575 HMI Coverage?

[Justin Marx]

Been a long time since I've posted... I miss you guys!!!

 

Anyway, to the point!

 

I'm shooting a short film in a hospital room (really a school classroom).

The room is about 20x20 with three windows.. I convinced the director to shoot it as NIGHT because of the eerie tone to this film. We will be shooting in the day time though.. So I need to black out the windows, but also light through them from the outside. Luckily we have blinds on the windows, so I should be ok with a 12x12 cave around the three windows.. If I get 3 575 HMI's and blast them through the windows, will I be ok? Will they give me enough light so I can minimally light the interior? We don't have a generator. Our budget is -500$? I'm really looking for stark lighting on the interior, half lit faces, cold lighting.. Any hints, tricks, gags for getting this done would be great!

 

Now to the hallway.. How much coverage will I get with the 575's over a 50' x 6' long hallway. I want to blast the lights through the small windows on the doors on one side of the hallway.. I want dark spots between them, but I don't want it black. I want the beams to BLAST the actors as they walk by them (atmos) Would a 4 bank Kino work along with that for close ups? I'm using atmos in both of these scenes as well..

 

But here's my deal.. I am looking for cold lighting.. we're killing all the fluorescent in the whole place, so will 4-575's a 4 bank Kino, and a Dedo light kit do the trick? (and of course b-board, foamcore bounces, etc..) Is the Dedo a waste? I just like them for their size, and ease to mount on the drop ceiling, and they are great for SPOT lighting.. What's the best as a fill light? can I use my 575 through a 4x silk? or will the kino be fine?

 

PICTURES WOULD BE GREAT!!! OR EXAMPLES!!

 

THANKS BOYS (and girls) Sorry about all the questions!!

:D

[Michael Nash]

You don't mention what ASA and/or f-stop you'll be working with, so no one can say if those units will be bright enough.

 

The photometrics of various lights are available in ther Harry Box book, "Set Lighting Technician's Handbook."

 

One thing to consider with 575's through the windows is the beam spread. 575's are realitively small units with smallish fresnels, so you don't get as much spread. Backing them up farther may exceed the dimensions of your tent or your desired footcandles.

[Mario C. Jackson]

Micheal made a good comment. First the film stock and the desired exposure need to determined. Nevertheless if your shooting on 500T or 320 T you could shoot at a T2.8 Of course you will probally have to flag and net off certain areas to get the negative fill.

Hope this Helps

[Justin Marx]

Sorry guys!! We're shooting HD (Sony F900)

I'm probably going to throw some diffusion on the windows and play with the distance of the 575 outside as much as I can.

 

Thanks!! Any pictures would be great..

[MatthewJClark]

If the hall isn't a day time interior, I'd go with a tungsten package. You can get more fixtures for the price and probably more overall output than the 575's you get. Tungsten fixtures are a lot easier for someone to loan or give you a deal on so easier to get the hook up. You can play with CTB to get the quality of blue you want. Choose 2K's or smaller and you won't have a problem with power. I've had good luck in schools with ample power, you just have to run stingers all over to extract that power. I love the 575, but it may be lacking in the punch or volumn you describe.

 

Check the gym and theater at the school. Many times, those areas have more power and a way to actually get to it in a break out box or snake kind of thing. Some schools actually planned for power consumption in those areas for plays and events.

 

Same goes for the hallway: use tungsten. Get the Kino, scrap the Dedo kit and get a pile of tungsten fixtures and a lot of flags and negative fill if you can squeeze it in. I like the look of Kino's with tracing paper on the doors or something heavy. You can get it in close and have it wrap nicely.

 

The other thing to consider is messing with the White Balance to get some cooler tones. Something worth testing out prior to shoot day.

 

Good Luck.

 

-m

[Justin Marx]

Wow, never really knew the major cost difference!! Thank you! I will look into it.. I'll let you know how it goes..

- - Justin