What are some uses for an HMI

[Devin Gibson]

Good day everyone, this may be a noob question but it would be really helpful to get this answered, I've been a lurker on this wonderful forum for a long time, and finally decided to post something.

 

I noticed a lot of dp's use HMI lighting but im intetested in the popular use of blasting them through windows. I also seen other non hmi lights like 5k's being blasted through windows. Why is that? Whats does it do for the scene (i know it depends on the mood etc but genreally speaking?) so if you guys can just explain some situations where you blast a strong light source through the window you will be enhancing my knowledge. Feel free to rant as you see fit.

 

Thanks so much in advance

Edited March 17, 2016 by Devin Gibson

[Adrian Sierkowski]

You generally do it to mimic sun coming through the windows.
the choice of HMI and Tungsten is partly practical (HMIs are much more power efficient, though also more expensive to rent) as well as artistic (HMIs are by default roughly daylight balanced where as Tungsten will go warm if you are shooting with a daylight balanced camera system) and partly taste (some people prefer the skin tones of a corrected or uncorrected tungsten -v- those of an hmi-- I tend to fall into this group, though rare is it that you can afford to power the really big tungsten units -v- a much smaller HMI for the same effect)

 

As a general rule, HMIs are the de-facto, though there are myriad exceptions to this rule.

As for how it looks-- generally they'll look like sunlight of some kind streaming through a window, often very hard, and sometimes you diffuse them first, or use curtains to diffuse them.

 

The reason to light through a window is that, well, often, I think it lends a bit of "realism" to things-- that there is a source, even if we don't see it, that we kinda feel is further away coming into a space. Sometimes too you may have a wide shot of the whole room and you'll need to have units outside to hide them.

 

Also we often want to control the light-- since the sun moves-- this means either blocking it out (tenting) and then making our own, or using a HUGE light to overpower it relative to the set.

[Mark Kenfield]

Adrian summed it up pretty perfectly. The only thing I'd add, is that the fixture that you really want coming through the window is a 'Molebeam' - it's the purtiest darned light I ever done saw!

[Adrian Sierkowski]

Molebeams are pretty awesome (and after my own heart!) Actually-- do they make a HMI version of a Molebeam?

 

(edit it's st patricks day and I confused a mole-beam with a moleipso)

[Mark Kenfield]

I've never heard of a Moleispo, quick google shows it's an ellipsoidal? Looks cool.

 

I still like Molebeams more :wub: they come in 2.5k/4kw switchable HMI format as well as tungsten.

[Adrian Sierkowski]

Yep it's basically a larger Leko-- really nice. I personally like the iris of it.

But yet; Molebeams <3.

I also like, though haven't used in a long time, old-schook 5K SkyPans.

[JD Hartman]

Yep it's basically a larger Leko-- really nice. I personally like the iris of it.

But yet; Molebeams <3.

I also like, though haven't used in a long time, old-schook 5K SkyPans.

 

Others may disagree, but the Molebeam and it's ilk are decendants of the beam projectors used in older European opera houses that were very deep. Pani still makes them, Reich and Vogel was another maker. http://www.pani.com/cms/index.php/en/products-en/lighting