urban night lighting suggestions anyone

clive · Jan 12, 2006

Hi

I'm starting the prep for my new feature and I'm getting close to shooting some test footage, which is something I like to do whilst I'm still writing the screenplay, so I know how I'm going to achieve the look I want.

The film is going to be shot in urban locations, on the streets, at night. I'm working on an impossibly low budget which means no generator.

What I'm looking for are some suggestions for DIY exterior lighting, that I can use in a city street at night, possibly off a portable power source.

Ambient light isn't going to help that much as it's about four or five stops short of being usable.

I have access to a set of redheads, if I need them, but powering them isn't going to be practical in all locations.

The key points here are cheap, portable and alternative power source.

clive · Jan 12, 2006

oh and also day for night

Oh and if anyone has any experience of shooting " day for night" that would be useful too.

I know the rough theory of the technique, overlight, underexpose, use a blue filter. However I think there is more too it and I can only find articles on shooting it for film and not for dv.

Any tips greatly appreciated.

NicklausLouis · Jan 12, 2006

When you say portable power source, do you mean like a small generator or what?

You can get the big work lights at most hardware stores for a decent amount of money, but they're very harsh on actor's skin. But if you're simply using them for wide shots, they should be fine.

Poke

filmscheduling · Jan 12, 2006

clive said:
Hi

The key points here are cheap, portable and alternative power source.

Even on an ultra low budget I'm thinking you will have at least 1 production vehicle, if it's a truck or van potentially there would be power sockets available on it. My DP has talked about this kind of approach on our last shoot.

Shaw · Jan 12, 2006

The biggest thing I can think of for 'day for night' is diffusion. Harsh light is a dead giveaway.

NicklausLouis · Jan 12, 2006

You can also use any car as a power supply if you have one of these, but you have to remember to start up the car every once in a while to let the alternator charge up the battery.

Poke

clive · Jan 12, 2006

When you say portable power source, do you mean like a small generator or what?

For this particular shoot I say a defiante "OR WHAT"

The total production budget has to come in at under $870. (There is a sane reason for this, just one I can't talk about right now)

I can probably blag security lights like the ones shown for nothing.

Has anyone ever used any 12v lighting systems?

Spatula · Jan 12, 2006

There's always ways to get power in the cities.

1.Get adaptor plugs at the local hardware store that can screw into lightbulb sockets and convert them into plugs- then ask the people who have porchlights near the location if it's ok to use thier power. I'd go down to the hardware/electrical store and get as many adaptors as you can.

2. Cheaper than a generator would be 8-10 extension cords, and a dedicated Grip. There's usually a plug outlet somewhere.

3. For close ups, use a halogen worklight (like the one Poke pictured) and run it through a diffuser... wax paper, white mesh screen... and bounce it with a big white object reflector.

Now, if you want something without power and you're really in a fix, you can try using diffusion on car headlights, though it would be hard to set-up. Could be a creative way to do it though...

clive · Jan 13, 2006

This is all good stuff.

I'm still thinking that I'll need a variety of solutions. The work lights are easy and I'm fine with trying to blag power.

On the "day for night" I've got one issue that's still not clear:

You expose two stops down from the actual lighting condition. I'm assuming that that means ambient daylight.
What I can't figure out is whether to factor in the practicals in the initial exposure calculation, or whether they go in after calculating on the ambient. (I suspect that I might need a test shoot fairly soon)

I also suspect that I might have to use daylight balanced bulbs for the practicals so everything is the same colour temperature. (of course the blue cast might not be an issue with "day for night," especially when you're using a blue filter anyway.

clive · Jan 22, 2006

I've had a couple of interesting breaks on this subject.

The first is that I've been offered the perfect location, which has a mains power supply. I'm having pictures sent to me this weekend; all very good news.

The second is that I was my local wholesale store shoppinjg and found a mains/battery portable flourescent light set, which consists of two three foot tubes in a self contained unit; the unit also has it's own rechargable battery built in.

They were selling at $20 for two sets and I thought, great I'll just order some daylight tubes for them and I've got DIY kinos. The real surprise for me was when I checked the tubes and discovered that they come fitted with daylight tubes as standard.

I need to run some camera tests, but providng I can get them close enough I think they'll provide a really nice, portable light source and at $20 they're a lot cheaper than even building my own kinos.

knightly · Jan 22, 2006

1. flourescent screw in bulbs in clamp reflector lights...run off your cars battery with a $20 dc/ac converter (you should be able to run 2-3 of them - check wattage).

2. car headlights and reflectors to bounce that light.

3. street lights and reflectors

4. d4n, keep in mind that sunlight isn't the only lightsource during the day. The previous posts brought up an important point...but had it backwards (sorry shaw). During the daytime, sunlight bounces around the environment making everything around you a light source (diffused). In the night time, the only source of light is the moon (or street lights). so shadows are harsh and from a lower angle source (45 degressish or lower). The eye adapts to lower light settings by opening the iris to let more light through. Contrast is raised and color saturation is lessened, same thing in post will get you what you need.

Make sure to test the flourescents as well to see if they pulse or flicker in camera...lower cost ballasts will perform inconsistently. Lowering the shutter speed will even some of that out for you if it's a problem. In PAL, you would go to 25fps as opposed to the normal 50fps.

clive · Jan 23, 2006

Make sure to test the flourescents as well to see if they pulse or flicker in camera...lower cost ballasts will perform inconsistently.

Yes. I had exactly that problem on a shoot in Mexico in 2004. I'm going to do some test shots and see what they'll do for me. It's not vital that they work, because I've always got other options, but having a light portable flouro lighting system with it's own built in batteries has lots of advantages for guerilla film making.