the difficulties of lighting in a house

[Dutchboy]

After experimenting with my new light kit inside of my living room I've realized that shooting in a studio must be a much more reliable location. Especially in my small living room, it's very difficult to backlight actors, almost impossible actually, as well as establish a key light without overexposing. I guess the answer for now is more diffusion? Any suggestions? I am new to lighting, but I am learning...

I have a softbox, however I don't have a bulb for it yet. I'm guessing that it would be very helpful in this scenario?

 

[knightly]

There is also an insulation called "Tyvek" that is silver and relatively inexpensive. Works as a great reflector.

MD: depends on the type of look you're going for. A flood will pour light in a relatively narrow cone (all light is cones!), a regular halogen bulb will pour light out and then hit a reflector of varying sizes making it go forward. The difference between them is really the size and shape of the reflectors they hit. The flood will be more focussed due to the shape of the reflector, it'll spread slightly less than the regular halogen lights.

 

[EvsFX08]

I bought some foamcare at Michael's (Arts and crafts) store, this is the only time I willingly went into this store with my wife. Anyway, it was really cheap, the pieces I bought were about $3 each. I then purchased a 3 section fold up cardboard white board like kids use for their science project background. I wasn't able to buy a large enough section of foamcore, so you may have to buy several pieces and strap them together with strips of balsawood (also bought from the same store). Now I just have to figure out to use these things as reflectors using the shoplights. As a note, I've built a mini studio completely on the advice found on this forums. I bought the shop lights as mentioned here, the foamcore, and I've also built a 30ft track (mini-dolly) for my camera for a total cost of $60. The construction plans were found through a link on this forum. Based on my previous work and "innovative DIY ideas" (that I borrowed from this Forum) I was asked to a shoot music video later on in the month for a kid who already has an album out and is getting a lot of air time on the local radio station. So, hopefully I'll be able to produce a decent production with the advice I've recieved on this forum I gotta say, just reading and using some of the ideas from other people here have taken my business to a new level, so thanks to everyone on this Forum! With any luck, this gig will lead to more business which will allow me to buy some real studio equipment. Playing McGyver is fun and all, but eventually there's a limit.

 

[Zensteve]

Hey, you should post a few pics of your DIY studio, EVS

'Grats on the music video gig, too!

 

[EvsFX08]

Ok I'll take some pics, and will also post the music vid when we complete it. I'm real proud of my mini-dolly because I normally do not have a conceptual mind for mechanics and building stuff, but surprisingly I built it in like 2 hours- with the help of my 12 year old son, so although I'm sure this is easy to most people, but it was a monumental acheivement for a simpleton like me. I'm like Tim the Toolman, I usually blow something up before I get it right.

 

[Will Vincent]

Besides foamcore, something else to think about is beadboard.. it's a styrofoam board, intended for insulation (or in otherwords, available at most home improvement stores) white styrofoam on one side, silver aluminum on the other..

 

[indietalk]

I'm looking at a sheet of poly shield from Lowe's right now. It's a 4x8 sheet you can easily cut into 2 or 3 bounceboards. White on one side (with lettering, no biggie), reflective on the other. Comes in 3/4" I believe. This one is 1/2". I bought this for like $8 or $10.

 

[EvsFX08]

Ohhh! I like that even better, that way I can paint the one side green for a green screen while using the other as a reflector. Turns out, my shoot will be outside, no power. So, looks like I'll be using the most out of natural lighting, so these boards will come in handy. My wife is gonna wonder why I have a room full of various white boards, oh well ,trial and error right? LOL!