Thoughts on using work lights for lighting?

C

Cieloent

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This would be used outside connected to my car with a power inverter. I have soft boxes, but the pain of setting them up and size is truly something I do not like dealing with.

So any thoughts or opinions on how or if this would even work?

Thanks
 
Softboxes are too much trouble to set up... Hmmm ok. Using worklights will look exactly like a quick and crappy solution. Because if you don't have the time to deal with a softbox, you sure aren't going to take time to deal with diffusion, flags, or any of the other things required to shape light from something hideous to something artistic.
 
PerroneFord said:
Softboxes are too much trouble to set up... Hmmm ok. Using worklights will look exactly like a quick and crappy solution. Because if you don't have the time to deal with a softbox, you sure aren't going to take time to deal with diffusion, flags, or any of the other things required to shape light from something hideous to something artistic.
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? Seems like someone took a piss in your cereal this morning. For the record there are many people who actually shoot at night with only available lighting and have amazing footage to prove that, so your whole point and really not helpful post at all is highly uncalled for.

Second, yes dealing with big ass soft boxes is a pain when someone can come up with an easier solution.

Now I'm not saying work lights are the best lighting, but the point is to have something. I actually did a shoot using only flashlights before and it looked amazing, so once again I have no idea what you are talking about.

Seems like this forum is going to **** lately :undecided
 
Work lights are a great low cost solution, but they're obviously going to be trickier to work with. I'd bounce them off something and use the indirect light.
 
Worklights have been used for sometime for low budget productions. They are far from perfect. But using the methods prescribed by Perrone will at least help. Is there a single light version? Certainly would be easier from the outset to have two separate units than two combined.

Grab yourself some Cinefoil.
 
They can be used, and they're cheap. Pick one up and test it, if the diffusion is right it may work. The biggest problem is the terrible color temperatures you tend to get, which makes mixing sources a pain. But the response you didn't like really is right; if you don't cut it right it won't work, that simple.
 
Perrone is exactly right. Worklights are not designed for the task of making cinematic images look good, they're designed to cheaply illuminate a large space. You can make worklights work, but it's far more effort than if you just used proper movie lights in the first place.
 
The good news

$13 for a single one

Bounce them off a white wall or bit of foamcore and you can get great light

The bad news

Dont look pro
Very Yellow
Deadly hot fire hazard
Bulbs blow all the time
No dimming
Direct light it pretty unpleasant

Now I have some Arri 800s which I dont actually rate that much either..
Hot
Unplesant unless diffused
Very Yellow

Remember tungsten lighting is bright - now if you are shooting with an Adapter you need bright
Canons are sensitive to light

LED and Flouros are the way forward apart from daylight fill which needs real power
LED and Flouros are diffuse and less of a fire hazard

Check out some flourecent worklights - test them for flicker and greenness - you may be lucky

S
 
Not sure what you are trying to light, you didn't say.
I don't think a power inverter would last long powering bright lights.
(Unless you got a good/expensive one, which sort of defeats the reason you are planning to use work lights ..price)

If you are looking for a cheap solution for FILL, or to get you to the point that you won't have grain, I would go with the work lights that have their own stands that fold up, that way you don't have to buy a stand, and then modify the lights by changing the bulbs to work on 12-24 volts (get bulbs or change the whole mounts inside).

Then you can run them on batteries.

Then for quality of light, get a photoflex (or other manufacture) light panel to bounce into, or shoot through. You can also make your own, but the photoflex one comes with it's own bag and breaks down to the size of a large tripod bag (about 8 inches by 50 inches tube bag)

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Cieloent said:
? Seems like someone took a piss in your cereal this morning. For the record there are many people who actually shoot at night with only available lighting and have amazing footage to prove that, so your whole point and really not helpful post at all is highly uncalled for.
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Don't get mad at me because I gave you a real answer and you didn't like it. I know people use work lights. Hell I have some. And I have used them. But unlike you, I didn't use them because I was too lazy to do it right, I used them because it was all I could afford at the time.

Cieloent said:
Second, yes dealing with big ass soft boxes is a pain when someone can come up with an easier solution.
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There are lots of easier solutions. Doesn't make them better. But when you're goal is not the product, but a reduction in effort, then solutions like this seem great.

Cieloent said:
Now I'm not saying work lights are the best lighting, but the point is to have something. I actually did a shoot using only flashlights before and it looked amazing, so once again I have no idea what you are talking about.
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You have no idea what I am talking about because you have no idea how to light. But that's fine. People who are interested in learning generally aren't lazy.


Cieloent said:
Seems like this forum is going to shi* lately :undecided
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I agree. You should leave.
 
Cieloent said:
...there are many people who actually shoot at night with only available lighting and have amazing footage to prove that...
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There's a difference between available light and buying cheap lighting gear. In available light, you need to position your actors, use proper blocking, and have proper exposure on your camera. When using cheap lighting, you are controlling the light and when you have less control it usually looks worse.

This is the lighting equipment I currently own:


  • 2x Arri 650w Fresnels
  • 2x Arri 1k
  • Mole Richardson 2k
  • 2x Mole Richardson Mini Mole 200w
  • 3x Cool Lights 200w (700w equivalent) CFL 3200K & 5600K
  • 3x Britek 600w
  • Britek 200w
  • Britek 100w
  • Flags, Barn Doors, Scrims, Diffusers, Softboxes
If you asked me which light is the most important, I would say all of them. There are times I only need a 200w hair light. Then there are times I need to bounce my 2K off the ceiling to bring up the ambient light of a room. They are all necessary for good lighting...and I will continue to grow my kit as I gain more income.

So can you use a work light...sure. Will it work...probably. But video lighting is about control, temperature, mood, dimension, and so much more. This is something that is almost impossible to achieve with a work light.
 
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