NewB Orange vs. Blue Light Questions

[stanw]

I am brand new to production and want to shoot some simple interviews indoors using Kino 4-banks and Divas.

1.) Is deciding between orange and blue lights simply a style preference? I understand that sunlight is blue, so since this is being indoors, does that mean I should use orange lights?

Sorry for my ignorance.

 

[Huy Vu]

It's much better to discuss light in term of color temperature than the colors. "Orange" light is low color temperature, in a professional tungsten bulb it's usually 3200 Kelvin. "Blue" light is high color temperature, and a common temperature is 5600 K. Many household lighting fixtures will not be exactly these temperatures (some are 2800 K and some can be 8000 K for example) but still appear orange or blue so that has to be taken into account.

In any case, which color temperature the bulb is doesn't really matter unless you're mixing multiple sources. Set up the light, then manually white balance through the camera and all the light sources will appear as pure white. Beyond that, it's all about preferences. White balance to a higher temperature and the lower temperature bulb will start to become more warm and vice versa.

 

[stanw]

1.So are you suggesting that if you are using all orange or all blue bulbs, it will not really matter what color the bulb being used is because the end result can look the same either way?

2.What do you mean by "the light sources will appear as pure white?"


3.How do you white balance to a higher or lwer temperature? Is this done by using either white or blue cards?

Thanks!

 

[gco]

1.So are you suggesting that if you are using all orange or all blue bulbs, it will not really matter what color the bulb being used is because the end result can look the same either way?
2.What do you mean by "the light sources will appear as pure white?"
3.How do you white balance to a higher or lwer temperature? Is this done by using either white or blue cards?
Thanks!

1) If the color temperature of each of your light sources is consistent, i.e. 3200K(tungsten) or 5400K(HMI or Fluorescent), AND you white balance your camera to those sources, yes.

2) What you see in your viewfinder and what your camera records will look normal.

3) Standard white balancing procedure for whatever your light sources are. If you are not yet familiar with white balancing, look through your owners manual. Alternately you can spend some time using the search function on this site with good effect.