Suggestions on lighting the ext. of a house at night ... ?

twocik23

twocik23

Veteran
Suggestions or tricks on lighting the ext. of a house at night ... ? It's a pretty large area and understand I need atleast a 5k light + the current gear to get what I want, but I don't own a 5k light nor a company near by I can rent one from.





EQ list

7D
35mm F1.4 L
2x Arri 1k lights + 13' stands
1x DV Creator 44 four light kit
- 250w pro light
- 500w softbox
- 500w Omni light
- 750w tota light
 
I'd suggest renting a balloon light, if you can find it in the budget. They're really useful for night exteriors.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bgrax/3109688875/

If I remember properly, that 750w tota has a lot of kick but it gets very hot. If you place it well you might be able to get a nice covering light for the area depending on how big it is. The problem is it'll be a hard light unless you diffuse it, and if you diffuse it then you'll be losing a lot of the light's reach.
 
Very good idea, I'll have to look into that. I think I have a guy in town that rents these things out, but not sure as far as price, watts, kelvin, etc.. Thanks for the heads up !
 
A couple of 750-1000watt soft boxes should light up a house easily, especially if shooting on a low light camera/lens.
 
A couple of 750-1000watt soft boxes should light up a house easily
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well, that all depends on how much of the house your're trying to light and how far back the lights are from the house. softboxes fall off pretty quickly
 
Have you ever, ever watched a BTS on a DVD and seen a softbox used on an exterior? Heck, have you ever seen a softbox on an interior shot other than - (possibly) a closeup (though I can't recall a single BTS clip with a softbox in it myself)?

They're awesome things for shooting tabletop product stills, they're OK for interviews. Other than that, very overrated and not much use in, say, a narrative scene where you need a room to look naturally lit.

I don't know why people continually post that they're shooting a cinema-style narrative scene and list their softboxes as contenders. Sure, take the diffusion off the front and you have a really big open faced light for bounce I suppose... but really, 90% of the time, you're wasting your time trying to make a softbox work. All they do is kill a half to a stop of light you're gonna need on the set and talent.
 
Michael Carter said:
Have you ever, ever watched a BTS on a DVD and seen a softbox used on an exterior?
Click to expand...

I've often been BTS and seen 20'x20' silks with a few HMI's behind them to light up a house exterior.
My experience is that they are used ALL the time.

Ok maybe that's not a soft box, but it's essentially the same.

_DSC0110.jpg
 
Jockomo said:
I've often been BTS and seen 20'x20' silks with a few HMI's behind them to light up a house exterior.
My experience is that they are used ALL the time. Ok maybe that's not a soft box, but it's essentially the same.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's exactly the same as a 20-foot softbox, which are available on eBay for $140. They don't have stand mounts or actually connect to lights of course, nor do they have black sides and spill control. And they're 20-feet high. Other than that, just the same.

Seriously, that's about the silliest reply I've read in weeks here, you should be sent to your room to think it over. My advice to most people is don't spend the money for a softbox if you're doing narrative stuff, or want natural looking light for entire rooms or groups of talent. Use frames, silks, bounce, etc. Use big soft sources, not small ones.

Anyway - keep us posted on your 20-foot softbox...
 
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