Shooting in a hotel.

[Josh D Ford]

Hey gang, my first post here. :) I am in early preproduction for a film most likely to be shot on 35mm or 16mm that will take place on location in a hotel. A hallway, a hotel room and the front desk are the 3 main areas at the location. I am trying to figure out what the best way to light this would be. I have access to a great deal of lighting equipment (from my school) but am concerned over power (electricity) issues. There is a possibility of renting a generator but that would cause a host of other problems and may not be in the budget. The room of course isn't lit very brightly by existing practicals (like most hotels) and neither is the hallway or front desk for that matter. I'm sure some higher wattage bulbs could be used in the room to brighten up the practicals but I don't think the same would be possible for the other areas. Is there a way to do this very simply and still have it look good? Is a generator the only way? A bunch of foamcore maybe? ;) Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks folks.

[Michael Nash]

There was a whole thread a few months ago about lighting a motel room with little power, so search the archives for that.

 

Kino-flo lights draw next to nothing for power, and povide a soft, controllable light for small spaces. Next to that, 1200W HMI pars give the most punch for a single 20 amp circuit. So for example you could use the HMI to source sunlight through a window, then fill with Kinos.

 

Lighting hallways is always a challenge, as at some point you'll always want to see down the length of the hallway, giving you no place to hide lights or cables. Yet if you don't light up the hallway in the distance, it LOOKS like you just lit the foreground. Sometimes the best solution to this is to find a piece of the hallway where there's a corner or room to the side where you can hide a light.

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

Something I've had in the past is people not wanting to rent HMIs and kinos (they're kind of expensive) because they don't understand the efficiency issue. What these people need is a carefully-written breakdown of the comparative costs of renting a generator. You'll get your discharge lamps...

 

Phil

[DavidSloan]

You can try to use a 1k off a foamcore to fill the room with ambient light and then use a few small sources to "paint."

 

How about rigging issues...Is the space friendly for rigging? You can always toss a few pools on light on the floor of the hallway with small instruments. Why don't you talk to the people in the hotel and find out how many amps circuits you have to play with? If you have access to a bunch of 20 amp circuits, you'll be just fine...unless you're lighting the ballroom scene from The Shining :o

 

~Sloan

[Josh D Ford]

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys! What are your opinions on exchanging the existing practial bulbs? Would that make a noticeable difference (along with the other lighting) and be worth the cash?

[Michael Nash]

That may help raise up the ambient light level to get a more healthy exposure, but you'll still have to supplement with movie light to balance for the brightness of the practical. The more you rely on practicals for exposure, the hotter they will appear and start to burn out on film.

 

If you're using a fast stock it's not uncommon to put practicals on dimmers instead, so you can knock them down relative to the exposure you get from your movie lighting.

 

It's not a bad idea to have photofloods on hand. But if you're so tight on cash that you can't afford to carry a box on standby, then you need to be VERY specific during your scout about where you might need them.

[Josh D Ford]

Well the budget isn't THAT tight. :) Speaking of film stock, would it be advisable to go with something like 800T in this sort of situation, or if we end up able to bring in/power more lights than previously thought would 320T or 500T 5279 be better choices? Even if we are able to get up more lights, would 800T still be a better choice?

[David Mullen ASC]

The new 5218 500T stock is better than 800T. It's better even if you push '18 by one stop and rate it at 800 ASA, but it would be better if you didn't need to push it.

[Josh D Ford]

Well, it looks like we'll be shooting Fuji. The new F-500 is supposed to be a great stock, anyone have experience with it? Also I'm wondering because it will be winter how safe it is to have lights outside? Of course it's possible, movies ARE shot in the winter. I'm just not sure if there are extra safety precautions. If I throw up a 10K HMI or something similar outside the window for sunlight do I have to cover that somehow so that snow doesn't get inside or something? One more thing: ;) If I'm using kino's and an HMI as my primary light source for the hotel room does it still make sense to use Tungsten balanced film? I don't want the room to be *that* well lit anyway and may be gelling the lights (CTO) as well.

[Michael Nash]

500 speed film should be more than adequate for a hotel interior with small lights. No need to push unless you're planning on shooting in really dark areas, or you need a really high f-stop for some reason.

 

There's no such thing as a 10K HMI ;) . But seriously, if you were using something that big (12K par or 10K tungsten) then you'd better have an electric crew who knows what they're doing. HMI's have dedicated cables and ballasts, and large wattage lights like a 10K tungsten require 100 amp bates connections, which come from the distro and genny (that you don't have) ;)

 

But otherwise there are standard procedures to protect lights from weather, and again you're best off relying on a crew who knows at least a little bit about it. You keep the cable connections out of the water or snow by putting them up on apple boxes, and covering them with visquine if there's heavy precipitation coming down. Same with the ballasts, but make sure they can ventilate. It's really best to keep the cables dry as well in case there's a break in the insulation, but this is rarely practical. Just don't immerse the cables.

 

The lights themselves are protected from above with blackwrap (for small lights like 1200 pars or 2K tungstens on down), and "rain hats" for bigger lights. You put a 4x4' frame of gel, or even a 4x4' solid on a stand and make a little roof over the light, angling it slightly so the water runs off and doesn't pool. Leave a little space above the light for ventilation.

 

Tungsten balanced film is fine with daylight-balanced lighting, even in low level light. An 85 filter only eats up 2/3 stop, and if you really need the extra lens aperture you can switch to an LLD filter, or even shoot uncorrected if need be and color time it later.

 

When you say you might be gelling the lights CTB, does that mean your tungsten lights, or are you planning on making your daylight sources EXTRA blue? In any case, Fuji makes a daylight-balanced 500 speed stock.

[Josh D Ford]

First off thanks again for another great response!

 

Just to give a bit more information. This is a student shoot I will be directing. I have some knowledge about lighting/electric but I figured this was the best place to ask all of those questions I need to fill in the blanks. I will also be working with a DP who has experience with film. As a director, I need/want to know everything I can about whats going on with my shoot. I like to be as prepared as possible and have as much knowledge about all of the aspects of filmmaking pertaining to my shoot. Thus I'm here learning and planning. There is still the possibility of renting a genny, as this shoot won't be until January/February. It's looking like it would be too much of a hassle though. Guess it all depends on the locations specifics. (How many 20 amp circuits we have etc.) As well, sorry to confuse, I had actually meant to say CTO (not CTB).