Portable lighting kit

L

Lor

Well-known member
Please forgive me if this topic has been posted dozens of times. At the moment, I don't have the money nor plan to buy any type of light kit yet. However, I like to learn more about it. What is the best portable light kit(s) for a full feature indi film?

Here are a couple that found on eBay.

Arri Softbank I Light Kit 571984 Video, DV, Film
Arri 150/300/650 Fresnel Light Kit Model # 571983
Arri Softbank IV Light Kit 571991

Kino Flo Diva Light 400 2 Light Kit Stands KIT-D42-120
Kino Flo FotoFlo 400 Light Kit

Any suggestion why one kit is better or prefferred over the other or maybe a combination of kits. I'm just trying to learn so your opinion is appreciated.
 
I'd like to know as well :)

Lowell has nice lighting kits too, pretty good prices but I wonder if they're recommended?
 
I'm looking at getting this Arri 3-fixture kit which has one each of the 150, 300, and 650 fresnels, to allow for a basic variety of setups, along with a Coollights or Kino 4 or 6 bank. I would then gel the fresnels to daylight and use the florescent unit as a soft diffuse key light (rather than getting softboxes right away). That should be a fairly well-rounded and portable kit for around $2600, which would be expanded over time as budget allows.
 
So, will someone comment on those kits that I posted above? Are they any good for portability?
 
Lor said:
So, will someone comment on those kits that I posted above? Are they any good for portability?
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What's "portable"?

Each of those kits is over 70 pounds. If you intend to put them in the car, yes, they are quite portable. If you plan on flying, they are a bit heavy.

Your original question about doing a full feature indie movie with a portable light kit is ummm, well let's say its way off the mark.

A lighting package for an idie feature (depending on setups) would come in a large truck. And I don't mean a pickup truck I mean a moving truck like you'd see someone use to move an apartment or a flat.

The lighting kits you highlighted would have trouble lighting a decent sized room, much less any kind of staged area.

I am about to shoot an interview scene for a corporate video tonight, and am preparing my lights.

1 750w broad for background
1 2Kw Fresnel for Key
1 1Kw fill
1 1Kw hair
3-4 sheets of white foamcore for bounce and fill
2-3 sheets of black foamcore for flags
3 Lighting stands
1 Junior stand
1 backdrop set used for diffusion silk on 2Kw light

Gels for all lights, diffusion for hairlight, gel holders, etc.

This is to light ONE person in a decent sized room with 6 windows.
 
Thanks, PerroneFord. I'm afraid you're answer is going to be a moving truck full of lighting equipments.:( I guess I need more examples of what everyone is using so I can get a sense of what I need.

However, lighting equipments that fit a moving truck is impossible even if can afford them. The location of the shoot is remote and no electricity. If I'm lucky I will have a power generator. But again, this is just learning process. Who knows, I might even end up in not shooting at all.
 
Lor said:
Thanks, PerroneFord. I'm afraid you're answer is going to be a moving truck full of lighting equipments.:( I guess I need more examples of what everyone is using so I can get a sense of what I need.

However, lighting equipments that fit a moving truck is impossible even if can afford them. The location of the shoot is remote and no electricity. If I'm lucky I will have a power generator. But again, this is just learning process. Who knows, I might even end up in not shooting at all.
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Look in my photo gallery here on DVXUser.
 
Good one Perrone. Unless you have actually lit narrative scenes, people have NO idea about how much grip and lighting is needed. I have about $150k in my grip and lighting package it would still not be enough even for an indie feature to do it right.

I would still have to buy more grip gear and would definitely need some HMIs and bigger instruments.

Lor, you really need to go and crew on some small features to get a clue about this. In this business, there is no substitute for having actually done it with your own eyes and hands.

Dan
 
puredrifting said:
Lor, you really need to go and crew on some small features to get a clue about this. In this business, there is no substitute for having actually done it with your own eyes and hands.
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A few copies of ASC magazine can be mightly helpful though! Until I got a GOOD look behind the scenes at what a set looked like (even a 1 room kitchen or dining room scene) I had NO IDEA what was going on. It's a madhouse in there.

The past episode of ASC with Reservation Road on the cover is a GREAT example. With some great photos of how Deakins lit the small kitchen with BIG HMIs pouring in to create daylight and still nearly 2k of Fresnel inside for beauty, just to get it to look "unlit" people have no idea.

I know I am not going to have enough light tonight. So I am going to try to raise the levels behind the talent, use the natural light through the windows, and use BIG sources to try and make it look unlit. Best I can do, and it's going to take 3-5 instruments plus diffusions and bounce to do it.
 
If you are shooting outdoors and in the daytime, then you may need some serious light output such as HMI's. Probably your best bet is to rent lights for the larger scenes and get to know the gear before buying. Making a feature is not cheap.

On the other hand, with the right planning and ingenuity, it can be done... Primer won some major festival awards, got a distribution deal, and was shot on a $7,000 budget. He used mostly florescents.
 
Dan, I totally agreed and yes, I intend to do that; however, this is my first attempt trying to get an idea on how much work/money/learning I need to do before actually spending a penny on something. I purchased the digital cinema learning set about lighting and I must say, it took a lot of lights and people to set it right; but in this case, I was wondering about portable. If I want to do it right, I would need a couple truck load of light equipments but I'm not talking about lighting a whole football field. I'm just talking about a one or two person sitting in the living room or kitchen type of lighting equipment. It needs to be portable and don't consume too much power because the only power available may be coming from a power generator only type of supply.
 
Lor,

While I am not a big proponent of the "3-point lighting" scheme, look at what you are asking.

Let's take your living room scenario:


At minimum, you're going to need something to act as a key. You're going to need something to act as a fill, and you're going to need enough ambient to shoot with. Let's start with ambient. Maybe you're blessed with the sun in the room. If the sun is bright enough, you have ambient. Maybe you can use it as a key. But unless those two people are the same distance from the window, you'll need to supplement that light some. Trying to "simulate" the sun is expensive.

For a key, we may want a nice, soft source. Fluorescent works great for that, but have a hard time if they are working against the sun.

And we'll need fill. So maybe some foamcore or reflector board.

So as long as NO ONE IS MOVING, we can do this on the cheap, if we have sun. Take away the sun, and you have to make your own. That's expensive. If people start moving, then you have to light the entire area they are moving around in. That also get's expensive.

So the key to doing this on the cheap, is to keep the actors in non-dynamic situations, put them in sunlight filled spaces, and use a lot of reflectors. If any of that changes, you're going to be spending money.
 
PerroneFord, many thanks for the quick an easy example. I see your point. That explains why a lot of the indi films I've seen are too dark or too noisy because they try to raise the gain. So to do it on the cheap side, having a bright sun present is requirement.

Thanks, I learned something today.
 
You should have been on my shoot tonight, you would have learned a LOT. Mostly what NOT to do.

Do NOT forget your mic stand at home
Do NOT let your expensive fluorescent softbox topple to the ground
Do NOT plan a shoot in a historical building without looking at the power first
Do NOT shoot sync sound only when the talent is going to want playback
Do NOT forget you're protecting for 4:3 until 20 minutes into the shoot


*sigh*

So much to learn and re-learn yet...
 
Ouch! I have had a few of those days. No fun. You are big stud for admitting your screwups.

Better luck on the next shoot.

D
 
puredrifting said:
Lor, you really need to go and crew on some small features to get a clue about this. In this business, there is no substitute for having actually done it with your own eyes and hands.

Dan
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how does one go about finding/joining those (preferably the ones where the crew knows what they are doing)?
 
Hi Alexandroff:

Who do you know in the film/television business? If you don't know anyone, that is your first problem.

In general, you would seek out situations where producers, ADs, grips, gaffers might hang out (film festivals, user groups, film schools, etc.) and might be posting or looking for crews. Problem is, even at the lowly PA level, nobody in this town hires anyone that does not come through a recommendation. If nobody knows you, it's pretty tough to break in, even at a PA level. I am on the Yahoo, LA Producers group. There are requests for office and set PAs all of the time on this list. But unless someone knows you or someone who they know recommends you, that you are intelligent, driven, a hard worker and cool, it will be tough to get gigs, even PAing. Get to know some other PAs, they can get you in, that's how I got my first PA gigs back in the early 90s. I was in film school and some of the friends who were in some of my classes got gigs working on a couple of TV shows. They got me on as a PA, I worked up to coordinator, etc.

This business is just all about who you know. There are DVX Users who could hire you to PA. There lots of indie film boards you can hang out on and get out there and work on some sets and meet some people.

I don't know what to tell you, you just get off of your ass and do it, meet people and start working. You must be smart, driven, fast, proactive, resourceful, knowledgable and people will want to work with you. A PMA is the first requirement for PAs. Stay out of people's way, observe, learn, be proactive, respect the hierarchy, don't bug the actors, producer, director or any of the keys or department heads, be available to get stuff done and do it well and people will dig you. Stand around, wait to be put to work, whine, goof off or be lazy and not work your ass off and you will not even work as a PA. It's a pretty simple formula.

Dan
 
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