ENG Lighting...

Gary McClurg · December 28, 2007

I was wondering what people use besides an onboard lights for doing interviews lets say in a restaurant kitchen where you can?t set up lights?

Is there a kind of small portable light you could kind of rig on a pole? just thinking out loud?

Kiarash Sadigh · December 28, 2007

Hanging a chinese lantern at the end of a boom is a good way of detaching the on board weight from your shoulder...I've made a small rig with an 18 inch china ball and hung a triple light bulb socket inside...you can hang daylight energy saving bulbs in there....in fact, this adaptor is only good for energy saving bulbs other wise the heat from three regular tungs maybe too much for the paper to handle....hope it helps

Brian Dzyak · December 28, 2007

I was wondering what people use besides an onboard lights for doing interviews lets say in a restaurant kitchen where you can?t set up lights?

Is there a kind of small portable light you could kind of rig on a pole? just thinking out loud?

I don't quite understand the question. :( When you say that you can't set up lights, do you mean you can't put a light on a stand and plug it into the wall? So you're looking for something that runs off a battery or gets power from the camera battery?

The standard "news" sungun has never been an acceptable lighting instrument. In a pinch, I've set a LightPanel up with a Cstand using its own battery to provide relatively quick and acceptable illumination. But if I have time to do that, then I usually have time to break out an ARRI 650 w/Chimera and at least get a decent key light going. And while I'm doing that, the Producer will start bsing with the talent so I milk my time enough to rig a backlight on a Cstand. Then I gauge their conversation to determine if I have another 90 seconds to get some kind of background light going.

Of course if I'm not allowed to do anything due to time or space or power restrictions, I just try to find the spot in the room that will provide the most pleasing light on the subject as well as providing a desired background.

But that's just me. :)

Michael Nash · December 28, 2007

I'd say it depends on the nature of the shoot. If it's just a quick sound bite or "man on the street" type question, you may not have time or ability to set up any lighting. In that case you do try to position the subject in whatever flattering light you can manage, and I sometimes carry on onboard Frezzi light for fill -- not key -- for harsher lighting conditions. The only time I'll use an onboard light for exposure is run-and-gun documentary stuff at night (like ride-alongs with the fire department and such), and even then I use as small an amount as possible (dimming the light).

If you have access to power, and an assistant who can help you, sometimes you can simply carry around a small light with a Chimera on a lightweight stand, and use that as key and/or fill along with the available lighting. Put it on a dimmer, and bring basic color correction gels to balance it with the ambient lighting.

Otherwise, if you're going to light it, you should just go ahead and light it...

Gary McClurg · December 28, 2007

I don't quite understand the question. Of course if I'm not allowed to do anything due to time or space or power restrictions, I just try to find the spot in the room that will provide the most pleasing light on the subject as well as providing a desired background.

Yes in a nut shell this is it... just wondering besides an onboard light... like someone said... maybe do the china ball... with a battery operated flo light... to brigthen up the background a bit...

Gary McClurg · December 28, 2007

If you have access to power, and an assistant who can help you, sometimes you can simply carry around a small light with a Chimera on a lightweight stand, and use that as key and/or fill along with the available lighting. Put it on a dimmer, and bring basic color correction gels to balance it with the ambient lighting.

This was also sort of my idea... have something on oh can't think of the name... tired from writing last night... but a one-legged tripod... have a light on it... ready to go... so an assistant can move around quickly find the power and be out of the way if possible...

In other words what I've heard some of the shoot is interviewing people in a casino... so we can't stop and set up lights... and shooting stuff in the back of the kitchen also...

Thanks so far for all the advice...

Brian Dzyak · December 28, 2007

Assistant? I wish I could get one on more of my shoots! :lol: It's usually me, the Sound Mixer, and a "Producer."

If we're moving quickly through a location, grabbing interviews and B-roll, I usually have my magliner built with all the gear on it just in case. So I'll also keep that one key light built so that I or the Soundperson can grab it and get it up before the "Producer" has finished coaching the talent.

Sander van de kerkhof · December 28, 2007

I have used a fluorecent light that is used by car mechanics when they are working under a car, It's a handheld box with a couple of tubes in it that are around 4300K so i placed a 1/4 CTO and some diffusion in front of it to get it to the right temperature and rewired it to run of an anton bauer battery.

But most of the time when i do ENG there isn't even time to get out a light and there is no assistent (on most of the television shows anyway) so i position the person en such a way that the excisting light hits the person from the side where the reporter is standing and use a frezzi sun gun with a small chimera for a fill to bring op the face to a decend exposure level.

Sander,