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Hanging lights 4 ft down from ceiling grid


Rick Gates

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So I'm planning a shoot where I'll build a speedrail ceiling grid in a tight 7x10 alcove with 10 ft ceilings. I'm planning on two wall-spreaders/pipe-stretchers, for the 7 ft span, and then 4 cheeseboros to add a couple of 10 ft cross rails. This should allow me to light the wide shot the way I want. The talent is seated below.

 

However, when we get to the mediums and the closeups, I'd like to drop a light down behind the talent and get a nice reverse key. I could probably boom in a light from outside the alcove, though it would be a hassle.

 

But it occurred to me that if I could just drop a 4 ft piece of speedrail from the ceiling grid, and put a cardellini on the end of that, I could pretty much hang light anywhere I want in the alcove. (Note: All my lights are LEDs of less than 10 lbs.)

 

My question is about how to attach the vertical 4 ft piece. My inclination is to use another cheeseboro to hang the 4-ft speedrail. But would that be safe?

 

Or would it be better to do all the wide shots first, and then bring down the whole ceiling grid for the mediums and closeups?

 

ceiling+grid.jpg?format=500w

Edited by Rick Gates
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In most cases youd use a stirrup to come down from a grid but that would be too much weight for your rig. I would simply do a 40 c-stand arm from a baby grid clamp and come straight down from the pipe, it should get you close enough. Id avoid anything that torques on the spreader pipe too much.

 

Also you may want to put in the 10 sections as needed to keep weight down overall. Consider 8, if the room is exactly 10 long then a piece of pipe that length could be tough to maneuver in there. When you do have the option to light from a floor, Id do that, as spreaders can be fickle and it looks like there are no places to safety the rig to.

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OK, I've come up with what I think will work for dropping lights into the alcove behind the talent for the seated mediums and closeups.

 

(In the images below, please note that the goal post simply simulates the wall-spreaders/pipe-stretchers that I'll put up high in the alcove)

 

I used 3 pieces of speedrail and 4 cheeseboros to create a U-shaped structure hanging down behind the talent. The bottom of the U can hold whatever lights I need. Again, all my lights are LEDs so I'm not talking about much weight.

 

So what do you think of this approach? Safety? Efficiency?

 

drop+down+1.jpg?format=300w

 

drop+down+2.jpg?format=500w

 

drop+down+3.jpg?format=500w

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Why not just put the light on the top pipe, get rid of everything else, and use the risers on the stands to lower it all together just out of your frame? They also make stirrups or drop-downs that make lowering a light from a pipe grid fairly quick.

 

he wont be using stands when he goes to use this set up- he will have fixed height grid.

 

This photo is just to test the rig.

 

he is also in Eugene OR, I imagine he doesn't have access to a lot of grip like stirrups.

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Here's the ceiling grid we put up:

 

20180610_074917.jpg?format=500w

 

This was a low key piece, so we ended up not dropping lights further down from the grid because they didn't make much difference compared to the flex-light over the table.

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