Mario C. Jackson Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 Hey guys I am shooting a small short on the JVC HDV Pro. We are shooting at night time near a beach and we need a portable light unit. Preferrably something under $100. Do you know of anything that we can build or buy. Thanks Mario Concepcion Jackson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Irwin Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 What kind of shots are you planning on doing? Are you moving? You can power a low-wattage tungsten light from a car battery with a power inverter, just make sure to turn off the light when you're not rolling. Big-5 Sporting Goods sells a rechargable fluorescent light that takes a 2 ft. T12 lamp for around $30... with a wireless power switch. They're pretty handy for when you want to put light someplace in a pinch. If you can afford a corrected tube for it, it's even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grainy Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 Big-5 Sporting Goods sells a rechargable fluorescent light that takes a 2 ft. T12 lamp for around $30... with a wireless power switch. They're pretty handy for when you want to put light someplace in a pinch. If you can afford a corrected tube for it, it's even better. Any idea what the brand name/model is, Matt? I've gone hunting for lights like this, then get in the store and they don't seem to give much information on the package about the actual product (ie: "powerful beam for up to three hours!!") Thanks! G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Irwin Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 Any idea what the brand name/model is, Matt? I've gone hunting for lights like this, then get in the store and they don't seem to give much information on the package about the actual product (ie: "powerful beam for up to three hours!!")Thanks! G Unfortunately, I was clued into those lights on set by an electrician and didn't get a brand name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Lusas Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 Rio and I are both working on this shoot. Basically it's all stedi-cam on the beach. There are hotel lights lighting up part of the beach, and this light will be used to light from the water's edge. We've thought about a car battery with an inverter. Another option was to use a straight-up car battery and switch the bulb in the instrument to a 12v bulb. However, we're pretty sure that's not possible. Another idea was to get an HMI Joker light, but the local rental house is out of them for the shoot time. We're looking for other options. Thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Pritzlaff Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 If you are really looking at low budget and simple then get one of those portable spotlights from target or wal-mart - 3 million candles or something of that sort - and bounce it off a show card or other reflector. I had to use this method on a shoot a few months ago and it worked out pretty well. The color temp was a bit cool, but I was able to correct this in post just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grainy Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 If you are really looking at low budget and simple then get one of those portable spotlights from target or wal-mart - 3 million candles or something of that sort - and bounce it off a show card or other reflector. I had to use this method on a shoot a few months ago and it worked out pretty well. The color temp was a bit cool, but I was able to correct this in post just fine. Those portable lights are what I was talking about. I picked one up a couple years ago -- it claimed to be a "million candle power" but it was jsut an ungainly, ordinary flashlight. Maybe I got the wrong brand... G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Pritzlaff Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 Yah I was pretty happy with mine. Wal-mart now carries a 10 million version for under $40. See link below http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4532537 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mario C. Jackson Posted April 21, 2006 Author Share Posted April 21, 2006 Guys thanks so much for all your help. Hoopefully Mitch and I can post some frames up once everything is finished. Thanks Mario Concepcion Jackson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freya Black Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 Those portable lights are what I was talking about. I picked one up a couple years ago -- it claimed to be a "million candle power" but it was jsut an ungainly, ordinary flashlight. Maybe I got the wrong brand...G They are kind of nasty. I use one a fair bit and if you use it directly it has some nasty hotspots, as you might get from a flashlight! :) I can imagine it might work well bounced however. I've not tried it, but of course it is primitive. The flo's that the other fellow mentioned sound like a very interesting idea too. I bet you can find 12v flourecant sticks out there somewhere if you have a look about. I've got a tiny thing that runs off AA batteries. I've never tried to film using it but now I'm tempted to give it a go. :) I expect you would really need a bigger one, but I have seen them around! :) love Freya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Sandstrom Posted April 22, 2006 Share Posted April 22, 2006 somebody should sell a chimera for those. i might build my own. thanks for the heads up. /matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Phil Rhodes Posted April 22, 2006 Premium Member Share Posted April 22, 2006 http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/in...oduct_uid=42959 Incredibly cheap. P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Aldrich Posted April 26, 2006 Share Posted April 26, 2006 Hey guys I am shooting a small short on the JVC HDV Pro. We are shooting at night time near a beach and we need a portable light unit. Preferrably something under $100. Do you know of anything that we can build or buy. Thanks Mario Concepcion Jackson See this post I just made on the thread about Motorcycle Batteries, posted at 7:46 Pm: http://www.cinematography.com/forum2004/in...showtopic=13601 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Aldrich Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 (edited) http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/in...oduct_uid=42959 Incredibly cheap. P Hey, this is an interesting idea... computer case lights! I can see using something like this on a movie like "Collateral" (lots of car interior shots) where they used those flat panels like the lights that light up your cell-phone screen. They velcroed the complete interior of the car and just stuck lights whereever they needed some ghostly fill. But these things look even cheaper and maybe not as simple, but they at least come with an inverter that probably works off twelve volts... But for lots of light, I still like the HID lights from an expensive high-tech car. Runs nice and cool, only drawa a few amps, has a white light, 2 or 3 times that of tungsten! I just shot an interview with one of these and the light ran off a regular UPS battery for 24 minutes before winking off...but the light stayed the same brightness and was the key light and the image looked great. These lights are expensive but I got them from wrecked cars for free, and mounted one inside a china ball for a nice, soft key. For more info, here's a Google search for "HID lighting": http://tinyurl.com/s7nb5 Edited April 30, 2006 by Robert Aldrich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Sandstrom Posted May 11, 2006 Share Posted May 11, 2006 (edited) somebody should sell a chimera for those. i might build my own. thanks for the heads up ok, i bought a 3 million fc one, i think it was. the reflector is very big so just taping some half diffusion on the glass creates the chimera effect. it creates a very even 25 cm disc of light. here are a few stills from a scene i lit with it. shot on 16mm vision2 200t at f/1.1. the light was handheld maybe 2 meters away. for full res as well as more stills from the same music video, look here: http://www.filmshooting.com/scripts/gallery/forum3/apee /matt Edited May 11, 2006 by mattias Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isaac_klotz Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 If you are really looking at low budget and simple then get one of those portable spotlights from target or wal-mart - 3 million candles or something of that sort - and bounce it off a show card or other reflector. I had to use this method on a shoot a few months ago and it worked out pretty well. The color temp was a bit cool, but I was able to correct this in post just fine. i saw a 15million candle power at costco, easily the biggest flashlight ive seen. it looked more like a satallite dish.. = ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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