Who needs expensive lights!?!

Bluewave07

Bluewave07

Active member
Hey guys,

I just returned from the first filming session for a new feature I'm working on. It's been a huge challenge as everyone involved is either 17 or 18 years-old and our budget is obviously severely restricted.

I just wanted to share some tips that were given to me off of this website awhile ago that I decided to employ during the shoot.

First of all the entire movie takes place at night, and the majority of shots are outdoors as well. Also, we had absolutely zero budget for lighting.

SO, in order to light the scene we brought two cars on set and set them up about 40 feet apart. One car's headlights were aimed directly at the subject (who was stationary, which made it a lot easier) and the other's headlights were aimed straight forward and then reflected off several white cards onto the subject. Allow me to demonstrate using smilies...


:Drogar-Love(DBG): <----------- :dankk2:


:( :Drogar-Mark-04(DBG) -------------->I
I


Okay, the RED EYED smiley is the subjet. The THANKS! smiley is the first car whose headlights were directed straight onto the subject. The UNHAPPY smiley is the second car, whose headlights were reflected off of the I's, which represent the white cards.

Also, to soften the glow of the headlights we cut out square pieces of a frosted shower curtain and placed them over the lights. The more pieces, the softer the glow (but the less light obviously).

We also had ONE small light which we powered off of the car battery as well and covered with a shower curtain square to soften.

Anyway, it worked out very well and it cost abolutely nothing! Just wanted to share the idea because it saved us a bunch of money on lighting kits we didn't need...

I'll post some grabs soon!

- Matt
 
So did you put CTB or CTO on the headlights? :) I also look forward to the grabs, even if it means looking at Horse's creepy avatar for the umpteenth time.
 
1172009694.jpg
Code:

Kinda like that?

Correct me with MS Paint or something if I'm wrong in the setup.

Use this code [?IMG]http://www.isarapix.com/pix42/1172009694.jpg[/IMG]
(remove "?" first)

to put it in your original post.
 
JasonFox said:
I also look forward to the grabs, even if it means looking at Horse's creepy avatar for the umpteenth time.
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Yeah, that horse is driving me nuts !..lol

Bluewave... are you posting stills as well ? Glad to read that it went well....
 
filmat11 said:
Yeah, that horse is driving me nuts !..lol

Bluewave... are you posting stills as well ? Glad to read that it went well....
Click to expand...

Looks like some kind of Ray Harryhausen creation doesn't it?
 
Hey guys,
sorry it took so long, it's been a really busy week.

-zach-,
Sort of like that but not completely. The cars were parked on a single road, one facing South West, the other North. The subject was in the West so to speak, so the car lights facing the North were boinced off of a white card onto the subject, and the lights from the car facing Southwest were shone directly on the subject.

Now, for the stills...I only had about a minute of video to pick from, but I tried to find some decent ones.

These are CC'ed (except for the close-up of the guy with the pen next to his face). I use Vegas 6. I just put an "S-shaped" color curve on it then did some grading with the Magic Bullet presets:
 

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BTW,
how do people get their screenshots to appear full size? I take them full size in vegas but they always are compressed in my posts.
 
Oh okay,
Nevermind once clicked they are fine.

A car costs a heck of alot more than an Arri kit :P
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That's what I've heard! should've thought of that before we bought cars to light the scene
 
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MalcolmOng said:
A car costs a heck of alot more than an Arri kit :P
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The Arri kit wont take you, your gear, and the rest of the crew home at the end of the shoot.

You can't go through the drive through in an Arri Kit.

If you leave the Arri kit at a parking meter I guarantee it will be gone when you get back.

Most 16 year old's parents wont buy them an Arri kit to take to school.
 
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