Softbox and Flashlight?

ExposedFilm

ExposedFilm

Member
Hello everyone.

I'm currently planning an outdoor night scene in the city. It's a walk-n-talk dolly shot on a sidewalk, with the talents moving toward the camera. Since we don't have any permit or decent generators, I won't be able to bulld a good light setup. I was thinking of going guerilla-style and using portable lights. Here's what I had in mind:

Keying with a strong flashlight (geled) with a small softbox attached to it

and filling with reflectors bouncing the street lights.

This way the crew will be able to follow the talents and keep them lighted up for the duration of the shot. The softbox should diffuse enough to keep the lighting steady even if the grip is moving with it. At worst, I can try to tape the light to the jib and have it pulled alongside the dolly.

The color temp is really bugging me though. I'd rather go with worklights but I'm afraid they'd melt the softbox in a matter of seconds as they do with cheap gels. LEDs would be better, but then again, is it possible to gel them so it wont mess up the white balance?

Thanks everyone!
 
ExposedFilm said:
Hello everyone.

I'm currently planning an outdoor night scene in the city. It's a walk-n-talk dolly shot on a sidewalk, with the talents moving toward the camera. Since we don't have any permit or decent generators, I won't be able to bulld a good light setup. I was thinking of going guerilla-style and using portable lights. Here's what I had in mind:

Keying with a strong flashlight (geled) with a small softbox attached to it

and filling with reflectors bouncing the street lights.

This way the crew will be able to follow the talents and keep them lighted up for the duration of the shot. The softbox should diffuse enough to keep the lighting steady even if the grip is moving with it. At worst, I can try to tape the light to the jib and have it pulled alongside the dolly.

The color temp is really bugging me though. I'd rather go with worklights but I'm afraid they'd melt the softbox in a matter of seconds as they do with cheap gels. LEDs would be better, but then again, is it possible to gel them so it wont mess up the white balance?

Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...

Either you're a mind reader or you've been following some of my threads.
I've been toying with flashlights to Suplement my on camera lights for a year now.
Amazingly I finished a collapsible 18"X18" Softbox for my modified LED LENSER X21. It's not super bright, but it is very bright and the light is beautiful on heads at about 10' Max.
If you ask, I'll shoot some shots of and with it, busy as I am.
I actually want to market the kit some day... before Lowel steals this idea of mine too :(
BTW- what is your budget for the kit- Light plus box? Might be worth it to make you one.
 
Last edited:
I think its worth investigation but I do see a number of issues to overcome. Firstly is the power of the torch - it would have to be very high powered as I doubt very much it will be any form of colour accurate so you will need to place a CC gel on it - light will then be cutdown. You then place your softbox on it (diffusion) and depending on the density you will lose another stop or more of light. Not saying these cant be overcome, but they'd need due consideration.

Then the problem issue is angle of light. Having it square to the face is rarely going to be ideal or natural looking within the scene. So you may have to find a way to give it some height, like a boom. And then does the light just follow them along? Are they walking along a path / sidewalk with pools of light and is that where you want to hit them?

And then you have to make it fit the mood and style youre trying to create. You can do all these things, I just want to put out points for due consideration.

Good luck with it!
 
I've been using LED flashlights for on camera for a very long time. In a pinch I keep a coast torch in my camera bag and made a diffusion filter that fits over the output side. There are many very very powerful led lights on the market. The whole idea of a flashlight is that it is meant to focus all of it's energy into a beam. A beam easier to diffuse than trying to increase the output of a flood. As far as color temperature they vary but not as much as they used to. But that's why there is white balance.
Gary
 
Can't you get some shopkeeper to let you plug in a 100' extension cord that a grip can wrangle? Then you can use the fixture of your choice though I would choose a China ball on a boom. You might even put a big 12V lamp in it and use a car battery for power.

_mg_8658.jpg
 
I use LED flashlights too, but often for an impromptu kicker or hair light and not much for a key. It seems to me that they are always a lot bluer than anything else, fine if you want that look, and color balancing only works if there is no other illumination in the scene that will then be way off, no?

I use those ten-buck battery-operated 60 LED camp lanterns in cars all the time. Usually have to turn them down. Never tried one for a walk-and-talk though and they don't have much throw.
 
Thanks for the answers! Indeed, I need more height for the key.

I tried it sunday night and it worked OK with some CC although the softbox wasn't thick enough to properly diffuse the beam. In the end I had footage with weird lighting on my talents and reflections all over the place.

I had my lighting guys on their toes holding the flashlight and the box and trying to keep up with us. They really hated me on this one. The idea is good but I'll have to work it out more.

The lantern/china ball/boom pole is pure genius. Boom is more simple. It's why I love this place!

I ended up using reflectors and CC in Color. Footage isn't bad, but I'll more than likely shoot it again if I have the chance next week.
 
Here's another tip for China balls I learned on here years ago. Buy 100W or 120W equivalent CFLs and for higher output put up to four of them in a lantern by screwing a Y-socket adapter into the corded socket and then two more Y-adapters into those two sockets so you have four sockets available in all.

The power consumption and hence heat from the CFLs is low and I think it's safe. You can also buy one socket to four socket adapters on eBay and they work fine too.

I use 18" and 20" lanterns most of the time but sometimes 30". Control spill with a skirt of Duvy or black wrap in a pinch.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top