Lighting Kit

[Andrew Sohn]

I'm putting together a new lighting kit for doing almost entirely interviews.

Here's what I'm thinking:
Key - Lowel Rifa - 500W
Fill - Total w/umbrella - 500W
Hair - Lowel Pro-Light - 250W

What do you guys think?

[Jack D. Hubbard]

Hi Andrew,

What kind of camera are you using? I use a Rifa-44/250 for a Key and an NRG 100 with barndoors and a Sony 20W portable as a hair or rim light in some interviews and it looks great. I use an additional 250 for the background. The camera is a Z1 and the lighting requirements are pretty modest.

I also use a 1000 Softbox for a key in a larger setting and the 44 as a fill. It puts out a lot of light; I just got a Litepanels LCD light which is great as a low light to cut down on the wrinkles and the shadows.

Jack

[Andrew Sohn]

im using the DVX100A. How is the total w/umbrella as a fill?

[David Tamés]

I'd suggest deleting the Lowel Tota and Pro lights from the list adding some real Fresnel instruments, I'm fond of the Arri 1000W, 650W, 300W and 150W Fresnel units. A Fresnel is more versatile than a open faced instrument because in flood mode the Fresnel gives you a very hard, clean light that has the quality of sunlight and is easy to cut (cast clean shadows). Fresnels are especially good for lighting backgrounds and for use as a back light in interview settings.

Barn doors work well on Fresnels, they are much less effective on open-faced lights. I find the Fresnels more versatile members of my lighting kit because I can throw different amounts of diffusion on a Fresnel to adjust the quality of the beam, but with an open faced light you're stuck with their unique, "dirty" quality. Work with both types side by side and you'll see what I'm talking about, I've made lots of converts for the Fresnel camp when I've done the side-by-side thing in classes, you have to see it for yourself.

The Tota lights are OK when size and weight are the primary criteria and you want to pack lots of punch, they are fine off a bounce card or umbrella, for instance. Open faced lights are perfect for diffusing or bouncing or using as the basis for a soft box. But if you want a versatile kit, you'll have some Fresnel in the mix. As far as he Rifa goes, get the largest one you can, because the larger the light source, the more gradual the wrap you'll see on people's faces, the softer the light will be.

[Bill Ball]

The 500w Rifa will be great for key, although perhaps too much for small rooms with white walls. The Tota seems like overkill for fill. You could probably just use a bounce card in many instances. You cant go wrong with a Pro-Light with barn doors. An extremely flexible little unit. A small fresnel with a snoot also works well for hair and backlighting but look at the price difference between a Pro Light and and Arri 300.

I would go with the 500w Rifa and a Pro light. Get accessories for both (louvers, barn doors, quality stands, etc) and some pop open reflectors for fill. Dont forget a copy of Jackman's book while you are at it.

Play around with that and then buy what you need piece by piece as you want to experiment. That would be time to think about small flos and fresnels -- ebay can be your friend there.

[David Tamés]

Originally Posted by Bill Ball

The 500w Rifa will be great for key, although perhaps too much for small rooms with white walls. [...]

If spill is an issue, you can add Lowel's "Fabric Egg Crate" accessory to the Rifa. The reason to shoot with the largest possible soft light (in terms of the physical size, not the intensity of the lamp inside it) is the larger the size of the source, the softer the light will be on the subjects face (nicer wrap as some people describe it).