Gels for a music video

[JD Hartman]

I'm looking for some suggestion on what gels to use in a music video shoot. The DP hasn't made any lighting suggestion other than: doesn't want it overly bright; wants various colored pools of light in the scene. The lead in the MV will be walking around the set (bar), lipsyncing to his pre-recorded track. I have a number of blue and red "party gels", but the rest of my kit consists of the typical CTB, CTO, ND, diffusion, minus green, etc. Any suggestions for greens, oranges or yellows? The location also contains many neon bar signs that are overly bright. I was just going to ND some of them and turn others off. Any other ideas?

[Ed Nyankori]

I'm looking for some suggestion on what gels to use in a music video shoot. The DP hasn't made any lighting suggestion other than: doesn't want it overly bright; wants various colored pools of light in the scene. The lead in the MV will be walking around the set (bar), lipsyncing to his pre-recorded track. I have a number of blue and red "party gels", but the rest of my kit consists of the typical CTB, CTO, ND, diffusion, minus green, etc. Any suggestions for greens, oranges or yellows? The location also contains many neon bar signs that are overly bright. I was just going to ND some of them and turn others off. Any other ideas?

 

Im assuming your shooting digital so you can get an idea of how the neons will read. so nd them or you can use screen/scrim to knock them down a little. Screen (like window screen from home depot) isn't reflective and tends to disappear better than the shiny substrate of ND gel.

 

As far as color you can use the neon color to motivate some ambiience or backlight. Maybe shifting colors from series to series. (ie a red series, a blue series, etc) then let the editor work with some variety. Dont force the color though I think thats a slipery slope that must be well thought out and coordinated with the set dressing, wardrobe,etc... Oopps gotta relight