Street Ilumination Help

[Miguel Bunster]

Hi,

 

I have to iluminate a whole street and have the following ideas and wanted to have some opinions or ideas. First time I iluminate a big place like this. Here is a diagram

http://www.uniweb.cl/miguel.teitelboim/diagram1.html

 

My first option is the following: Hang a couple of 2k fresnels directly down of the light post and filter them with cto and white difusion. Between the lightpost and the fresnel I will place black cardboard to hide the lights, as seen in the following image

http://www.uniweb.cl/miguel.teitelboim/lightpost1.html

 

My second option is to bounce the 2k fresnel on a white cardboard to get a softer light and hide them with black card board as well, as seen in image http://www.uniweb.cl/miguel.teitelboim/lightpost2.html

 

Behind camera I will have a 1.2 HMI to give blue to the street and have some blue light on the building walls.

At the end where a car is parked I will have a 2.5 HMI pointing one way and a 2k fresnel pointng the other way.

Thats my base idea for this general frame where a car stops at the end of the street and a woman walks toward camera.

 

The equipment I have is the following:

 

Three 1.2 HMI

Two 2.5 HMI

Three 2K Fresnels

Four 600 Fresnels

Four 300 Fresnels

Two Mini Brutes

One four tube Kino

Arri BL camera with zoom lens.

 

I will upload later a photograph of the street.

 

I will be working with kodak 500 ASA film and my worries are the following. I dont want to make a spot light from each light post and second the Bl camera has a maximun Fstop of 2.8 I am more atracted to the bounce option in the lightpost but I am not sure if I will get the amount of light I need.

Some suggestions would be great.

I thank in you in advance.

Miguel.

[Kevin Zanit]

Getting that stop might be a little tricky. You may want to push the 500 some (what stock is it by the way?)

 

I would not try your idea of bouncing the light, you would loose way too much light.

 

My other problem is with your gel color choice. I have used the following in a pinch:

 

3 x 1/4 CTS

1 x 1/4 CTO

 

The diffusion is your call. I would use a light diffusion like 450 to just take the edge off the light.

 

I recently did a show on the Colorado St. Bridge in Pasadena, here are some pictures:

http://www.silver-gold.com/street/

 

That was two 9 lights bounced into a silk, and for backlight a 10k way down the bridge.

 

We were shooting Anamorphic (E series), so we were in the same sort of situation you were in. We ended still having to shoot at a 2.8, the goal was a 4.0.

 

Your diagram seems fine to me, only you can decide that sort of thing, but as I said you may want to push the 500 some.

 

Kevin Zanit

[Miguel Bunster]

Kevin,

 

Thanks for the ideas.

 

My worries about pushing the 500 is the grain, we want the least amount of grain and I dont know how much grain I will get by pushing.

 

Today I tested the lights and bouncing takes a lot of light away so no bouncing.

 

I didnt get the Gel color point. I want to get this strong color from the lights , like a mixture of orange and copper tone.

 

Why did you want to get a 4.0 stop and not a 2.8...There are a lot of reasons but why?

 

Here is a picture of the location I want to get a similar light...

http://www.uniweb.cl/miguel.teitelboim/fotocalle.html

 

Thanks!

From the South, Chile.

Miguel

[Kevin Zanit]

I suggested the colors, because that combination will get you closer to that orange street light look you are after.

 

We wanted a 4.0 because the anamorphic lenses perform better at that stop than they do wide open.

 

Are you shooting 5279, or 5218 (or any other 500 speed film)? If you can test a push process, that would be good. You can get away with a 1-stop push without much added grain (this is fairly subjective, so try to test).

 

 

Kevin Zanit

[Miguel Bunster]

Kevin,

 

Testing is not an option, as a matter of fact we bought two 400 feet cans of 200T and got some leftovers of other productions. 150 feet of 250D and 200 feet of 500T. I would love to test but no budget.

 

I will look for those filters. Thanks for the idea.

Miguel

[Bill Totolo]

At first I was going to recomend you use most of your fire power to back light the car then use what's left to create fill light and raise the base exposure. Your photograph changed my interpretation completely. It's a very ambient light, nothing spotty. It's a beautiful look.

 

I'd want to float some helium balloons but with the equipment you have I'm guessing that's not in the budget. I think pre-lighting will help out enormously to allow you time to tweak the look.

 

I think i'd be inclined to shoot just after the sun sets, at twilight, and bounce the lighting off strips of 4x8 beadboard. That's still not going to give you much but it might help you raise the base exposure level, add some illumination to the street and with gels help you get the color you like.

 

Or, if you like you can put your lighting on the roofs of the buildings, attach a couple 25 foot silks or bed sheets between the buildings and fire your lights into that for a toppy ambient soft light.

 

Unfortunately you said you can't test, but I'd be inclined to push a stop with the mentality that I'll remove some grain during telecine. I'm assuming this is not a print but a video finish. This would also give some options to raise the gamma a little and tweak the color in the sky.

 

You're shooting ASA500 so you need 20 fc's for a 2.8, you should get a rough idea of what you need in the pre-light. If you're getting less than that you may consider pushing a stop.

 

Opinions?

[Miguel Bunster]

Bill T,

 

Thanks, I will meet with my electrician now and iscuss the diferent options. The other issue is that I am short on time, We can only work four hours per night so I must be ultra efficient.

From the south.

Miguel

[Miguel Bunster]

Hi,

One more question, what is a good contrast ratio in this situation. I was planing to have some areas go black and others have them three points under, say the light post well exposed and surrounding areas three points underexposed, And on poeple have a ratio of 2-1 or 3-1. In 500 ASA going four points underexposure is to much, do I get some information on the negative?

Thanks

Miguel.

[Lucita Jones]

Bill> If you don´t mind, would you please explain to me how, by knowing how many fc are required to get a particular T stop, can one estimate how many lights and of which kind-one will have to use?

 

For instance, if my lighting design calls for 32 foot-candles of illumination, how could I estimate what lights I should order? I know it has much to do with personal taste, but how do YOU usually do this?

 

Thanks,

Lucita Jones

[David Mullen ASC]

It's mostly: (1) experience; (2) ordering a light that is brighter than you think you need, knowing you can scrim it down; (3) looking at the photometric data from the light's manufacturer -- they can tell you how many output footcandles in spot and flood at certain distances. I know it's published in the Mole Richardson catalog, for example. It may even be online somewhere.

[Wendell_Greene]

Miguel, is this for print or video? I second Bill's opinion that you can add contrast, tweak your color and reduce grain if you're going to telecine. 2-1 seems pretty flat for faces in a night exterior

 

 

Photometric information can be found online at several lighting manufacturer websites like Kino-Flo, Arri, Fisher Lights, Decapods c/o Mole Richardson, etc., as well as in Box's "Set Lighting Technician Handbook"