Lighting Setup

[Ramesh Jai]

I would like to start a thread where anyone can post still shots of their lighting setup and the end result.

Will really appreciate it and I'm sure it will be a great opportunity for us less experienced to learn from the great masters of lighting.

Thanks a million.

[Imran Farouk]

This thread would be amazing as I have no clue about lighting and sound, but then again Lighting is the single most important factor when it comes to on set elements...
Gone through Rain dance and all the sites looking at lighting tips but always good to see pre-post and the final piece... :)

[KETCH ROSSi]

I achieved the look of the pic below for the Garbo B&W film Trailer, with just 4 LED lights and few Photoflex soft boxes and a couple of reflectors, some times less is better.

A total of four LED-z light fixtures were used here, to create a look which would have later gone to B&W, I wish I had four more lights, but improvisation few softboxex and two reflectors, helped get the look I was looking for.

http://ketchrossi.smugmug.com/photos/316270338_syKz9-X2-1.jpg



Here few of the pics of the behind the scenes

http://ketchrossi.smugmug.com/photos/316270383_spRpp-X2-1.jpg
http://ketchrossi.smugmug.com/photos/316270155_CGqTX-X2-1.jpg


You can see the rest HERE http://ketchrossi.smugmug.com/gallery/5193777_Zk2oZ/1/316270383_spRpp#316270383_spRpp

And the Video Here http://www.vuze.com/details/BB6IYO3XCT4FCUCV4JF2RA3YXJWMDX7O.html

[KETCH ROSSi]

This are some pics from a recent job, I was the Photographer, both in the Music Video and for the behind the scenes shots.

The lights used here were a 1200 HMI in a large Chimera softbox and couple of small 650's as well as a K5600 Softube, a great light.

The Octobox was used as an effect Strobe connected directly to my Camera via a Wizard II, as to give realism of the photoshoot filmed as part of the Music video but did however had an effect on the overall look on the RED footage as well.

Below are few pics and a link to a gallery to see more, will upload some clips asap.

http://ketchrossi.smugmug.com/photos/444960686_56NK7-X2.jpg

http://ketchrossi.smugmug.com/photos/444961158_9de5u-X2.jpg

http://ketchrossi.smugmug.com/photos/444962012_ZkaRe-X2.jpg

http://ketchrossi.smugmug.com/photos/444962662_GwodD-X2.jpg


You can see some more here http://ketchrossi.smugmug.com/gallery/6953124_9wC7h/1/444962662_GwodD#444962662_GwodD

[Ramesh Jai]

Thank you so, so much Mr. Rossi. Please keep them coming.

[Raul Gonzo]

Hey Ketch- which Octobox is that? Also, what temp is it? I like it, but I am trying to get a daylight stuff right now.

[KETCH ROSSi]

Welcome Ramesh.

Raul, the temperature of lights was set to Daylight at 5600K, most light fixture were already at that temperature, the Octobox had a daylight strobe in it, Flash, not a continuos light source, in the pic above it happens to be shot as it was striking.

It depends on the budget you have, Chimera, Photoflex Elinchrome, Profoto and few more companies all make Octobox softboxes, and they all take different bulbs ranging in temperature from Tungsten to HMI or Strobes, be careful to get the right one depending on the light source you get, as not all are capable of sustaining High temperatures, some are only for Flash and others can take thousands of watts of Hot lights, like Tungstens or HMI's.


ciao

[Marcus Lundahl]

Would also just like to add that I appreciate this thread alot...it is quite hard to find examples fo setup, behind the scenes shots, and then "the final result" as well.
Great for me as a beginner.

Mr Rossi, what is your best advice for a "serious amateur" when it comes to getting a basic lighting kit. I'm really liking the Led-z system...but a little hesitant as how to get them soft? Read a review in American Cinematographer where they questioned how to attach a softbox.

What you suggest the Brutes or Mini Par for that? And what would the comparable wattage be with a HMI light?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

[KETCH ROSSi]

Hey guys, stop calling me MR. Rossi :) My name is KETCH!!

Marcus,

the lights from LED-z or any lights that do not have a attaching Ring of some kind to attach the fixture to the softbox, can be attached in any way you can, as you can see from the Garbo pics, I used some regular straps that you can buy at any Home Depot, the lights don't get hot so the plastic strap it is safe.

For a minimum light kit you need at list two lights to start, and three would be better, but even one strong light can suffice to start, as far as you do get reflector cards, and then you can bounce one single source around.

The most important thing for me, it is not just the amount of light but the quality of it, and the way in which it is distribute on set, ideally you should have in off light to fully illuminate a scene, depending on its size, and the speed of your lens used for each particular shot, but most of the time we can't do IDEALLY illuminated shots, because of budget restriction or what ever, but again it is important to give illumination to what matters most in the story you are trying to tell.

It does no matter what lights you use, no name brand light will help you any better then any other light, what counts is the amount of light they put out, the temperature setting preferably to match, but not necesseraly, as I have shot plenty with a mixture of Tungstens, HMI's and Led's with even few Fluorescents in the mix.

See what you can spend on lights, and try to get at list two lights, a 1k and one 650, will be a good start, if you go Tungstens, a 300 in the mix would make for a perfect starter kit, just don't forget at list a softbox for the 1k and few bounce cards.

If you go with Kino's, great lights but not strong in off for Out door day light shoots, then you can start with a 4' 4Bank and a small 2' 4Bank, this two are a good start, again this are not very strong lights, but you can still use bounce cards to reflect some of the light, no no need for a softbox here, but you could still use a 1/2 stop os 1 full stop louvrer.

Main thing is to experiment with light as much as you can and create your own look, just put light in your scenes, dark images are the usual give away of cheap Videos, unless off course it is an intended look, but I don't like when you can't see S^#@ :)

ciao

[Marcus Lundahl]

Ok! Mr. Ketch it is from now on! : )

Do the Led-z mix well with HMIs?

What HMI brand would you recommend...How are the Coollights?

[KETCH ROSSi]

:)

Yes they do, but do produce a bit of yellow casting as well as multiple shadows effect do to the position of the multiple LED bulbs i each of the fixtures, but nothing a filter or two can't take care of.

Never tried Cool lights, but I know they are far cheaper then ARRI's, again do, you do get what you pay for most of the times, even so occasionally a good deal comes along, just make sure to choose what you want to get accordingly to your budget and then research research research :)

ciao

[Kingslea Bueltel]

Wow, Ketch, those B&W shots are gorgeous! Lovely work.

I'm certainly not a master of light, but here are a couple stills from the student short I directed a few months ago. It's a silly slasher film and the DP and I decided to attempt some minimalist setups (partly because our grip/gaffer dropped out of school the day before we were to start shooting). Our school's lighting package allowed us Arri tungsten lights (2x 1Ks, 4x 300w, 2x 650w), a MoleRichardson 2K Junior and 2K Zip, a single 15" Kino and a single 9” Kino with daylight and tungsten lamps. I think we left about half of those lights on the truck each day.

For most of the film the power in the house is out, and the girls have flashlights and candles. It was shot on an XDCAM and we kept the white balance at 3200K. We wanted to highlight the contrast of cold blue moonlight with warm practicals, so we gelled the flashlights with 1/2 CTO and put full blue on the tungsten lights.

The girls find one of their friends dead in the yard. We lit this with a 300 with full blue on a baby plate backed off about 6 feet behind her head. There’s a little soft fill from a daylight Kino . We tried to do nearly everything in camera, but this shot was slightly desaturated in post to make her look a little creepier.
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The girls shine a flashlight on the dead girl.
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Later the girls find another body under a bed. They kneel to investigate and we lit all four with the single 15” daylight Kino taped to the floor, camera left. We have 2 flashlights (one’s just off screen on the right) and we hit the white ceiling with a full blue 650w just to give a little low ambience behind them when they exit frame.
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The reverse shot had the single Kino a little further left of the camera this time. We left the 650 in the same spot for a bit of background light, and then had the girls rake the flashlight across the face and wound.
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This one was super easy. The girls are seated on the floor around several candles in the wide shot. For the close ups, we took the 15” tungsten Kino with ½ CTO and propped it up on an apple box between the two girls dirtying the frame. The Kino gave a soft, warm glow and the frontal uplighting worked without being too unflattering. We cheated the two girls in to where the same light would pick them up. There’s a sliver of light on the main girl’s shoulder and hair that we got by bouncing a 300w off the light beige wall behind her.
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This one has a 1K serving as the moon and we placed a 300 on a baby plate at the top of the stairs to highlight the railing a bit and a 300 beneath the stairs to gently kick their legs as they walked down.
9644

We had a really good time lighting this show and I was very happy with the result. I think we managed to never use more than 4 lights in any single setup (and we had several complex lighting cues when the power went off or came back on), and I loved the challenge of getting the most out of so little.

The entire film can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2SFYS6llbI.

[KETCH ROSSi]

Thank you, your not doing to bad yourself to start :) Good job.

ciao

[Imran Farouk]

Mr.Ketch sir, you are a legend...thank you for all the pictures...always wondered what some of the on set lighting set ups were and how they made up the end product...
and
thank you Kingslea also :) all this help is brilliant for all of us :D

Just a question...
Whats the best way to light just generally all set ups... HMI's,LED's or (if im not wrong in the way they are called) Red Heads
I know your using LED's in those pics but the threads on this forum have said theirs issues with shadows and so forth...

[KETCH ROSSi]

Mr.Ketch sir, you are a legend...thank you for all the pictures...always wondered what some of the on set lighting set ups were and how they made up the end product...
and
thank you Kingslea also :) all this help is brilliant for all of us :D

Just a question...
Whats the best way to light just generally all set ups... HMI's,LED's or (if im not wrong in the way they are called) Red Heads
I know your using LED's in those pics but the threads on this forum have said theirs issues with shadows and so forth...

:) wow... now I have been called just about anything, but a legend is a new one :) has a certain sound to it, but in truth I'm far from it.


Thank you just the same, I enjoy been called names :)


Unfortunately there is NO general way to light up every set up, as each is truly as individual as it can get, too many factors come in to account, form day light to night, from interior to exterior, daylight interior with sun light shining thru a window, to block the source, or to use the source, will be the first Q?, exterior daylight definitely utilizing the sun is a must for most set ups, but you must almost always filter and or reflect such a very strong source of light to avoid overexposure, same scenarios can be applied in night interiors illuminated by various type of light sources, most of the time the best thing to do is color match the existing source, by applying gels to the added lights and such, but some time a different and more natural look can also be desirable and make the existing lights stand out and leave the yellow or blue color cast to be mixed with the more controlled Tungstens, HMI's or fluorescent.

LED's in general don't have the same issue with multiple shadow casting, tis only happens with some of them like the LED-z's, because of the fisical position of the bulbs, and LED's i general are still far away from providing the punch of lights like the Tungstens or HMI's, this last been the strongest w x w.

So what all this means is that each scene must be illuminated according to the artist decision on how He/She likes the final look to be for that particular shot.

No rules, no must do this must do that, just Art, and lighting it is Art at is best, as I'm a firm believer that you can truly write or paint with light, there for create!

ciao

[Benjamin Rowland]

Ketch,

Thanks for the link to the behind-the-scenes stills. I love the look you created with that K5600 softtube. How do you like working with that fixture?

Thanks for the time you put into sharing your experiences with others - it is what makes this community great.

[KETCH ROSSi]

Ketch,

Thanks for the link to the behind-the-scenes stills. I love the look you created with that K5600 softtube. How do you like working with that fixture?

Thanks for the time you put into sharing your experiences with others - it is what makes this community great.

You are most welcome Rowland,

I do love the softube, but the lighting for the Music video was not of my doing that credit goes to Alex Salahi, the DP, a good friend which had brought me in the project as an actor playing my self as a Photographer and to play with the girls as it seems I do that well :) .

ciao

[Ryan E. Walters]

Here are some detailed setups for various projects that I have worked on. They are a series I'm doing on my blog where I show the lighting setup and talk about the thought process that went into it. The series is called Lighting Alchemy. here are the links:

Lighting Alchemy 01 - Interview Lighting (http://www.ryanewalters.com/page2/files/30c178cfccb4fa0a17cd924ce51fb171-21.html)

Lighting Alchemy 02 - Green Screen Lighting (http://www.ryanewalters.com/page2/files/084dffc00f17dc7929bcf5b8f5d39d07-28.html)

Lighting Alchemy 03 - Extreme & Beauty Lighting (http://www.ryanewalters.com/page2/files/a2fb4abf1859c57955e4d854aae17699-34.html)

I hope you find these helpful. :)

[Dominik Muench]

great thread, I love shots of lighting setups and then seeing the final results. thanks for sharing everyone.

[Ramesh Jai]

Some more set ups can be found on flickr.com (search - Lighting set ups).

[Jim Hoffman]

Hey Ryan -

Very cool website. Nice work.

[Ryan E. Walters]

Hey Ryan -

Very cool website. Nice work.

Thanks, Much appreciated. :)