Lighting Talk

In today's lesson we met up with George, the lighting director for the music videos. He explained to us all the different forms of lighting he has availabe for us to use and showed us examples of how we could use them. 

He told us that if we would like a strobe effect we can use the 'Atomic 3000'

This strobe can be adjusted from 3 flashes of light a second to 100 flashes per second. He said the higher the flashes per second, the more 'stop-motion' effect we will get on the shoot, it will make any movement look like it is stopping and going; like a a stop-motion animation. However he did note that if we consider the strobe light, we need to take into account anyone who has epilepsy or seizures as the strobe light can trigger an epileptic seizure, which is a health and saftey issue. 

The other light he mentioned was a 'ADJ UV Cannon 400' this light captures UV rays and captures glow in the dark paint, or white t-shirts on camera, it gives a glow in the dark effect to most things.

Another light he explained was the 'Source Four Jr. Zoom' it is a spotlight with a hard edge, so the outline of the spotlight is distinct and does not diffuse. You can also have it change colour by using different coloured gels. It also has shutters so that you can place a cut-out template to change the shape and design of the spotlight.

He told us that if we use a green screen or infinty white background, you need to use a 'Thomas 4 Cyc'. He said that he has 8 of these lights and they are usually assembled so that four are on the ground and four hang from the top. These lights are meant to flood the subject with light so that it removes any shadows. This makes post-production easier and better for when you are changing the background of the green screen; because any shadows will distort the image overlayed on the green screen. The 'Thomas 4 Cyc' can also have it's colour changed by using different coloured gels.

For more complicated light effects. He suggested the 'Pixelline 1044'. It compromised of long bars made of small LED lights, when put together they can form a pixel effect and can change colour and design. This makes it possible to have a light show made of LED lights. 

A video of how the lights work

The last light he mentioned was the 'Clay Paky Sharpy', these lights are able to change colour and move around on it's axis (rotate, up and down etc....). By having multiple of these lights you are able to allow different colours to diffuse into each other and have lights move around the room in different directions, which would give an interesting effect to the room. 

George also gave us some advice on using lights in videos. He said that you need to layer the different lights from shot to shot and the lighting has to link to each scene; so that there are no drastic light changes when you cut to different scenes, therefore making the video incohesive.