No Budget Lighting

AcousticAl said:

No. It costs about the same as the POS rig that you were originally considering. This is the only solution in that price range that will give you acceptable quality for the money invested.

If you want a full shoulder rig, be prepared to save up for something that isn't a total waste of money:

Base shoulder rig (no offset): $130
Follow focus: $120
Focus gears: $30-45/ea
Mattebox: $300
Counterweights: $160
Field monitor: $250-800, or
EVF: $800+

And that's the budget version.



"Affordable" can mean a lot of things. In the grand scheme of professional lighting, Aputure Amaran LED panels are very affordable at $160-275 each, considering that high-end lighting fixtures for TV and film can go from $500 each up to several thousand.

Your stated budget of $50 leaves you with few options that will give you good lighting. Honestly, anything you spend that money on as far as purchasing is money wasted in a very short-term solution. For $50, whether you get worklights or venture into sfoster's DIY cardboard box solution, you'll quickly find that you may get bright and wide coverage, but at the expense of color rendering, even lighting distribution, and ease of control.

Perhaps you might look to a local rental house. A small, functional lighting kit may run as low as $75/day. You're spending that money either way, so it really comes down to this: would you rather spend it on a cheap solution that you're just gong to have to replace in the not-so-distant future, or spend that money on renting something better? Either way, it's an expenditure on this project that has no income to offset it. So what's the best way to spend it for this project?

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FreddyLongSongs said:

... idk anything about lighting. Zelch!

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AcousticAl said:

This is what I've been trying to get at here.

If you know absolutely nothing about lighting, how do you expect to get anything useful out of DIY solutions? If you can't do it with professional gear, you'll have a hell of a time trying to get the most out of an improvised lighting kit. These things all take some know-how.

So that brings us to your short, since you seem to expect that you'll get an award-winning result out of it. You won't. You're trying to fast-forward past the learning-by-making-mistakes part. You cannot purchase anything that makes up for lack of experience.

It's time to start watching tutorials and reading books on lighting. You have to start learning somewhere.

Get some work lights, or some clamp-on lights, or rent a real kit. It doesn't matter, really, at this point. Make your short and then figure out why the lighting sucked. You'll be better for it next time.

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FreddyLongSongs said:

I started looking at tutorials and i never had an interest in that. Just writing and directing but my vision has to come out right.

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FreddyLongSongs said:

There's an abundance of video production companies. Instead of buying the equipment should i just hire a crew?

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FreddyLongSongs said:

How to handle lighting in a no budget film? The location has very bad lighting and i don't want to go above 200 in iso.

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AcousticAl said:

You want to direct? You need to have practical understandings of lighting and cinematography. Again, you're trying to fast-forward past the important parts.

You have two shorts under your belt and, honestly, they're pretty rough. Exposure and white balance are inconsistent, framing choices show your inexperience and edits don't always flow very well. Sound is terrible. I don't say these things to write you off, just to reinforce that you have a lot of work to do. You can't skip that and expect to come out successful on the other end.

Your font choices scream amateur, as do your credit rolls that list you in almost every role.

Written by: Freddy Long
Directed by: Freddy Long
Camera: Freddy Long
Edited by: Freddy Long
Sound Design: Freddy Long

You don't need all that. Simply credit yourself as "Written, Directed, and Edited by Freddy Long" or, even simpler/better, "A Film by Freddy Long". Then, credit the others who helped. Rolling your name over and over and over again is painful to watch.



DoP: $500-750/day
Gaffer: $500/day
Grip: $350/day
Sound Mixer: $350-500/day

The DoP and Sound Mixer may come with their own gear, but the Gaffer and Grip may need lighting and grip rentals.

And half-day rates are BS. I don't bill half-days anymore with most clients, because they typically run long anyway and there's no way to book the other half of the day on a different shoot.

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indietalk said:

Does the organization you wanted to join that has the cheap insurance offer any kit rental discounts etc.? Some of these orgs have really cheap stuff.

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AcousticAl said:

You want to direct? You need to have practical understandings of lighting and cinematography. Again, you're trying to fast-forward past the important parts.

You have two shorts under your belt and, honestly, they're pretty rough. Exposure and white balance are inconsistent, framing choices show your inexperience and edits don't always flow very well. Sound is terrible. I don't say these things to write you off, just to reinforce that you have a lot of work to do. You can't skip that and expect to come out successful on the other end.

Your font choices scream amateur, as do your credit rolls that list you in almost every role.

Written by: Freddy Long
Directed by: Freddy Long
Camera: Freddy Long
Edited by: Freddy Long
Sound Design: Freddy Long

You don't need all that. Simply credit yourself as "Written, Directed, and Edited by Freddy Long" or, even simpler/better, "A Film by Freddy Long". Then, credit the others who helped. Rolling your name over and over and over again is painful to watch.



DoP: $500-750/day
Gaffer: $500/day
Grip: $350/day
Sound Mixer: $350-500/day

The DoP and Sound Mixer may come with their own gear, but the Gaffer and Grip may need lighting and grip rentals.

And half-day rates are BS. I don't bill half-days anymore with most clients, because they typically run long anyway and there's no way to book the other half of the day on a different shoot.

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directorik said:

For around $200 you can start with:

Five or six “scoop lights” - those lamps with the silver reflector.

Three or four pieces of Foamcore from any art supply store to use to bounce the light.

Two or three Paper Lanterns that you can get at Ikea. I hook each one to a dimmer.

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indietalk said:

Agreed. Or hire (or team up with) a DP that owns a kit. There's really no need for a director to own anything. However most indie/budding directors like to shoot too, but if that doesn't interest you, then you save $.

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Alcove Audio said:

As many here will attest, I am a big fan of renting gear or retaining/hiring someone who has the gear. Someone I respect in the business end of the entertainment biz once told me that you shouldn't own what you don't use every day.

As an example; for my audio post business, I have a modest mic collection, and I may not use all of them every day, they do all get used. However, I only do (serious) field recording three or four times a year, so I rent tried and true stuff like Sound Devices, etc. For other things I borrow from my fellow audio friends, Tascam DR series and the like.

The flip side of my argument is your focus - pardon the pun. Do you want to be a DP or direct actors? Why buy gear when there are plenty of people out there who would love to DP or PSM/Boom-op and already have at least some gear and possibly more experience. That way you can concentrate on directing actors.

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