Natural daylight beams of light - realism

Ed David · February 18, 2017

Hi guys

Just saw Dayveon at the Berlinale film festival - gorgeous film by Dustin Lane. I am seeing how he made this super natural daylight beam hitting his bed?

I always try to make a beam, using a joker 800 or jo leko and it always feels kind of fake - is it just using some 1/4 or 1/2 cto on the light - and maybe it is a jo-leko?

thanks

David Mullen ASC · February 18, 2017

A little warmth helps.

If you want the sharp parallel rays of light, either you need to use a big light from farther away (could be anything if it is far enough) or a projected beam type unit like a leko or xenon. Trouble with those, particularly lekos, is that the beam is so narrow, it won't fill most windows. I've sometimes clustered a couple of lekos together to look like one sunlight beam that was broken up into a couple of parallel shafts.

Phil Rhodes · February 18, 2017

Nobody seems to make a really powerful collimated-beam spotlight of any kind.

There's no 2.5kW source four, for instance. Well, there's followspots, I guess. Sometimes those are 1200W; Super Troupers can be 2kW xenons, although xenon is quite a bit less efficient than HMI at actually motivating photons.

Edit: Strong (the company which makes the Super Trouper) also has the Gladiator, at 4kW. Cor blimey, guv'nor.

P

Miguel Angel · February 18, 2017

There is also the 4K Molebeam which creates a really parallel, big and perfect shaft of light.. but then.. it is not as small as a joleko, but not as big as a 24K either

Mark Kenfield · February 18, 2017

The Molebeams are gorgeous, and the 1200w Dedo HMI is pretty brilliant too (the precision of the beam gives you a lot more bang for your buck).

Another really interesting option is the Dedo 1200w inserted into the parallel beam projector of the Cinereflect Lighting System.

Ed David · February 19, 2017

Thanks so much for these - double leko sounds cool or double joker. And a m18 sounds still the most versatile for a low-budget - putt-putt generator 2500w guy for lighting.

Thanks again guys

Ed

Alexandros Angelopoulos Apostolos · February 19, 2017

Has anyone here used any of the Luminys Softsun lights? Does it produce what it’s name seems to suggest – a kind of artificial version of diffused sunlight? :) Obviously then not something Ed wants, but just wondering.

Or perhaps I’m equating “soft” with “diffused”, and it’s not the same thing.

Edited February 19, 2017 by Alexandros Angelopoulos Apostolos

David Mullen ASC · February 19, 2017

The 100K SoftSun is about 10' x 3', which is what determines its softness, though I'm sure it doesn't fill its fixture evenly from corner to corner. If it were only 200W but the same dimensions, it would be the same degree of softness. But a 10' wide source would generally be considered soft, though usually a unit like this is far away to get a wider spread, so it's not that soft anymore. But I'm sure it would fill a 30' x 15' diffusion frame quite nicely and evenly.

Stuart Brereton · February 19, 2017

Nobody seems to make a really powerful collimated-beam spotlight of any kind.

Molebeams go up to 10kw in Tungsten and 12kw in HMI. Beautiful, nearly parallel rays.

The SpectroLab Nightsun Xenons used on Police helicopters pack a hell of a punch, but they are not particularly well adapted for film use.

JD Hartman · February 19, 2017

Might be hard to find outside of the EU: http://www.pani.com/cms/index.php/en/the-products

Phil Rhodes · February 19, 2017

That's okay, molebeams are hard to find inside the EU...

timHealy · February 20, 2017

Molebeam is just the Mole Richardson name. Maybe in some older european studio you can find a beam projector. I saw a few old beam projectors at Paskal Lighting in California in the mid 90's. Apparently someone found them in an old junk pile in a studio. They dusted them off and started renting them. During the music video heyday of the 90's, they must have been popular. Mole must have gotten wind of them then and brought them back to life a few years later with the Molebeam tag. I seem to recall I stated seeing them in the late 90's/ early oughts.

JD Hartman · February 20, 2017

In the UK: http://www.whitelight.ltd.uk/shop/all-hire-products/followspots/wlflblrv500/

I had a pile of older Reich & Vogel, 24 volt 1K beam projectors. Sadly no transformers to run them on.

Phil Rhodes · February 20, 2017

Only 500W, though. Barely worth the trouble. I'm also slightly amused by the fact that they describe something like that as "ideal for use... as a followspot."

Err.

JD Hartman · February 20, 2017

Only 500W, though. Barely worth the trouble. I'm also slightly amused by the fact that they describe something like that as "ideal for use... as a followspot."

Err.

Much brighter than you think and at a very large throw. I'll have to look up specs for the 1k lamp, it's not the same as an EGT globe or the 240v equivalent.