are these PARs any good for dv lighting?

[Djee Smit]

I don't know that much about lighting but I do need to do some lighting for an upcoming (verly lowbudget) videoclip so here's my question:

Are these PAR 56 lights any good for lighting an indoor setting. They are pretty cheap and go up to 500w. We are probably shooting with an 35 mm adapter, and I believe that causes lightloss, so will this be enough?

The lighting will be done with a couple of PAR 56 with 300W lamp and a Multipar with a light output of PAR 64 1000W and 4 interchangable lensen (from flood to narrow)

Maybe I completely missed some things but I hope you guys can help me a bit further or advise me on what I can do better

[Matt Irwin]

Whether or not your lighting kit will be enough depends somewhat on the size and layout of the location/set.
What's "a couple" 300 par56? 2-3? And you also have one 1k PAR narrow spot equivalent? That might be enough, might not. Couldn't hurt take some bounce and diffusion as well....

What kind of scene is it?

[Djee Smit]

The scene is a girl sitting behind her desk writing and behind her is a wall with pictures. The location is an empty shed (pretty dark insite). The girl and desk and the wall behind her should be lighted and the rest should be dark. The look is pretty industrial or 'abstract' and doesn't really have to look like a real room or anything. Aslong as the girl and wall are good visible

I was thinking about getting 2, maybe 3 300 par56 and that 1k par. The thing is that they are pretty cheap and that because of that I had the feeling that I am completely missing something, because I mostly heard that lighting was pretty expensive.

[Charles Hohenshilt]

This sounds doable.
The thing about Pars is that they are specular (spotty) and harder to cut than Fresnel's. Yet they put out a tremendous amount of light.

Use the Par 64 to simulate sun coming in a window raking your wall. Now, you might want to get a 1k variac because that par has a lot of punch. When you dim the par the color will get warmer like sunset. You can put some CTB in front of the light to make it look more white if you wish. If you have a wide lens use it. The Par 64 is focusable by turning the bulb or lens (with the ETC source 4 par). It will not spot or flood that is why you have different bulbs/lenses. You may want to put a topper on the light to make it look like the top of the window is cutting it. Use diffusion or not, it's your choice. It will make the cut softer. This may not be desirable.

For you subject's key you have the par 56s. I would put the key coming from the same direction as the sun.
You might want to experiment with these to see what you like the most. (experimenting=time) Either go direct through some diffusion, or use a large bounce card. I suggest a wide lens for this. The larger the light source the softer the light will be. The diffusion and card become the light source at this point so try to get them close to the subject or make them larger if they need to be further away. Another light source you could make is a book light. This is a combination of 4'x4' bounce and 4' roll diffusion, usually used if space is limited. Put the light on a beaver board on the floor pointing up place the bounce card at a 45degree angle or so over the light using a C-stand. Try to fill as much of the card with the beem of light as you can. Aim it at your subject. High ceilings help. Drape a large sheet of diffusion in front of the card. It looks like a leen too or tent for the light. The light that is emitted is very soft. For the book light you might want to use 2 par 56s because the book light will eat up a lot of light. The book light will need cutters on the sides and top to reduce spill.

Place the 3rd par 56 adjacent to the key for a back light or edge light. I like soft edge lights (and pizza). The edges that blow out are too harsh for indoors. For a edge light to work properly you need proportional positioning of the lens, subject, and light. If all three are in a line lens, subject, and light and at the same height the hair will have a slight glow, but you will not have an edge light. When you start to move the light around the subject opposite to the key you will start to see the edge of light on the cheek of your subject. It will be very strong because you are getting a direct bounce or kick off the skin from the light. If you keep moving around this will become a max edge bounce and then start to reduce this is when it can become softer. I like to use a large diffusion frame or a small one close to subject. You don't need a lot of light for a edge because it is a kick. Try to keep the light off your subjects nose, it looks funny. It's easy to make a edge light I think it's hard to make a GOOD edge light. Small movements will change everything. You will have to protect your lens as well, edge lights shine right down the barrel.

Next you will have to balance your light levels. I would put the sun par 64, so it's just under blowing out the wall. Make your key a stop or 2 under the sun and adjust your edge to taste. If you need fill, a 4x4 bounce would work nicely. I like to let the fill side fall off a bit, but the content (subject matter) or Director dictates how much drama is appropriate. Still guys hate shadows on faces, Film guys love um.

I don't recommend buying lights, unless you don't have a lighting rental house closer than 100 miles from your shoot. By renting, you can try out different types of lights to see what you like. You can rent a 1 ton, 3 ton, or 5 ton truck which come stuffed with so much Gear you won't use it all. Many rental houses will send out a driver who will work as a swing on set. The Lighthouse in NJ does this, www.Lighthouselights.com and has any light or grip equipment you can imagine. The Lighthouse can recommend a Gaffer and Key Grip for your shoot as well. They are not cheep, but you will get a tech that does nothing, but lighting to help you. This is very valuable. Talk to Sandy, Josh, or Gary they are very nice people and they won't let you rent something that you can't use with out more gear (i.e. 2.5 HMI par without proper cabling, connections, stands...). Also they service all the lights so you don't have to, they even store them, so you don't have to. Delivery!! If nothing else, check out their packages to get an idea of what you need.

[Djee Smit]

Thanks a lot for the info. I am in the Netherlands, so letting lights fly over from New Jersy will be a bit expensive ;-) but there are comparable companies here, even though not so close. The reason that I'm thinking of buying is because is do the shoot for free, even though there is some budget. With buying some stuff, means I can use it for upcoming projects.

But al the tips you gave me helps a lot. Thanks!