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Ring of Light


Hunter Jones

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I'm shooting a 5-10 minute student short film next weekend and I wanted to ask some lighting questions.

 

The film will be lit resembling a play like atmosphere. I wanted a ring of light around a dining table. I thought the best way to do this was to extend the C-Stand arm far enough out so the light would beam down creating this effect.

 

I was told by some people that it would be too much weight and the light/c-stand would be in visible in the wide-shots, which now I can see how it would be!

 

An alternative that people suggested was to secure a light-weight mirror on the ceiling, aim the light at the mirror. Then would beams down on the table, giving the effect that I want.

 

Any suggestions?

Edited by Hunter Jones
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Depending on the size of the light, it's very possible to extend a c-stand arm out over a table. If you need to double up on arms, you might need to put a sand bag on the back end of the arm to balance out the weight. Also make sure you have tons of sand bags for the legs.

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The mirror thing could work but it seems like it would be more work to control the light, soften it, etc. Usually these rigs involve a snoot or blackwrap to really keep the light focused on the table.

 

Kinda just depends what you want. Theres really a ton of ways to do it. But as far as those two options go, its not something that is incredibly time consuming either way. You could always just try both. If the effect you want is the light overhead, id try that first.

 

You could also just rig the light to the ceiling or run some speedrail across the table to attach the light to if its a heavy unit.

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Rigging from the ceiling would be good, you won't have to redo a stand if it's in your shot, so either ceiling, polecat or wallspreader. If you are going to use a stand, a menace arm would work out better than a C-Stand arm depending on the light you are using. You'll be able to put a lot more weight on it and also rig other things off it as well.

Edited by Michael K Bergstrom
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