please help, reflectors and soft boxes

D

dimanasa

New member
I am shooting an independent film, it is a low budget project and I am interested in building my own soft boxes and reflectors, does anybody know how to make either of these professionally but on the other hand inexpensive. The project is going to be shot in black and white, so I need to make sure my whites are not too much over saturated.
I know the basis of building a cheap reflector and soft boxes, but I would like to know other people's input.

Any help is appreciated
Thank you very much
 
If you're really strapped for cash, you should just use paper china balls. soft boxes can be pretty difficult to make because you need to select a material that won't burn easily.

As far as reflectors go, just use white foamcore boards or foamcore covered in tin foil. I've used both when I was I needed a quick solution and they work just fine. Just be careful in the wind. They turn into sails and will wobble, giving you a really nasty lighting problem.
 
if you goto www.bluesky-web.com and goto the instruction section there are some great articles on lighting.

the site is walter graff's and one of the link's is to an article he had in dv magazine.

in the article he gives an inventory of whats in his light kit and when i was first starting out i found the article super helpful because it shows how much a pro does with what is a fairly modest amount of equipment.

you have to setup an account at dv.com to read the articles but its free.

also walter offers a great lighting dvd.

matthew
 
Amvona (selling on ebay) sells some pretty cheap softboxes that have gotten pretty good reviews (for the money). I did a quick search, and came up with this box that looks like it has just the one screen, but they have them with gold, silver, white and black, in various sizes. Shipping is high, though, so factor that into your bidding. (I have no affiliation with amvona or dynaphos, other than purchasing their stuff, btw).

http://cgi.ebay.com/PHOTO-LIGHT-SIL...609337144QQcategoryZ79008QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I'm sure you can find what you're looking for by hunting more thoroughly.

They also sell reflector discs that I have purchased (two) and I am quite happy with them.
 
be careful with amvona.

i have bought a bunch of stuff from them...

their C stands are wonderful, their lower priced stands are absolute garbage.

i've got a six stand box in the garage i'd give away happily.

i have one of their reflectors and its is o.k. but i went and got a real photoflex reflector and the difference is night and day quality wise.

the photoflex reflector is always round and flat. the amvona reflector is quite often pringle shaped and that was starting day one.

i have one of their 5x7 blue/green oval reflector type things and its great.

so with them it is hit or miss, in my experience with 6 or 7 separate purchases.

matthew
 
I also got the 5 way 5' x 7' reflector from Amvona via Ebay. I am very happy with it. Since that is the only thing I purchased from them, I can't say about anything else. I can tell you that my transaction went very smoothly. They packed the reflector very well and shipped it in a timely manner. Sounds like the C stands might be the next thing I would buy from them - should the need arise.

Grasshopper
 
Check this out.

http://www.victormilt.com/id54.html

This is the parts list for the "Nanolight" from the VASST light it right CD. Unfortunately there are no photos. The idea is basically you build a softbox using some foamcore and 6 spiral flo lights. It seems very ghetto but it works surprisingly well. Also, the china ball suggestion is great. I got my lights from this source

http://www.naturallighting.com/order/store.php?crn=565

They have all sorts of 91+ CRI flo lights. Most of the spirals are 5500k. The 26 watt spirals are about equal to a 150 watt incandescent and are practically heat free, so you can put them in a china ball without worrying about burning the place down.
 
matthewd5 said:
be careful with amvona.

i have bought a bunch of stuff from them...

their C stands are wonderful, their lower priced stands are absolute garbage.

i've got a six stand box in the garage i'd give away happily.

i have one of their reflectors and its is o.k. but i went and got a real photoflex reflector and the difference is night and day quality wise.

the photoflex reflector is always round and flat. the amvona reflector is quite often pringle shaped and that was starting day one.

i have one of their 5x7 blue/green oval reflector type things and its great.

so with them it is hit or miss, in my experience with 6 or 7 separate purchases.

matthew
Click to expand...

I've heard the same about their lower priced stands. I'd only buy stuff for which you can find independent evaluation--like here.

I did not have the pringle problem, although the silver is beginning to fleck off one of my discs. Still, for the indie on a (no) budget, it aint bad.

I got the 10'x6' green screen, and it seems to be pretty good. I have not tried it on camera, though.
 
Well I know it's a bit controversial to recommend amvona.com. I guess people are having varied experiences with them. But so far they've been solid for me. I got a great deal on a softbox from thrm off e-bay. It's truly an astoundingly mind-bogglingly great light for the price. And it makes me very happy, as you can see:

502989999_l.jpg
 
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