Will normal light bulbs work?

J

jibaro

New member
I am planning to shoot a music video for a friend there is no budget, Would normal bulb will work as lighting, for a small room with one person, any sugestions on what to do and not do

thx

J.
 
Conventional filament lamps can certainly "work" however, they are generally lower in color temperature than lamps intended for film work, so you will need to do a manual white balance with your lighting setup. You could also consider using 3200K lamps, like an ECA, these will fit in standard fixtures, just be certain that they are rated for the higher power requirements (250 - 300 Watts). The other thing to warn you about is the life of these lamps, it is typically about 10-20 hours (they run from $4 - $6).
 
You can totally get by using only standard light bulbs. You may want to get several of them to bring the ambient light up to an acceptable level, but you shouldn't have a problem getting a good image with them (provided you follow everyone's instructions and do a manual white balance).
 
I just went to Home Depot the other day, and picked up 4 cheap clamping work lamps, along with 4 color corrected bulbs (100w) ... they worked out great for the small area we were working in. They're not true color corrected bulbs, just a consumer level that GE & Philips will put out, offering a "whiter" light than the standard ones.

Anyway, we used them for a blue/green screen scene (newscast), and it came out looking MUCH better than expected (pretty pro if I do say so myself) ... considering it was $10 in cloth from Walmart, and $30 in lights from Home Depot.

Also keep in mind if you're working with regular bulbs, don't depend on what's in the ceiling ... I'd almost consider keeping those off, and work with other lamps that you can place above & pointed towards your points of interest.
 
I don't think its the bulbs so much as it is the fixture (lens, barn doors, etc) that you put it in, also placement, etc.

You could just hang the bare bulb down from the ceiling and have that be it, or there are about a million other possibilities.

I think the more importan question is what kind of "look" are you going for?

-j
 
I have used ECAs as practicals with good success on a number of occasions. They can work fairly well in a moderate to high key lighting configuration. A littel bit of diffusion, some china balls and black foil and you can get decent results, obviously a little more effort might be required, but in a low budget situation, it can be made to work fairly well.
 
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