from the side of the coil in your hand. But less expensive stingers, usually with vinyl-like jackets, are stiffer and give you those dangerous coils. Pay that cable out by rotating the whole coil of cable in your hands so the cable comes off the end, not the sides. It will lay flat.

Keep stingers flat, well organized, excess coiled up at the stand and route them out of the way of foot traffic as much as possible.

I think you should bag indoor stands, generally one bag per riser, to lessen the chance of a pullover or knockover.
 
I learnt a bit here myself! :cheesy:

One thing to remember is that film sets are dangerous, besides cables there's a whole lot more just waiting to happen with heavy equipment, hot lights, cranes hitting people (Hahaha), very busy people running around... anyway - point is that people working on sets usually know this and are usually able to avoid the worst incidents. If there are people that are new to film sets let them know that it is a dangerous place and they must keep an eye out all the time. By some miracle film sets operate even though coming so close to some major catastrophes. I always say that one of the most shouted words on set must be "Whoa!!" before something really bad is about to happen (I.E.: PA on the other side pulls wire and big hot light almost falls on the talent, guy shouts: "Whoa whoa whoa!!!", or JIP head comes down on talents head: "Whoa whoa whoa!!!" - true stories).
 
If the light on the stand is in high traffic area you need to sand bag it. If the light itself is heavy and the stand extends high - you need to sand bag it. Sand bags touching the floor are not doing its job. Do not shove the sand bag between the legs of the stand - trust me the weight of the sand bag will hold onto the stand.

As yourself if the light gets hot (most do so take it almost as a give), thus don't let heavy wires pull on the cord coming out of the light as the insulation heats up, gets soft and lessens longevity of the cable - thus stress revive ALL cables from the lights.

Never open the c0stand by flipping it around - you can hit something or someone in the process.

You do those few things and you are in a league of your own already.
 
It's not a bad idea to keep a commercial-type matte in your truck; those rubber-with-grippy-wolly-fabric-top sort of runners used in building entries, etc (and usually sold in the restaurant supply area of Sam's here in the US). On most setups, you'll have an area or pathway where clients/talent move to the set, from makeup, whatever; I try to think about having a bit "safer" space for anyone who's not on a photo or film set often, and put a mat down over cables. Besides being an extra precaution, a runner over cables seems to say "safer to walk here" - almost directs people to go where you'd prefer.
 
Just a quick thank you to all. There's so much to learn. (It's easy to assume that safety will just happen, but I know that is an improper assumption.)
 
Another approach/concept to consider is to have lights on wheeled stands...more likely to roll as opposed to tip.
 
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