Power problem

Pettersen

Pettersen

Well-known member
I'm planning on shooting a short a bit away from civilisation. My question is, how can I lit my forest-scenes without any power but what I can get from batteries and not using half a mile of extension cord?
 
Can you get a car close to where you're going to be shooting? If so, you can use your headlights (you might have to bounce them off a piece of foamcore).
 
batteries will not give you what you want. Headlights will work in a pinch. If you want to light a forest scene, you will want AC or a Generaor. Uhaul or Home Depot Rents them for ~$60/day. Very loud though. You might want to dig a burm to hide it behind. It's never easy...

-j
 
You have 4 options that I can think of:

1) sell your soul to the devil

2) scrap that scene and write something you can afford to shoot

3) postpone the scene for several years while you sell your blood every few days and save up enough money to rent the right equipment

4) become Rosanne Barr's lover
 
I recently read somewhere about a DIY power supply you can make using cheap parts from home depot and a car battery. It was specifically meant for like forest and outdoors shoots when you can't get near another source of power. I'll try to look for that article and post the info back here hopefully within the next 24 hours.
 
Here is a link to my production journal from a DVX feature I shot last year. In it I describe using different power options for out doors, including one scene with three of those honda "whipser" generators. It worked OK, but there were problems. Check it out, there are also lighting diagrams for the outdoor night stuff.

http://emrl.com/j/greydog/

-j
 
Yeah, those lightning charts were really helpful.

After some consideration, I think I'll just scrap that scene due to trouble with getting power. However, this thread has been very helpful to me, now I know what to do if I'll ever have to shoot away form civilisation. Thanks, guys! :)
 
J. Very nice website with the journal. You're doing a service to all independent filmmakers. Thanks for putting that up. I'm bookmarking it now. Also to answer the question of Petterson, a generator is your best bet. Headlights are a bit uncontrolled. Even if you do bounce them. You can't always get a car in a tight spot. I would also say to head to home depot.
 
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