lighting Evening/night forest filming/cabin, trying to figure light solutions (powerbank powered)

[melmacian]

Im going to a forest to film a little thing (finally).
I have a Bmpcc (old version) and panasonic Gh3.

Need help mainly in lights.

I know I can go it the hardway like you all usually do and me often too, spending hours and hours and hours doing mistakes, then figuring it out, but maybe someone has gone this route already and could help a little.


I have 2-3 high power battery banks (about 200WH that im borrowing from a friend. In theory I can even get 4 x 200wh) that can do usb out and 12v, with adaptors' I can go 12-24v. I will have no other electricity. I also have a small battery bank for the BMPCC so it will have a lot of power.


So heres the question: I so far have bought 0 lights. I will be shooting mainly at day, evening and night. Also in a cabin.

With the 2-3 powerbanks in mind, whats the best or a good solution? One powerbank can power a 20w led for 10 hours.
Is 20w led enough, or do we need to go 40w? One light is not enough so we need 2, or 3? Should I have umberellas that I hang as as softbox from a tree from 10feet to mimic a little sky light at night for example?
I cant carry a 600w tungsten to the forest so will have to do with the leds.

Anyone know of good reliable models? Should it be a variable color temperature version, 3000-6000k for example?

I saw ebay had some 12watt 12v leds from china for 10 bucks, is it like forget it and go straight to the 40w with stands? Or are these good too?

I have done some trial and error when filming at day but now is night time and I dont wanna blindly buy stuff and go to the forest so trying to do even a little pre studying here if possible.

Also, if anyone has worked with battery banks as their power source in the forest, or forest at night in general, what are the biggest problems that arive. I have been in forests a lot so I can move there at night and evening, but with a camera, what are the biggest things you can learn before hand? Thanks a lot

 

[melmacian]

Here are some actual pictures of the forest so you can get an idea. Last 2 images are of same place, but other actually at night and phone camera had the brightness set to high , sky was really dark

 

[CelticRambler]

I'm sure someone with more practical experience than I have will be along soon to give you "real life" advice, but have you considered shooting "day for night" to minimise the amount of extra gear you need to bring with you? Your photos suggest that you'll be filming in an ideal location for this - almost no sky to worry about - so you should be able to set your camera(s) to give footage that needs very little adjustment in post.

At the moment, I can't find what I thought was a particularly good YouTube tutorial on this technique, but it's out there somewhere! While looking for it though, I came across this night-time clip from Cast Away, a scene that was filmed entirely during the day (one of the "making of" DVD extras that made me think "I want to try that!" )

 

[melmacian]

I'm sure someone with more practical experience than I have will be along soon to give you "real life" advice, but have you considered shooting "day for night" to minimise the amount of extra gear you need to bring with you? Your photos suggest that you'll be filming in an ideal location for this - almost no sky to worry about - so you should be able to set your camera(s) to give footage that needs very little adjustment in post.

At the moment, I can't find what I thought was a particularly good YouTube tutorial on this technique, but it's out there somewhere! While looking for it though, I came across this night-time clip from Cast Away, a scene that was filmed entirely during the day (one of the "making of" DVD extras that made me think "I want to try that!" )

Hey good idea, make day to night .Specially because the sky is so high. Its hard to make the sky dark but if you cant see it, you can adjust in after effects or sony vegas or premiere pro or something similar. Just as long as sky isnt visible.

 

[indietalk]

Yup. Shoot during golden hour. Use backlight so your subjects have that moon glow. Use a polarizer filter, and avoid the sun and clouds. Clouds aren't usually "seen" at night even though they are there. So in day for night, they can look odd. Then, you grade it for night. Boom. Good luck!