Name of greenish tube lights

[Petter Englund]

Good evening,

 

Looking to recreate this greenish fluorescent light look as seen on the photos below.

Does anyone know what that kind of tube/light is called?

 

It's probably a less modern type of fluorescent light. I have seen these greenish looking tubes in real life in less lavish gas stations and supermarkets etc. The light has a bit of an "UV-light look".

 

The greenish effect can for sure be done in post using regular kinos with no filters on set, but I'd really like to know what these tubes are called and if there are any specific Lee / Rosco lighting filters that would mimic this look so it can be done on set?

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 14, 2018 by Petter Englund

[Phil Rhodes]

What they're doing is simulating the look of very old-style fluorescent tubes which had colour rendering so poor that they looked roughly like that on film.

 

You could probably get close by using actual very-bad fluorescent tubes; very cheap types labelled "cool white" are the place to start. The issue is that tubes that bad are really only typical of very old technology that isn't really made anymore. It's one of those things that everyone has in their visual memory that actually represents something that hasn't been common for decades. Digital cameras don't render the colour error in the same way as film, and even the very cheapest modern tubes are likely to be of the warm white variety. They're bad, but they tend to look sickly yellow, not cyanotic.

 

So, you may be better off getting a quality tube, such as a Kino-Flo or something from the Philips Graphica range, and gelling it to suit based on tests.

 

P

[Brenton Lee]

I had the same question a few years ago, found this thread below and gained many answers.

 

http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=7980

[Stuart Brereton]

Cool White tubes will give you this look. If you want to do it with gels, LEE 213 White Flame Green is a good place to start.

[Giacomo Girolamo]

Some cheap LED light has the same quality of greenish (which is a problem in general, but here kind play in your favor).

[Phil Rhodes]

I find LEDs tend to be more cyanish, but you can get something similarly desaturated and nasty. Just get some cool white LED strip from ebay.

 

Or, get red, green and blue, and mix them together until you get something you like!

 

P

[David Mullen ASC]

Cheapest Cool White tubes you can find with the camera balanced for 3200K.