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Hi all,

need some advice re: lighting. Will be shooting my 1st amateur porno this year. I've always liked films that look 'amateurish', by that I don't mean crap, just don't like 'glossy' porn, never have never will. Prefer the '1 guy and his camera' look to the '3 guys, 3 cameras, ?1000's production value' look.

So, how do I go about lighting the scenes? My intention was to simply make a couple of wooden bases with lightbulb holders attached to them, then a 60W bulb in each base. I feel having 2 of these to compliment the natural light and / or to compliment the existing false light in a room will suffice. The bases can obviously be placed anywhere.

Will this be enough, or do you think I'd be better taking a different approach? I'm not concerned about the lighting being perfect but I don't want to watch the film back and think 'oh f*ck you can hardly see anything!'

Dave

Dave

Would be happy to help you light a scene. It will cost money, about ?100 to hire the lights and you'll need transport. Please don't do it your way because it will look terrible. Mail me direct.

G.

Hi,

thanks for your comments but unfortunately can't afford to be giving out more cash than I'm already spending. Really just looking for tips on how to light for little cash outlay.

For Lighting on the cheap visit your local B&Q or indeed any big sunday market and purchase a Portable 240v Tungstone Worklight.

I have seen loads with twin 500w heads on a sturdy adjustable tripod for around ?20-?25 unfortunatley they are usually bright yellow in colour but with 1kw of lighting they will do the job nicely.

Hope this is of help.

Cornish Chris.

I think CC meant to say Halogen not Tungsten, and if he didn't he should have . 500W Tungsten lamps cost about ?10.00 at B&Q or Henry's in Edgware Road. Nearby in Church St is a shop selling dv tapes for less than anywhere else in the UK. Buy some spare bulbs from Lyco while you're at it. They're literally a tenth of the price. Ask them for their catalogue. The website is crap, and doesn't show everything.

Halogen gives a much whiter light than tungsten, but you should always use the manual white balance on your camcorder to get it right anyway. Practice a bit. I find if I do the white balance on a piece of white paper with some blue on it I get a nice warm result. The camera compensates for the blue by turning up the opposite colour, which is yellow. Endless variations are possible.

I'm sorry to sound critical but using that method, will look awful. You do have to buy or hire some decent lamps. There's no way around it. If you want to get around the problem shoot outdoors perhaps (?) or use alternative forms of lighting like candles or the 'real log fire' maybe?

Yep have seen those for sale, 2 lamps on one stand.

I appreciate what Giles is saying but feel he is talking about getting a really professional lighting result.

The rest of you seem to be following what I'm saying more closely, i.e. I want to light the film cheaply and understand the fact the results may not be fantastic.

I'll invesigate B&Q etc and probably rig something up using ordinary lights available from places like that.

Dave

If you have some table lamps with light coloured preferably white shades then dot them around the set, you can put one or two on the floor and this will give you a nice warm lighting in a small area. You can experiment (if the fittings allow) with upgrading the wattage of the exisiting lights in the room. It's maybe an idea to use larger sized bulbs (you can buy them a couple of inches across) and these will give a stong yet soft light, even used without shades. Don't forget to white balance using a big piece of white paper so that the camera sees this rather red light as 'white' light. You can also put more lights on in more distant parts of the room to build up the ambient lighting in the room. It is quicker to hire at least 3x 800w floods. You point two at the ceiling (if it's white) and one bouncing off the wall to give it some direction. I think you can get them for about ?20 a day each. Mail me and I'll dig out a few numbers for you.

G.

My advise:

Do the shoot during the day with as much natural light as you can.

You will find that where you need light most is close ups, as you will find things VERY dark as you block out the light.

If you have to use lights from your local DIY shop (as said), but its worth buying some decent lights plus get a mini DV tape too for sound (with a decent mike).

One cheap option is just to book yourself into a studio thast has lights, very cheap option and should give you some very good results.