super 8 lighting

[PITIRRE]

probably this sound naive but I want to know kind of basic lighting to I need for filming inside with different types of super 8 films? Any help

[downix]

look up photography lighting, they work the same way. No special Super8 tricks here, basic photography lighting tricks work marvelously.

[discs of tron]

except that photographers most often use strobes and daylight balanced lights, which is not what you want to use. the techniques are the same though, like 3-point lighting, etc. there's an article on this site about cheap super8 lighting. i'd recommend to start there.

[Alex]

look up photography lighting, they work the same way. No special Super8 tricks here, basic photography lighting tricks work marvelously.

Not exactly. I would say super-8 is more difficult to light than 16mm or 35mm the wider your interior shot is. Generally, you probably need more overall illumination with less contrast for your wider shots when using color Super-8 film. Just an opinion, others might disagree.

When shooting BW and when going for a contrasty or grainy look, you probably don't have to use additional lighting as compared to 16mm or 35mm.

[Scotness]

http://www.mango-a-gogo.com/inmyimage/imaglink.htm#matt
http://www.mango-a-gogo.com/inmyimage/i ... m#lighting

Scot

PS you need more lights than we had on In My Image!

[Neatpuppy]

Maybe I should start a new thread about this? But has anyone tried mating flourescents to K40? I am currently at a crossroad because I have been researching a lot of studio lighting packages on bhphoto for work. However, I can't seem to find any good literature or primer on flourescents? :oops: I have done some brief PA work for Kinoflo projects but my experiences are very very limited, advices anyone? Thanks

[Alex]

theres always http://www.kinoflo.com/

I don't know if they use special ballasts that reduce the flicker of ordinary flurorescents and I assume the color temperature is different, and they cost a heck of lot more than just buying a fluroscent tube and shroud from the store.

I have rented Kino-flo's a couple of times. If your talent wears glasses they might not be a good idea. I think they work best when you want the "throw" of the light to fall off quickly. Probably best suited for stationary scenes where the actors will not be moving a lot. If the actors are moving then the light will fall off rather quickly, not that that is a bad thing if that is what you want.

[Neatpuppy]

special ballasts that reduce the flicker of ordinary flurorescents and I assume the color temperature is different, and they cost a heck of a lot more than just buying a fluroscent tube and shroud from the store.

I think that's the gist of the idea. Kinoflos use high end ballasts with dimmer capabilities. I am currently under the impression that flourescent dimmers are not readily available and they cost hundreds easily. Hence, my current dilemma..

I also have another THX-1138-ish idea which is to build a 2' by 4' softbox for animation and as well as product photographyh. However, since you cannot fit dimmers onto fluorescents.. :? I am not exactly sure if this is something that's worth pursuing..

Thanks Alex!

[Alex]

I was an intern a long while ago at a commercial production house. One of the table top directors (aka beauty shots of food) insisted on huge soft boxes being made.

They would make them out of foam core. I remember they were quite large and they would be suspended above the table top set. The grips would gripe about storing them in the backlot shed because they took up a lot of space and were flimsy to boot. (literally)

As I recall as long as the light bounced around the box and then hit the luminescent white gel the light was considered soft enough. They used conventional lights back then like 2K's and perhaps 5K's to light up the soft boxes.

I suppose one advantage to the fluorescent lights are that they won't warm the room up the way conventional lights will.