Trying to light a music video with a minimal interview lighting kit!

[Richard Lapthorn]

Hi guys,

 

I have a friend who has been let down with regard to having a music video made for the imminent release of her new single. She has asked me to step in to film something this Sunday, in a big warehouse like space. The problem is, due to having been shafted by the people who were previously meant to make her video, she now has zero budget!

 

I'm happy to try and help out but the only lights I have are for interview purposes.

 

1 x 150w Dedo soft fill light

1 x 1000w Starlite octodome soft light

2 x 150w Dedo hard lights

 

The only lenses I have for my Panasonic Af101 are the Lumix 14-140mm and 20mm pancake

 

The location is a massive disused TV studio which I have no access to it until the day of the shoot

 

http://location-collective.co.uk/location-detail.html?id=8498&cid=714

 

There are three girls in the band; Singer, drummer and bass player.

 

I'm wondering if I can use the limited lighting available to some kind of stylistic effect. Arrange the girls with lead singer in front with drummer and bass player just behind to the left and right of her. Then position the two dedo hard lights, slightly above and behind the drummer and bass player, pointing towards camera, creating flare and causing the girls to be silhouetted. After that set up the two soft lights left and right of the camera to light the singer. For tighter shots of the other two, I will move the soft lights in closer.

 

I am also going to film the three girls smashing up their equipment in slo-mo, which will then be played backwards throughout the video, until at the end everything is fixed again. I figure I can use the same trick of hard lights behind them to give an interesting look.

 

This works ok in my head, but then I remember I'm trying to make a music video with some low wattage interview lights. Am I being incredibly naive here? Or could this be a way of making the most of zero budget and minimal lighting to get an interesting look?

 

Answers on a postcard to the usual address please

[Jad Beyrouthy]

Things you have to keep in mind are:

You're gona have a very shallow depth of field, your light sources are weak in intensity resulting in a wide open aperture.

The slow mo shots are going to be hard to accomplish due to the lack of lighting, you should try to put the lights as close as possible to your subjects to gain intensity or go up with you ASA or gain.

 

The rig you are thinking about is pretty cool but if you want to push the style a little bit more, try renting or making your own light dimmer (mixer) and play with your lights if it suits the mood of the song.

The dimmer should cost nothing, you need about a 2K 5 channels mixer.

 

Good luck and let us know what happens.

Regards,

Jad Beyrouthy,

Cinematographer,

Beirut, Lebanon