Before I put together my own ultimate lighting kit, I tried to think of
every possible problem or need I would have on a typical shoot. The
bulk of my daily production consists of interviews, training and
industrial videos, and television commercials, so the use of natural
and existing light plays a big part in what I shoot everyday. I knew,
for starters, that I didn’t need a truckload of big-watt lights. But I
did need a solid base unit, and so I went with an Arri Softbank
Tungsten D2 light kit (www.arri.com), which you
can find for about $1,700 - $1,900
(www.bhphotovideo.com).
Comprised of one 650-watt fresnel, and two 300-watt fresnels, the kit
includes all the goodies needed for 90 percent of standard lighting
setups; barn doors, scrims, stands, and a color-correction kit, which
is the cheapest and most valuable piece in the entire package. If you
learn to use your color-correction gels proficiently, you are halfway
there.
The D2 is ideal for a small shop, but you may need more wattage to
round out your package. I needed a bigger laser light, especially to
use as a sub for bright sunlight on outdoor shoots, so I added an
Arrilite 1000-watt open face tungsten, which lists for about $260. This
entire setup transports well and packs a good overall wattage. The 300s
are small enough to use in tight quarters and the 1K large enough for
those outdoors shoots. The filter kit includes all the gels required
for all of the typical color-temperature issues I face on a regular
basis. One of my pet peeves are those bad local TV spots that have been
shot inside with inconsistent lighting. The talent is always lit well
yet there is inevitably some big window behind them that seems to
radiate with a blue, glowing light. Is that supposed to be sunlight?
Mastering the use of your filter kit can help give a mediocre
production like this a more film-like look, where all the light sources
are the same color. I recommend having on hand a roll of Rosco Cinegel
#3401 Orange Gel which you could use to bring those blue windows down
to a more realistic interior color. Also, add a roll of Rosco frosted
paper and a lighter translucent roll for diffusing lights. Need more
light diffusion? Just double it up.
I like using hard lighting for most work. Barn doors with diffusion
gels are easier to focus than light boxes, and to me, create more
interesting lighting with a little harder shadows and brighter
highlights. Because video has an inherently lower resolution than film,
I’ve found this style of lighting works best. A dimmer, which you can
use to change the voltage of lights to regulate their intensity, also
is a great addition. One idea is to use a dimmer on a lamp that might
be a prop in an interview shot, and to take down its intensity so it
doesn’t blow out on screen. Remember: Changing the intensity of your
high-wattage light too often will eventually change the color of the
light. Regular house dimmers that can handle up to 600-watt lights are
fine and you can put one together with off-the-shelf pieces found at
your local hardware store for under $15. Add extra bulbs, both 5600 k
for exterior and 3200 k for interior, gaffers tape, a white bounce card
or reflector, and a bag of clothespins, and you are ready to start
lighting.
The Set Up
The most common scenario is the staged studio shoot or on-location
indoor interview setting. Let’s assume you’re going to set up for a
standard interview beside a window with a lamp in the shot. This is a
lighting nightmare, but can be remedied with a little work. First, use
the window as a source to light the subject if you can. Take advantage
of the window light, which is typically even and diffused. But beware
of color problems. Using your 3200K lamps for this type of scene will
work best: your video camera will already be set to filter one because
of indoor light levels. The window can be gelled with Rosco #3401
orange color correction gel to turn your blue outside light to a
nominal 3200K temperature. Rotate your talent partially toward the
window, and use its light as your key. Set up a bounce card directly
across from the window opposite the talent and use reflected light to
fill in shadows caused by the window key light or just to light the
opposite side of your talent. Your last light can be a hair light. Use
a 300-watt light set behind the subject off to one side to create some
background/foreground separation.
Now for that dimmer: The otherwise over-powered desk lamp is brought
down to a manageable level with ease, using your $15 concoction from
Home Depot. I find that I can light an entire scene like this using
only one 300-watt light.
For maximum visual interest, I’d choose an outdoor shoot any day. The
abundance of natural fill light makes lighting scenes much easier, and
nature itself never fails to disappoint. Always choose an interesting
backdrop with an evenly lit area. A bright sunlit spot or one under a
shady tree works well, as long as your subjects don’t have bright
variations of light or dark shadows on them. Next, take a temperature
reading with a hand-held temperature meter or by white balancing your
video camera close to your subject. On a partially sunny day your
temperature may read around 6500K. Lamps in your fixtures can be
replaced with 5600K bulbs for outside use. Attach the corresponding
gels to change your 5600K to a nominal 6500K. A 650-watt key light from
the side will be enough since the ambient light levels are so high. A
300-watt hair light would also work well to help separate your talent
from the background. Try a 6200K conversion gel on your key light to
warm your talent’s face and soften the overall scene.
Keeping It Real
Imagine a partially sunny day. You need to shoot your talent sitting in
a car, and your client wants it to look as if the talent’s face is
illuminated by the setting sun. With a shot like this (right), I use
lights instead of reflectors to better focus and control my light
sources. Once again, color temperature plays a major factor in staging
a realistic looking scene. Your reference temperature reading should
come from outside the car. Frame your shot to include a portion of the
car exterior. This gives the viewer what I call a "natural color"
reference. The outside level on a sunny day may read around 5600K in
direct sunlight. This means no adjustment for color temperature is
needed for the shot, yet light placement is critical. Shooting from
outside the car through the driver window would put our key light
directly in front the car shinning in our talent’s face. Our second
lower-wattage light could be set in front of the camera, just out of
frame shining directly back toward your talent. This bright side and
frontal light is inherent to the natural light in this situation. It
could be coming from a sunset or a reflected source from around the
car, i.e. another car or a glass building. Finally, direct your talent
to squint or, better yet, put on sunglasses to further enhance the look
of the scene.
The most exciting part of production for me is lighting design and set
up during any shoot. My motivation comes from a client telling me the
DV footage I shot for him looks like film; I know it’s all due to
creative lighting. Now the only question left is what’s lighting your
motivation.
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