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Police Lights?
- Thread starter Zaco32
- Start date
Because I didn't try that myself. I obviously asked looking for opinions of people who may have bought police lights before.
Sure. But there are no reviews and I do not want to waste my money. There has to be a reason as to why they are only $16.95.
If you want cheap, go to a toy store and buy a toy siren.
If you are willing to spend more, go to a custom auto store. There use to be one in NY called, "Big Boys And Their Toys." They had all kinds of custom lights for cars.
Google for custom lights and siren for cars, if you don't have a custom auto accessory store in your area.
If you are willing to spend more, go to a custom auto store. There use to be one in NY called, "Big Boys And Their Toys." They had all kinds of custom lights for cars.
Google for custom lights and siren for cars, if you don't have a custom auto accessory store in your area.
The best options are those that can be off-screen just casting throbbing red/blue light into your shot from an unseen cruiser. There are a variety of things available online to accomplish that.
If you need it in the shot, there's someone who sells CG lightbars that can be composited in.. lemme dig up the link.
EDIT: Can't find it with a small bit of googling, and don't really have time to hunt for it, but I know I've seen a package before that has lights from a variety of angles to be composited into shots atop various cars.
If you need it in the shot, there's someone who sells CG lightbars that can be composited in.. lemme dig up the link.
EDIT: Can't find it with a small bit of googling, and don't really have time to hunt for it, but I know I've seen a package before that has lights from a variety of angles to be composited into shots atop various cars.
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A word of caution...whatever you decide to use, do NOT drive around with the lights on
your production vehicle. It is illegal to display "police lights" in most jurisdictions. In fact,
whenever I have seen "fake" police cars transported to and from the production sights,
the light bars are always covered with canvas. The lights are uncovered long enough to
do the shot, then they are covered again. Check you local laws.
your production vehicle. It is illegal to display "police lights" in most jurisdictions. In fact,
whenever I have seen "fake" police cars transported to and from the production sights,
the light bars are always covered with canvas. The lights are uncovered long enough to
do the shot, then they are covered again. Check you local laws.
I bought some on Amazon, very bright, bright enough to be visible on a wall from 30 feet away for a shot. They're out there.
Well, because of this, largely:
But it's also a helluva lot more budget friendly to not show the car.
Thanks to everyone who commented.
I will probably look and buy lights off of amazon. I wish I could find one that plugs into a wall outlet and not into a cigarette lighter but I will continue to look.
Yes, I am not going to show the car. Just for effect through a window.
I will probably look and buy lights off of amazon. I wish I could find one that plugs into a wall outlet and not into a cigarette lighter but I will continue to look.
Yes, I am not going to show the car. Just for effect through a window.
If you're not showing them on screen you'd get far better value for money gelling a couple of lights and getting a spark to operate them while rolling.
They'll be far punchier and more controllable than a cheap toy lamp.
If you need the strobe effect and it's not necessary to actually see the vehicle, find a buddy with a tow truck and gel HIS strobes. Otherwise, GOOGLE "roof strobes" and take your pick. ANY color will do, just add your own color... old hippies might have old strobes sitting around, even Disco strobes will give you an acceptable pulsating light. You could also gel a flashlight and have someone swing it in a circle like a 4th of July sparkler... as long as they were consistent in their swing, the timing would be close enough for government work. Soundjax dot com (the first hit on Bing under "siren sounds WAV") has free downloadable WAV files of various sirens. If none of those suit your needs, 30 second searching on your own will turn up a few thousand possibilities to choose from. And, since you're asking for opinions... it's my opinion that the $16.95 light will get the job done. BE CAREFUL if you're shooting in public. If someone sees red or blue strobes, you're likely to have every uniform within 5 miles nosing in to see what's up. And IT IS AGAINST THE LAW to use those in public without a permit.
BTW, back in the 80's and 90's, I was with 214 Media Company, Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, and we produced the Officer Survival training films. I actually used that gelled flashlight to simulate a squad car outside a window for a night shot. It's hokey, and it ain't Hollywood, but it works. Actually, it WAS Hollywood... an IATSE grip made it for me.
