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need light socket advice

WhiteOpus

WhiteOpus

howdy. quick question here.

are there any sites online that would be favorable to buy from over other sites that offer the same thing? I'm having trouble getting my search terms right for the actual name of the product i'm looking for (http://www.filmtools.com/chinlansocas.html) I'm looking to buy three corded light sockets just like this one to use as lights at an upcoming indoor shoot. my main concerns are the wattage being bright enough to light an otherwise dark room and reasonable prices of both the sockets and bulbs that would be used with them. has anyone here ever used simple corded light sockets like this? any tips or warnings?
 
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Why not buy those ones from FilmTools?

The brightness will be determined by the bulb you put into it.

I don't know how big the room is, how many you're going to use, what bulbs you're putting in them, whether you're going to put them in china balls etc, what stop you're shooting at, what ISO etc. so I can't advise you as to whether you'll get an exposure.
 
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Agreed, why not buy from filmtools?

If you're thinking china balls, and would prefer to buy locally instead of online, try world market, they probably have a variety of china balls, and this same kind of socket at the end of a cord.
 
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Not sure if it helps, but this sort of thing is very easy to make. Here in the UK, a plug and a lampholder are less than £1 each. You just then need a length of 2-core cable. I "borrow" my from cable from work, so it doesn't cost me anything, but still, a 2-core cable might be about £1 per meter. So... Having said all that, the one you've linked to probably works out cheaper!

Still, at least with making them yourself, you could choose the length of cable you wanted...
 
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Will Vincent said:
Agreed, why not buy from filmtools?

If you're thinking china balls, and would prefer to buy locally instead of online, try world market, they probably have a variety of china balls, and this same kind of socket at the end of a cord.
Click to expand...
filmtools is actually the first site i found (it has literally exactly what i want, but it's out of stock for the last couple weeks)

yeah, i think i'll probably be using a china ball for one of the lights, but I wanted to use a snoot type thing to direct hard light as well.

the scene i'm lighting is just two people sitting at a dinner table across from each other, the only angles being over the shoulder shots looking at each of the characters and one wide shot showing both of them. i'd like the lighting to be more dramatic than the average dinner table scene because the film itself is dark and psychological.
 
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World market (there's one in Reno) and IKEA both sell china balls and this same kind of light socket at the end of a cord. They're sold separately, so you could buy as many or few of each as you want
 
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So I've been to world market's website now and it looks like their cord kits only do up to 60 Watts? Is this going to be enough? It's for an indoor night time scene and I'll probably be buying 3 of them (two in a china ball, one with a makeshift snoot for a hair light).
 
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I've got several of these. http://www.amazon.com/Hanging-Lantern-Cord-Off-Switch/dp/B007RPRYF0/ and have used them with very large china lanterns.

My only complaint is that they don't secure on their own to the china lantern wire. I've had to use gaffer tape to get them on, and then the lamp can tilt to the side. That could just be a problem with the cheap china balls I bought, though, as I have no basis of comparison. Which, if you're using normal lights that get hot, can be a fire hazard, though I use CFLs so it hadn't been an issue as much for me.

edit: with regards to the 60watt limit, I use a daylight verson of these http://www.amazon.com/GE-Lighting-47452-replacement-2700-Lumen/dp/B000S5OK12/

They are supposedly the brightness of a 150w bulb, but are actually only 42 watt. So, someone correct me if I'm wrong please, but I believe that would mean it would be safe to use in the socket you were looking at.
 
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So pardon me if this seems redundant, but would even 150 watts be enough? Other socket setups for film that I've seen are more around 350-500 watts. I just want to make sure that what I order will be sufficient because the shoot is coming up in mid October and I won't have enough time to order them, return them and order different ones if they don't end up working out.

Not trying to be overly skeptical, just realistic because this production is so far in motion already that not having the lights on the day of the shoot would be a disaster. Thank you for the suggestions though, it's been extremely helpful in verifying that I'm on the right track :)
 
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the scene i'll be lighting is a dinner table a character at each end, sitting across from each other. I want the light to be exclusively on the table and the characters' faces/bodies. I want to avoid spilling the light into the background (to maintain a dramatic look).


here is an example of what i'm going for: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-33p3cr7c3SY/ULZmPjsw_2I/AAAAAAAABew/SBT1-DzTTzc/s640/The+Last+House+on+the+Left+dinner+table.jpg
here is an example of what i'm trying to stay away from: http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Pctsr5jf0Pw/maxresdefault.jpg

i hope this helps to show what i'm going for
 
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It would depend on what you're shooting on. RED or ARRI, no, a few 150w bulbs probably won't be enough light. Using a DSLR with good low-light? Should be plenty for the moody look you're going for. Maybe even more than you'd need, but that's good since you'll be able to use a lower ISO to expose to just the lights and keep the BG black.
 
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cool! I have a 6D which I got specifically for low-light performance so that's good. I want to stay away from high ISOs as much as possible in order to avoid any grain or noise. I am going to grab a few of these sockets and the bulbs you mentioned (if I can find a daylight version) and give it a whirl! I think we'll have some time to block out some tests so we'll be able to figure if it's enough light when we get on the actual set. Thanks so much for your responses, I am glad to have been confirmed that I'm headed in the right direction. I'll post the film up here when it's completed (probably early November)!

EDIT:

Just to be sure, does anyone know anything about the following items? I just want to make sure that the wattage/heat isn't going to instantly set my 20" china balls on fire.

http://www.filmandvideolighting.com/soaschlachba.html
http://www.filmandvideolighting.com/ebw50bu48da.html
 
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Filmtools also has a 660w version for a similar price.

Looks like that will do the job fine.

Couple things to keep in mind - those PhotoFlood bulbs generally only last a few hours, so you may need to buy a bunch of them, you may be changing them out two or three times a day. If the bulb itself doesn't die, then your colour temperature will start to drop, as the heat damages the blue, so you may find yourself changing them more often.
They're also super bright! Which can be good, but you might want to do some tests first, so you can decide on whether you want the 250w or the 500w. 500w is a lot of light, especially if you're using a few of them!

Also they're about 800K off daylight, so they won't quite match with actual daylight if that happens to be playing in the shot.


Dreadylocks said:
I use CFLs so it hadn't been an issue as much for me.

edit: with regards to the 60watt limit, I use a daylight verson of these http://www.amazon.com/GE-Lighting-47452-replacement-2700-Lumen/dp/B000S5OK12/

They are supposedly the brightness of a 150w bulb, but are actually only 42 watt. So, someone correct me if I'm wrong please, but I believe that would mean it would be safe to use in the socket you were looking at.
Click to expand...

My problem with CFLs is their ugly green spike, as well as the fact that they can't be dimmed properly. I always have a collection of bulbs with me to replace any household CFLs with normal halogen globes, but then I like my practicals to be warm.
 
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Thanks for the response Jax, this is superb information for me. I ended up purchasing the items I linked to earlier: 3 socket assemblies and 4 bulbs (and with your suggestion, I'm definitely going to be stocking up on a bunch more bulbs once I test them and see if it's enough/too much light for my purposes).

Again, I'm going for a Rembrandt and/or cameo look to increase drama and visual interest.
I've read online that some people use a pringles can as a makeshift snoot?
 
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I'd be more inclined to fashion something out of blackwrap (or Cinefoil if you're a Rosco fan)..
You could even fashion a set of barn doors out of blackwrap if you wanted to

Keep in mind that china balls make the light super soft, and will also cut some of the output, so your setup might change depending on how you want your contrast ratios to sit.
 
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jax_rox said:
My problem with CFLs is their ugly green spike, as well as the fact that they can't be dimmed properly. I always have a collection of bulbs with me to replace any household CFLs with normal halogen globes, but then I like my practicals to be warm.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Definitely not ideal. But they've worked well for me within my budget constraints.
 
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so is there any real drawback to using regular aluminum foil, other than an altered color temperature?
I'm asking because I just dropped a fair amount of money (relative to my budget) on the lights and I'll be putting money toward renting a couple lenses, so I don't have the money to pay $20 plus shipping for fifty feet of black foil. However, I'll definitely be purchasing some blackwrap for my next project.
 
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