Gear Talk > EOS Bodies - For Video

Outdoor lighting solutions for video - help.

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CJRodgers:
Hi everyone,

Im wondering what the best solution for outdoor lighting is at the moment in regards to a few different aspects. Are LEDS and other cool lighst best, or traditional hot lights?

Also, how do you power lights outside? Car battery or something similar?

Please imagine the two following situations and suggest what you would do.

1. A night time shoot with a band in some woods to give an eerie atmosphere. Enough lighting is need for the whole band. How many lights, what type, how would you power it? Cost?

2. Following a vocalist around a city with close up shots as they sing for a music video. You want the pretty brokeh in the backround but also want a bit of soft light on the face and maybe something from behind to catch the highlights in the hair.
How many lights, what type, how would you power it? Cost?

I am mainly interested in music promo but im sure these situations can be closley related to many other types of videos.


I look forward to a few responses hopefully :) I dont have much money to spend on lights (£500 - £1000) and everytime ive looked i can only find batteries that costs that much alone. I hope im looking in the wrong places and some can help me here.

Thanks!

Craig

Seanlucky:
For nighttime shooting in the woods, I feel like you could definitely just get away with hotlights. Unfortunately there's no easy battery solution for hot lights as they're rather inneficient... You'd be better to rent a Honda 2K Generator. One person with a bit of strength can carry it through the woods, and that way you just won't worry about running out of juice on your shoot.

For shooting around the city, generator's are rarely an option unless you have a locations permit. LED is one of the better options for running on battery power, but it lacks in punch especially if you're trying to match output of the sun during daylight. A small 200 watt HMI would be a good option for running off of battery, and it's already colour matched to daylight.

That being said, I would rent, and not buy. The only thing that really fits in your budget is hotlights and cheap LED's.

HurtinMinorKey:
Unfortunately, HMI lights are only for the big leagues. I feel like tungsten lights will blend better with the ambient city lights.

bp:
If you're on a tight budget... as far as the night/woods shoot - I've seen some pretty impressive results from simple tungsten or halogen worklights from home depot.  couple that with a car AC adapter and some extension cords, and you're up and running (do some wattage math to make sure the adapter can handle it, depending on how many work lights you're intending to use). 

If you've got a bit more dough to play with, some of the LED panels available now can put out an impressive amount of light... but you'd need several of them to get enough coverage for a whole band.  The advantage of LED panels is portability and easy to power.  But getting enough panels to light up the whole scene can be pricey

CJRodgers:
Thanks guys, some good advice here.

BP, how long could i run off a typical car battery before it was flat? Also how would I power the LED panels, have you seen any that provide battery packs, or would this be a case of getting a car battery again.

I think builders work lights is a good idea, plus theyre cheap enough to buy. Is the colour temperature of these ok and is the light soft enough or should i make a diffuser for it?

Cheers guys,

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