Jump to content

Using "black" light


Fernando Getz

Recommended Posts

I need to shoot a black light scene the same type you see at clubs where white and neon style colors pop out and everything else is dark. I was told that I could use a rosco "congo blue" gel to achieve that effect and even that there are 5500K Kino bulbs that can do it too. Has someone ever done this? My other option is to just get a black lightbulb, but I'd like to have more control over it.

Edited by DesPa
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

Congo Blue will simulate that deep purple-blue cast that blacklight can create, but it creates no blacklight (UV) effect on colors or whites. Neither will a 5500K Kino tube (which is just daylight, not that blue -- you probably are thinking of a "super blue" Kino, the type used for lighting bluescreen shots.)

 

To get certain colors and whites to glow (like teeth), you need to use real UV light. Common blacklight tubes are too dim for moviemaking purposes unless they are really close to the object and you use a bank of tubes. Usually a movie will rent powerful UV lamps from a company called "Wildfire".

 

I did a blacklight scene years ago for a student film using 500 ASA film shot wide-open on a Super-Speed lens, and some ordinary fluorescent blacklight tubes bunched together and held really close to the actors. I augmented this with some normal lights gelled super blue (like with Congo Blue) to get some exposure on the faces. But you don't want that fake blacklight to overpower the real blacklight, so keep the super-blue lighting really dim.

Edited by David Mullen
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I?ve had pretty good luck with black lighting buy just buying cheap Halloween style 4? black lights. I use them to create night skylines on set pieces. I use 4? x 2 tube lights and keep them about 5? from the black light paint. At 200 ASA they read great. For larger more controlled situations I use ?Wildfire? http://www.wildfirefx.com/ black lights. Congo blue won?t work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

Hi,

 

I have seen fluorescent effects under HMI light with congo blue filtration, probably because the HMIs put out an enormous amount of longwave UV anyway, and all the gel's doing is making the effect visible by losing much of the visible glare of the lamp.

 

There are tons of companies other than Wildfire who make UV cannon, although most of them are mercury vapour lamps which will not be flicker free.

 

Phil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

So I finally, ended up using this black light bulbs for Kinos. I'm not exactly sure about the name, but they worked like a charm. They're skinnier than a regular Kino Bulb and they are true UV. The shining teeth effect was perfect. I also tested the rosco congo blue filter but that didn't do the trick. I guess that would fake it if you were to shoot a club scene or something were you're mixing light sources, I was doing product shot so I needed the real thing, I did use some Dedo's with Full CTB + Congo Blue (I know, almost no output) but just enough for some edge lights. Thanks everybody for your suggestions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 years later...
So I finally, ended up using this black light bulbs for Kinos. I'm not exactly sure about the name, but they worked like a charm. They're skinnier than a regular Kino Bulb and they are true UV. The shining teeth effect was perfect. I also tested the rosco congo blue filter but that didn't do the trick. I guess that would fake it if you were to shoot a club scene or something were you're mixing light sources, I was doing product shot so I needed the real thing, I did use some Dedo's with Full CTB + Congo Blue (I know, almost no output) but just enough for some edge lights. Thanks everybody for your suggestions.

 

 

Do you know what they were called?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...