Which Light to use ?

[Dominik Muench]

Hi,

 

for an upcoming photo shoot i am looking for a light that gives me a very narrow and focused beam.

 

the picture will be of a ballett dancer on a stage and the beam of light should come from the left. the light would have to be around 10-12 meters away and will be the only light source (hopefully) in an otherwise completely dark theater. any suggestions on what to use ?

[Don Bachmeier]

Haze up the room if you want to see the beam and either use a real follow-spot or a theatrical ellipsoidal. You might get a similar effect with a barndoored fresnel with extra effort. You will most likely still need to have some soft fill in the rest of the shot if you want any sort of detail from the background.

 

If you use a real follow-spot be aware that some have a colder color temperature that either needs to be delt with or accepted as and effect.

[Dominik Muench]

Haze up the room if you want to see the beam and either use a real follow-spot or a theatrical ellipsoidal. You might get a similar effect with a barndoored fresnel with extra effort. You will most likely still need to have some soft fill in the rest of the shot if you want any sort of detail from the background.

 

If you use a real follow-spot be aware that some have a colder color temperature that either needs to be delt with or accepted as and effect.

 

 

hi,

 

thanks for the tip, yeah i was thinking of a follow spot too, but it might be that the beam itself is a bit too small in diameter, but ill give it a try.

 

color temp is not so much of an issue since the pics will be black and white.

[timHealy]

I'm not sure who makes them but the HMI follow spots one could use are a super trooper or gladiator. I have used them on music videos but it has been a few years. They each have several gel frames built in so that the operator could change colors for different scenes or even ND if they are too bright which they may be for your purposes. You can also change the size of the circle but admittedly they are made for longer throws and bigger venues. If only 30 feet away or so you could try just using a 750 watt Source four leko. You can get a variety of degrees for the spread. I think you can get 10, 19, 26, 35 and 50 degrees or something like that. Use them as a starting point and with the iris you can reduce the size of the circle a bit farther than that. If you need brighter you could easily put two or more right next to each other without any real perceivable double shadow.

 

Best

 

Tim

Edited April 11, 2006 by heel_e

[Dominik Muench]

hi tim,

 

 

that sounds very interesting, i just have to find a lighting rental place in germany that has such lights.

[timHealy]

If the film rental houses don't have them try the theatre rental houses.

 

The light:

http://www.etcconnect.com/products/products.asp?1

 

In Europe with a few in Gemany

http://www.etcconnect.com/contact/europe_d...rs_reps.asp#DEU

 

 

Best

 

Tim

[Dominik Muench]

In Europe with a few in Gemany

http://www.etcconnect.com/contact/europe_d...rs_reps.asp#DEU

Best

 

Tim

 

 

eeeexcellent, this one is right in my city hehe. thanks.

[Sol Train Saihati]

When we've been unable to get hold of source 4 theatre spots, or just don't want to, we always turn to Dedos. The 650 tungsten is awesome - although if you're any real distance from the subject, say more then 6 meters, you probably won't get the effect you want as you won't be at a high enough stop.

 

The 400 HMI is equally good and has a bit more belt, with a beautifully even spot to it. A projection attatchment is available for both if you need a real tight beam. The real bonus to using these heads is their versatility, as they can be also used for a variety of scenes outside the particular one your shooting.

 

They should be readily available in Germany too.

 

And no, I don't work for dedo.