Re: Lighting

First of all, nice new board Ken.

I am doing a job, where once a week we go into a studio for a teaching shoot. I am in charge of lighting the studio, which is probably not the best idea, cause I know nothing about lighting, but I have to do it cause there isn't anyone else. I got a "Britek" light kit, so I have four florescent lights. Once I set them up I realized at once my mistake. Since all four of my lights are florescent, it gives the room a dark blueish color. My question is this, what is the best way to make my room look warm, with more of a yellow touch to it, without buying new lights? Should I buy scrims? And if so, is there a good place to buy them? (All I've found online is scrim holders, and I don't even know if a scrim is what I actually think it is.) Or should I just get some construction paper, and bounce the light off of that? If so what would be the best color of paper to get?

Thanks guys.

Florescent lights can be a problem. I woukd hold a white card in front of the camera and then set the white balance. This should help. As to adding warmth to your video, this you would do in post using the FCP color corrector or using the Color app.

I do wonder if you'll have a flicker effect from the florescent lights

Anyone????

--ken

Ken, I have done some test's with the lights, and I'm using a very dark brown background. The lights don't have a flicker affect, and to be honest I can light the room very well with the kit. The only problem I've had with the final cut color correction is that it starts to make my video look a little grainy. Now granted this could be because I'm very new at all this, and still don't know how to use final cut to the best of it's abilities. I admit that I most likely wouldn't hire me at this stage in my career, however, since the company I'm doing all the work for doesn't have the money to pay a pro. I got lucky and am doing it for way under price, which I'm ok with since I don't have the experience. Back to the lights, so Ken, I know your the master of it all, you don't think that bouncing light is a viable option? If I were to buy another light or two, where would you suggest I buy them, and what kind would you go for to get that warm feeling I'm looking for?. Just to let you know, I'm filming a class that someone is teaching from a desk. I'm only using two camera's (XL1) and only two shots. One from the front looking at the teacher, and one from a top angle looking down at the desk, where I have placed a white board for the teacher to write on. (It's a language class, so when he writes in the language, I want the viewer to be able to see it without my teacher having to turn or get up.) Sorry way to much info. But this is an important one if I want to put it on my resume. Thanks again.

A cheaper and more usefull version of a "warm card" is a light/pale blue gel. Shoot through the gel when white balancing to warm up the image moreso than a normal white balance. You can cover all of the lens for a very warm effect, or just cover the lens partially for a slight warming effect.

It's cheaper because a small sheet of gel material is only a few bucks, and more usefull because you can keep the camerra where you'll be shooting from and still white balance your target under the lighting from a distance.

And thanks to John for reposting what Ken and I had already posted about using gels to change the color temperature of the lamps.

-DH

jlcinc Wrote:
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> I did not suggest gels>
> John

Sorry, John (jlcinc). I was referring to the post by the other John (Livings).

-DH

I figured it out guys. I went to the store and bought a daylight florescent bulb. It has a very yellow glow to it. It makes my room much warmer. Thanks for all the impute.

I have another post that at the top that no one has responded to, and this one is a little different. See what you think.

DH, thanks, I have though about gels before, and I like the idea, however, I have had a hard time finding a good place to buy them. I looked online, and the only real place that came up was e-bay, but it looks like it's a 4 pack of 4 different colors. Is there a good place that anyone knows online that would be the best to buy gels? Oh and buy the way, Ken I'm taking another final cut class next month from Mac, so hopefully I'll be able to hone my skills at color correction. :)

Thanks again guys.