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lighting a horror scene at night with work lights

so i have a shoot in about 4 hours, Me and a friend are shooting a small horror sequence in his house. What would be the best way to light it so the house remains dark(as if no lights are turned on it the kitchen for example) but have small amounts of light as if coming from outside?

heres what i have for lighting

1. 500 watt work light from home depot with 2 lights on a stand.
2. 2 can lights not sure on the wattage but there not super bright. My dad said the bulbs he put in are called "spot lights" about 60 watts each i think.
 
Nip down to home depot & pick up a couple of 2' x 4' foam insulation boards. They cost about $4 each. They will have silver foil on one side, and be white on the other. Bounce your lights into these to soften and spread the light. Those "houses with no lights on" movies are all lit - otherwise camera sees nothing at all, right?

With 4 hours til shoot time, good luck practising some setups. Sounds like you'll be wingin' it. :)

Lighting is an art in itself. Don't leave it so late next time. :bag:
 
It's not a important shoot just a test shoot. I just worry the work light will be to harsh and I have nothing to diffuse them with except the reflectors. Thanks for the information by the way!
 
The moon is harsh light. It comes through windows.

turn off the lights in the house if you're going for an unlit house look.
Put the work light outside the window and gel it blue (you probably won't have gels yet... there's a work around for this. don't gel, and white balance your camera using the incandescent / indoor preset on your camera... lock this down.
Put the clamp lights opposite side of the actors form the windows, one farther from the camera pointing at the back of the actor/s (with this much light, you'll really only be able to light a single actor decently)... the other from the front and lower to fill in the shadows opposite the windows (caused by the window lights)... these will be "white" per the preset. pulling them farther from your actors will make them dimmer... closer to them will make them brighter.
 
thank you for the post knightly, I didn't get to do my shoot today so now i have a little more time to prepare. Any suggestions where i can order some cheap gels? not looking to spend more then 30-50bucks max.
 
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