Building a Light Kit

Josh Hill · May 12, 2004

I'm currently building a light kit from scratch for my XL1s and my CP16R (still haven't shot any 16mm with it, but I'm excited about when I get to).

I have an Arri 650w fresnel and an Arri 300w fresnel. What should my next move be? I was thinking about an Arrilite 1k or 2k, or maybe getting another 650w. I don't know how useful smaller wattage lights are (100s and 200s), but I was also looking at getting some LTM peppers. I'm building the kit one light at a time (buying the light, stand, barndoors, accessories, etc). What would an optimal kit be?

Suggestions? Opinions?

Should I even buy any open faced lights, or just use a little bit of extra money and continue buying fresnels?

Thanks,

Joshua Hill

joshhill@hot.rr.com

J. Lamar King IMPOSTOR · May 12, 2004

I would definitely get a couple of open face lights. They are easier to spread onto a bounce card or diffusion frame in a shorter distance. A 2K is going to be the biggest fixture you can run safely on SOME household circuits in the U.S.

I would concentrate on getting 650's and one or two 1K's. Pepper's may not seem useful with such low wattage but I always find somewhere to work them in. Having a snoot for them allows you to pick something out precisely.

Don't forget to spend a little on some light shaping tools. There have been times when I would have killed to get a couple of open ended singles.

Brett Juskalian · May 12, 2004

Josh, For the price of a typical light you could rent a pretty thick light kit and get the grip gear tossed in for practically nothing. However, if you're only interested in buying, check out 1200 HMI par lights. There is one at:http://www.visualproducts.com/lighting.html for $1100. Even after you tungsten balance the light with CTB you'll still get more out of the HMI than a tungsten light of the same wattage. The unit I found is also flicker free for shooting off-speed. HMI's are more expensive but if you compare the rental vs. purchase cost of a single 1k fresnel to a 1200 HMI (with flicker free ballast) the HMI is a far better deal. For around $25 you can build a paper lantern rig with all of the hardware including a dimmer. Have you contacted rental houses about buying their old inventory? Email me if you have questions.

Brett

Michael Nash · May 19, 2004

I have an Arri 650w fresnel and an Arri 300w fresnel. What should my next move be? I was thinking about an Arrilite 1k or 2k, or maybe getting another 650w. I don't know how useful smaller wattage lights are (100s and 200s), but I was also looking at getting some LTM peppers. I'm building the kit one light at a time (buying the light, stand, barndoors, accessories, etc). What would an optimal kit be?

...A 10-ton with a driveable genny ;)

With only two light so far you might be best off stepping up in wattage one level, and getting a 1K. These lights are close enough together in brightness that you can use them together to light a scene, but still different enough that you can achieve at least a little diversity in your lighting. When you get more lights you'll want to get multiples in the same wattage; it helps you light a scene more evenly.

A typical video kit consists of about three small lights of the same wattage (650's or 1Ks), plus one or two other lights that can be used differently -- such as a 1K Tota that can be bounced or fit in a Chimera, or a Pepper that's used exclusively as an accent or hairlight for interviews. For more dramatic storytelling you'll want a bigger variety of instruments to create more types of light.

Open face lights are very useful; don't be afraid to purchase one over a fresnel if the price is right. You'll find a use for it! Keep your wattages below 2K so you can run them on household circuits. And as someone mentioned, grip acessories to carve and shape the light are just as important as the lights themselves.

Don't discount the functionality of homespun or hardware store lights. Chinaballs, fluorescent shoplights, halogen worklights and so on can round out your package at a very low price.

Phil Rhodes · May 19, 2004

Hi,

I like my fluorescent ring light. Total cost about £10 and music video people really seem to like it. Very nice on faces. Used often with my other homebuilt gear, two kino-like fluorescents, to do facial closeups in stylised stuff.

I also built a 1' square (by 1" thick) flat panel for filling these sitautions. Also, don't overlook stuff designed for theatrical/club work. I have a couple of very low cost Italian MSR-based discharge lamps. Non flicker free of course, but tell me where else you can get a 575W discharge lamp for under £100.

Phil

Dan Salzmann · May 19, 2004

How do you build a dimmer for an HMI?

Markus Rave · May 20, 2004

The most important thing with lighting is not just the light but the grip stuff you have. Flags, scrims, reflectors will help you more sometimes than a lighting kit. It does not have to be much. Start with a large and a medium size flag, a set of scrims and two shiny boards, couple of styros plus the clamping stuff like skyhooks, gobo heads, clamps and of course some c-stands. I mostly buy shiny boards in stores that sell them for insulation. You will find matte and glossy for almost no expense.

Markus

Michael Nash · May 20, 2004

How do you build a dimmer for an HMI?

I think he meant the paper lantern as a separate item from the HMI. There is such a thing as a dimmable HMI ballast, but I don't know that you could build it for $25!