DIY Film Lighting

Hello Lighting people! I know many of you guys are starting out in the film industry, most out of college or in college, which your going to have a heavy school loan to pay back. So I am going to talk about DIY (do it yourself) Lighting. Most film lights are over $500 and up. One there EZer to control and second there P.A drop proof and can withstand the riggers of a film set. You also want to consider the fact, if you go into a clients office with Home Depot lighting, your not going to look professional. So what I am going to tell you about is going to be perfect for indie films and so on.  Home Depot is a DIY’s best friend. I can spend all day coming up with ideas of lighting and rigs for my camera and still have money in the bank. 

So where do you start looking for cheep DIY lighting. Well the Home Depot 500 Watt Halogen work lights are perfect for bounce. For single light with no stand, start out at $6.00 and up. I like the one with the stand and two lights. That goes for $35.00. I also modify the Home Depot shop lights, I cut the safety guard out so there wont be any problems with shadow, also I take out the glass to keep the light cooler.  I know what your saying, “Your exposing the bulb!” and I say” Be carful with handling them.” If you haven’t noticed I just made a Lowel Tota flood light which goes for $126.00 opposed to the $35.00 for a 1k open face Home Depot special. 

The other Lights you can use are commercial electric 2-florescent light for $29.00 which is exactly like a 2 bank Kino that you would pay $700.00 and up. You just have to know your Kelvin Scale to figure out the color temp you need for the Bulbs. I also modify the commercial brand and put tin foil behind the tubes. 

The last light I will talking about is the all powerful and portable clamp light. I find these work really well as a key or fill depending on the bulb you put in them, also you can change color temp to fit your need. You can use the clamp light the way they are, or you can buy a Chinese lantern for $9.00 and have a Beautiful soft light right out of the camera frame. 

I know I did not talk about the stands, but if you get creative enough you can find ways to mount your lights. So go to Home Depot and have fun coming up with ideas for new ways of saving money. 

Happy lighting!