Lighting equipment in movies

From: independent production assistance organization (manufacturer david mamet)

Lighting and lighting equipment

There can't be too many lights. In other words, you can't have as many lamps as you want, because you lack the necessary money and power (the power of electricity). You won't shoot movies in a studio with your own power distribution station, and you can't afford a portable generator, let alone a car and spend time dragging around. Then accept the reality. Your lack of electricity actually has a lot to do with your lack of funds. Even if you have enough electricity, you can't afford to rent more lamps. Fortunately, due to the low brightness performance of digital cameras, you can use a set of small lighting facilities that are not too expensive.

A set of four 1 000 watt lamps (called "1K"), such as Lefflers or Lowell DP bulbs, can be used for floodlighting or spotlight lighting. If these lights are found to scorch the actor's eyebrows in a narrow position, you can also use 650-watt or 550-watt lights. You can buy a set of equipment, including three Lowell DP lamps plus a Lowell Talete lamp (floodlight), a tripod, a hood and other useful accessories. If you plan to make another movie, or you can sell this equipment to another filmmaker at a discount after the movie, it may be more cost-effective to buy a lighting device.

Buy two 1 0,000 watt soft light lamps for lighting in larger locations, such as small auditorium or outdoor night scenes. As far as professional video lighting is concerned, this budget is too stingy, but you can also buy a site-specific lamp, a tripod and two 500-watt halogen lamps. If you add a 32-inch white umbrella to the lamp, it will have a very good soft light. Ensure that the specifications of the photographic umbrella can withstand the continuous irradiation of 65,438+0,000 watts of light, for example, buy Wescott 2065,438+02 photographic umbrella (otherwise, the special effect of "flame umbrella" may appear during shooting). Now that you have these lights, you can use them in another film crew or shoot them later. If a large scene needs a lot of lighting, you can buy some halogen working lights and put them on the ground. However, many people have this kind of lamp, so it is better to borrow it. The light of this lamp is dazzling, but it can make a great contribution to reducing costs.

As for shooting outdoors during the day, a foldable reflector is enough for lighting equipment. It is wonderful to use it in obvious shadows. It can also be used as a reflector in indoor scenes.

Now, you may want to ignore other equipment and add more lighting, because photographers really want some 5000-watt lamps. Leave him alone. The reason is clear after calculation: the capacity of most residential or commercial power supply lines is 15 or 20 amps. The voltage is 220 volts, which means that you can get 2800 watts (15 amps× 220 volts = 2800 watts) or 4400 watts (20 amps× 220 volts = 4400 watts). Using a larger wattage or continuously using the maximum wattage will cause the fuse to blow or the circuit breaker to open. Obviously, the 15 amp circuit can only reliably support 500 watt lamps. A 20 amp circuit can support two. In most places, you have to pull many extension cords to connect two circuits, so that four lamps will be fully loaded.

Our budget also includes some consumables for lighting: black and white gray electrical tape (very useful, anything will do, such as fixing wires on the floor and tying annoying clothes to actors), and six "practical" bulbs (150 ~ 200 watt tungsten filament bulbs, suitable for standard lamps, used when the scene needs brighter light-be careful. It is used to change the color of tungsten filament (incandescent lamp) to make it consistent with the color of sunlight (3202 all-blue composite trivalent beat all-blue CTB of Rosco), and four pieces of 20-inch× 24-inch 105 Roxolux coarse cloth (woven material, similar to packaging tissue paper, but not flammable) are used to soften the light and weaken the intensity. With the sunshine correction gel, if you want to look out of the window from the indoor scene, you can match the color of the sun.

You can find some other important lighting appliances in your personal belongings: wooden clothes pegs are used to clamp the gel and coarse cloth on the hood, aluminum foil is used to make the hood, leather gloves are used to prevent your hands from burning when moving the hot lamp, spare 15 amp and 20 amp screw-in fuses, and power sockets with three plugs to two plugs.

You can also make some lighting products by hand. Some locations are 3-40 meters away from the nearest power interface, so we made several extension lines of 3-40 meters each with 10 caliber copper cable for residential buildings. These wires are connected to the glass fiber power socket box, and the socket box is fixed on the square plate. Use wires suitable for wet environment (such as polyester foam). You need a bigger movie to use it for a long time (otherwise, the wires will overheat, the fuse will blow, and the lighting power will be insufficient). The extension cord should be properly protected from damage and kept away from damp places. These cables are not designed to be used in rainy days. Protecting them can minimize the trouble, because your lighting and camera equipment is not used in rainy days.

In order to weigh lamps and other equipment, you can make your own sandbags. Put a plastic bag filled with three quarters of sand into the trouser leg of a pair of worn jeans, and then sew up the trouser leg. This is much better than paying for a weekend, and you can decide what is better.

With all the equipment to rent, if the crew members have the equipment you need, you can really save the budget. In this way, your expenses are limited to replacing the burnt-out light bulb and buying gel and coarse cloth. This method also enables the crew to use lighting effectively and to understand and maintain the equipment.