In this previous entry, I talked about our simple lighting setup. We used Lowel Rifa lights for the actors and some fresnels for enhancing the background. Since I wrote that post, we have added locations to the show and have run into new challenges. When shooting in our original location we were challenged due to lack of space. When we added the new location to the show, we had the opposite problem. Too much space.




The new "Lowry Theater Company" is a massive space. A huge theater, big stage, large prop and wardrobe rooms, and a large black box theater, left us in need of more lights. Luckily Prompter People came through. We were able to use several of their new LED lights, called Flolights. We use three LED 500's and five LED 1000's



These lights provide a broad and long throw without the heat. The barn doors allow us to control the spill of the lights as well. The first thing you will notice is that on close ups, we finally have the lights to properly accomplish 3-point lighting. You can see in episode 8 how that tool changes the look of the show. With all of our lights, we now have enough light to accomplish the 3 point lighting for multiple cameras. And we no longer run the risk of throwing the breakers! These lights use considerably less power than equivalent "hot lights." In fact the lights consumer just one-tenth of the power.

If you notice the credits to Episode 8, you will see that Chris Faulkner is listed as the Director of Photography. Chris has been shooting with us since we moved to the new location and has been handling a lot of the gaffer duties during these shoots. I had a job that required me to travel to Germany for a week, and during that time, EXIT Stage Left had 2 shooting days. Chris took charge of the camera department during that time, and used the new LED lights to great success. Those two shooting days resulted in footage for all of one episode and most of the next one.

I resumed my duties as the Director of Photography a few weeks ago and have been delighted with the LED lights. These lights, when diffused with frost gel provide some extremely smooth and powerful light. The built in dimmers give us the infinite control of the light. The throw from these lights are several times more than fluorescent light fixtures as well, and are an excellent replacement for both Hot Lights and Fluorescent lights. This allows us to move the lights back from the actors and give them more space to move around. This is extremely important when we are doing the improv elements to the show.