Lighting on ultra low budget short

[Deji Joseph]

I am prepping for a 5 minute student short film with a budget of £100 for lighting gear. Most of the action takes place outside so I am using a reflector, I was considering using frames and diffusion fabric but we have decided to shoot without them. For indoor scenes i was considering purchasing a sub 500 watts work light like

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingavon-BB-HL103-Portable-Class-Halogen/dp/B000FTAFW4/ref=sr_1_14?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1310061323&sr=1-14

 

I was wondering if i anyone has any suggestions on a suitable low cost reflective material, a possible stand for it and a way of controlling spill.

 

Thanks

 

Dj

[Brian Drysdale]

Why don't you rent the lights?

 

If you're only filming for one day you can rent quite a few lights for £100, plus you don't waste time trying to get improvised lights rigged.

[Phil Rhodes]

You won't get rental gear for £100; the insurance will cost you more than that.

[Brian Drysdale]

You won't get rental gear for £100; the insurance will cost you more than that.

 

Depends where you hire it from and what sort of insurance you already have. However, I wouldn't go to one of the big film lighting rental companies. We used to rent theatre lights from the local university for example.

 

Certainly you can buy work lights and other lighting units from DIY and builder's merchants, they'll work fine. You can use poly boards for reflectors and paint one side black to act as flags as required - you can buy these from DIY stores.

[Pete Wallington]

Yeah that's inaccurate in my experience, you can easily get Small tungsten units Plus a kino for £100 for the day in London. Even if you don't have insurance most rental companies will add it on for no more than 10% extra.

 

Practical bulbs and some china balls are the cheapest way to light on a low budget. Go to ikea, grab some paper lanterns, and a couple of meters of cheap muslin and black material and you're away.

Edited July 9, 2011 by Pete Wallington