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ASC DP's slumming with Home Depot gear

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It's not BS. First off a light is a light. Whether it is pro or from a Home Depot doesn't matter. It is going to be how you use it that matters. Shane Hurlbut is a cinematographer that has been lighting for a while and clearly knows what he is doing. He has master controlling the light and making sure that he gets the right amount of light from his sources so he gets the proper image. We can't compare ourselves to him. He has spent years learning what certain bulbs will do and look like.

What we all can say is that it is encouraging to see some pros starting to use lights that we can afford as well. But to be honest these lights have been being used by the pros for decades. Gordon Willis even comments in Cinematographers Style that "If you can turn on a simple house lamp and put it close enough to the actors to make it work, then that is really all you need."
 
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I see this a different way. Here's a guy who has a boat-load of experience using "pro" lighting instruments. He was then able to take that wealth of experience and translate it into techniques where his "home depot" approach could function.

The other aspects which raise my eyebrow are:

Portability/Durability: Several of the fixtures he describes are meant for permenent or semi-permenent installation. Sure, I can buy a flourescent strip from home depot, but now I've got to jury-rig a way of attaching it to a stand, and while black-wrap could work, it's not as durable as hard flags which also leads to another issue:

Speed of Set-up/strike: Especially working with small productions and low budgets, getting in, getting set-up, and then getting out quickly helps reduce production costs. If I'm spending an additional hour or two attaching various home-made lighting tools and then facing packing these non-road-worthy objects in such a way that they won't be destroyed in transport and then multiply this by the number of locations needing to be shot, I may well have saved money by buying/renting fixtures which are designed to work in these environments.

Flexibility: Having a focusable beam, integral barndoors, and adjustable mounting are things I would not want to do without in a production environment.

Just my take.
 
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In the 60's and 70's, I used whatever lights I could find, film was somewhat forgiving, (I had a 16mm Filmo with turret lens and a Bolex Super 8mm, for quicker shooting), one had a little lee way with light.

Video is not so forgiving (but it is getting there). For many years in the 90's, I used Cool-Lux Tri-lights with their heavy lead batteries and short life span. Then I started using cheap, halogen work lights (great lights but you need electricity and they GET HOT).

Today I am sold on LED work lights (cheap) and a wide assortment of LED camera lights. Wide disbursement of light, fit in my pocket, last a long time, cool to the touch and most have rechargeable batteries included that last for hour(s). LEDs are great for almost everything, but the light (foot candles) drop off quickly. I hate grainy footage, or the green (or blue tint on daylight footage) night-shot look. LED's are fantastic (especially the ones you can control intensity with dimmers and/or barn doors) and their prices continue to drop. YOU still have to do a white balance. AND know what you are doing. But, the small size of LEDs and low weight... I love technology!
 
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His point (I think) is to first take advantage of the practical light opportunities. I have an assortment of bulbs, from a 15 watt clear bulb for when that lamp is in frame right next to the talent's face, to a 250 I might stick in the overhead in the middle of the room to just pull up the base light level. If you know what you're doing, and Shane Hurlbut has forgotten more about lighting than any of us know, you can do a lot with simple stuff.

Pro gear is all about speed and repeatable results. That's the reason to use it.
 
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Brooksy said:
It's not BS. First off a light is a light. Whether it is pro or from a Home Depot doesn't matter. It is going to be how you use it that matters. Shane Hurlbut is a cinematographer that has been lighting for a while and clearly knows what he is doing. He has master controlling the light and making sure that he gets the right amount of light from his sources so he gets the proper image. We can't compare ourselves to him. He has spent years learning what certain bulbs will do and look like.

What we all can say is that it is encouraging to see some pros starting to use lights that we can afford as well. But to be honest these lights have been being used by the pros for decades. Gordon Willis even comments in Cinematographers Style that "If you can turn on a simple house lamp and put it close enough to the actors to make it work, then that is really all you need."
Click to expand...

Sure we can compare ourselves, we may come up short but so what? That's one reason we compare. He clearly states Home Depot lights are things anyone can use. Did you even read the blog? It's a tutorial in essence. Maybe you take your comments to Shane's blog that his information "Is nothing new". That'll go over real well.
 
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My instinct is that I wouldn't touch worklights unless I were using them as exterior sources or ambiance to throw through windows, and I would gel the crap out of them.

Use what you have to, y'know?


don patterson said:
Today I am sold on LED work lights (cheap) and a wide assortment of LED camera lights. Wide disbursement of light, fit in my pocket, last a long time, cool to the touch and most have rechargeable batteries included that last for hour(s). LEDs are great for almost everything, but the light (foot candles) drop off quickly. I hate grainy footage, or the green (or blue tint on daylight footage) night-shot look. LED's are fantastic (especially the ones you can control intensity with dimmers and/or barn doors) and their prices continue to drop. YOU still have to do a white balance. AND know what you are doing. But, the small size of LEDs and low weight... I love technology!
Click to expand...


LED's are amazing. I'm working on grabbing about eight to ten for the next feature of assorted sizes and then I'll use a very tiny tungsten kit, some dif and two 4x4 floppies as my entire lighting kit. The sensitivity of new cameras makes this great (haven't decided between F3 and EPIC just yet, both both will work).

This was lit with three Litepanels:

LitePanels_CarSmall.jpg


And one small car kit on the inside, tiny little kino fluo tubes.

int_car_lp.jpg


Wish I had ONE more Lite panel for the back of the girl's head, edge|rim, but it convinced me that they were essential tools (for me anyway) going forward.
 
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I've been calling BS on "true pros use pro gear" for years.

Light like a pro, but get your lights at Home Depot.

Of course, if your day job is setting up lights, go ahead and empty your pocketbook if it'll reward you with more $$$.
 
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GuerrillaAngel said:
I've been calling BS on "true pros use pro gear" for years.

Light like a pro, but get your lights at Home Depot.

Of course, if your day job is setting up lights, go ahead and empty your pocketbook if it'll reward you with more $$$.
Click to expand...

Again, it's predictable, repeatable, standardized that drives pro gear use.

If I hire a grip, he knows exactly how the light works, he knows exactly how to rig it 27 different ways, he knows exactly what temp the bulb is, etc... Time = money. If it costs 10 minutes per setup all day long to figure out how to get what you need out of your DIY pieced together gear, even on just $1000 a day shooting budget you probably could have rented the pro gear and maybe even bought it.

I use DIY stuff too, don't get me wrong, but I don't WANT to. I use it when I have no other choice (doing a gig for free for example).
 
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Gonzo_Entertainment said:
Again, it's predictable, repeatable, standardized that drives pro gear use.

If I hire a grip, he knows exactly how the light works, he knows exactly how to rig it 27 different ways, he knows exactly what temp the bulb is, etc... Time = money. If it costs 10 minutes per setup all day long to figure out how to get what you need out of your DIY pieced together gear, even on just $1000 a day shooting budget you probably could have rented the pro gear and maybe even bought it.

I use DIY stuff too, don't get me wrong, but I don't WANT to. I use it when I have no other choice (doing a gig for free for example).
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For real, though. There's a reason why these fixtures exist and have been perfected over time.

Shop lights and home depot fluos do nasty things to skin etc.

You CAN use them, and if you have to then you have to. But, they're no real substitute for real equipment. A viable substitute, but definitely not comparable at all.
 
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I've seen great video shot with a crap camera and crap video shot with a red... it's not the tool, it's what you can do with it.

NASCAR! equalize the tool and the driver's skill is the bit that shines through (although the audience has its... um... charm there too).
 
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I have mix of pro and hardware store lights.
The hardware store stuff actually sets up faster normally, especially the silver reflector clipons. Those are the most useful dang things. I use them with spiral flos. Some of my tungsten pro lights, I swear they're affecting climate change. I rarely use them. I also use the same 4' shop flos but I bolted two mop handle clamps to them and they snap on efficiently and quickly to a lightstand. They're easier to set up than Kinoflos and way cheaper. The one Home Depot solution I don't know is an equivalent to a Fresnel. For me, the 650 Fresnel is the best all around light. Love them things.
 
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Hardware store lights are great for what they're great for.

Most of his examples he uses them as practical lights. Others they were for a unique scene or what not.

I use worklights and the little LED under cabinet lights and a few single bulb fixtures here and there too. Again, they're great for what they're great for.

The big downside with all of them is they aren't really controllable. I know it's been said, but it's worth pointing out again. If you need a wash, they're your cheap ticket. If you need pinpoint accuracy, not so much.


Personally, for cheap lights, I recommend what I started with. The individual edison bulb fixtures that have a light stand mount and an umbrella holder. Clamp lights are nice, but these little things last forever in your kit. I still use them here and there when you need a 60w bulb on the end of a c-stand or something.

And I agree with you brian, the 650 Fresnels are the handiest lights ever haha.
 
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Kholi said:
Shop lights and home depot fluos do nasty things to skin etc.
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You're right! That explains why all those home builders, remodelers and auto mechanics are flooding our ERs with nasty skin problems! How stupid of them to buy such dangerous lights from Home Depot -- They all should be buying pro cinemagrapher lights to remodel homes and work on their cars!
 
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Yeah he's talking about skin tones. Fluorescent bulbs from home depot are green and don't react well with skin. The article mentions pro color-balanced bulbs.

Another problem with hardware store fluorescent fixtures are the ballasts. Noisy, jittery, not designed for video. Again, you can use them, and having some on hand to decorate a set with practicals or emulate an office building or whatever is great.

They're a budget fixture, not a pro. And that's ok as long as you understand that and their limitations and needed workarounds.
 
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Though on the non-filmmaking take on the post, many nutritionists and naturopaths would argue that fluorescent lights are physically bad for you haha. I produce/edit an alternative health show, and while this specific topic hasn't come up for us I've heard it said in other's broadcasts.

Hey, fluorescent lights sort of depress me, and that's bad right? :lol: Gotta have that dimmed incandescent mood lighting.
 
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Kholi said:
Yeah, I assumed since we're on a filmmaking forum it was obvious... guess not...
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One would think. :lol:

And really, this is hardly news.

John Alton made and frequently used a small bulb on a stick to get that signature eye-light in close ups on the women in his films. Roger Deakins is fond of building all sorts of incandescent bulb arrays for various shots. IIRC he lit an interior shot for A Serious Man using a custom build "chandelier" style bulb array hanging from above. And so on. It's the skill and experience that counts. Also, these tools are used *alongside* quality built, reliable, consistent, "professional" gear. Good luck mimicking an array of 18Ks with your Home Depot kit. ;) Basically, pick the tool that's right for the job.

And yeah, halogen shop lights are pretty freaking ugly on skin, but sometimes that's what the shot needs. Same for standard green-spike fluorescent bulbs as well.
 
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