..

B.2
Lighting in the Field
Etftb.. Whltn lightiugfield produCiions. you not worki ng
EFT in tht slUdio, where all t he lighting equipment is in
place ready 10 go. Every pie-noof equipment. however
Idrge Of small, must be hauled to Ihe remotC' IOC;ltion and
!tel up in plaet'S Ihat al ways seem eit her too sm.,n or too
large (or good television li gtu i ng. Also, you never seem
to get enough time to experiment wi th various li ghting
setups 10 fi nd the most effective one. Whate\'Cr the remote
lighling task. you need \0 he especifl il y effi cient in the
choice of inst ru menl s dnd t ht-ir use. Thi s secti on t..w' ain)
the techniques of field lighti ng and descri bes sOlne of ils
essent ial requirements.
SAFETY
Primary wrery concernj elf'{ r,,', shock, cables, and
... ENG/ UP LI GHTING
Shoo/ingln t"' ghr S(Jnl'9hr,in ovt' rCtl.lf daylight, III indoor
l'9hr. and at nlghr
.... LO(ATION SURVn
Sufl/'e)'chklislJ and pow.., wpp/y
SAFETY
EffCh.. As ill th(: studiO. is a primar)' conam wh(:n
EuP""" light ing in the field. In facl, there arE' more safety
h.l zards in the held titan in Ihe studio. No prodtIClion,
however exci ting or di fi1cuit , excus.:s you from abandoni ng
sa fety for or effe<:1.
178
ELECTRIC SHOCK
1\(0 especially careful wilh el C'(l ri( power when on
A charge of 110 voll s can be deadly. SC(llre cables so that
people do not trip over them. Every c.onnenion- from
cable to power out lei, (rom cable to cable, and from ( avle
to lighting inst rument-em cause an de(lric shock if not
properl y joi ned and seemed.
CA8LES
String Ihe cables above doon,'''Ys or td.pC them 10 the ll ooT
;md cover !twm with d rubber mal or naUe nt"d cardboard
at points of heavy foot tcafhc. A lome cable not on I)' can
Irip somebody but may also IOpple a ligill ing instrument
and start a fire. See that il1IIi ghi stands <He s('c ured wi lh
sandbags.
FIRE HAZARD
As discussed in chapt er 7. portable incanrlcsU'nt light ing
get wry hOI when fUrned on for onlr brief
p(:riods of time. Piace Ihem as far av.-ay 115 possible from
combusti ble materials, such as drapes, books, lablec.lOlhs,
wood ceilings, and walls. II pays 10 doubl(: -che.::ic If Ihey
must be dose to walls or other combusti bles, insul ate them
wilh aluminum foil.
ENG/EFP LIGHTING
EIltb.... There is no dear cul di vision bel\vC't'n lighting for
EFT ENG and EFP, that in electronic news ga ther-
ing )1>U often have to shool in ...,hatever light there is or
as suppli ed by the camera light. But when called upon \0
do an illlervie",t in a hotel room or in {he oflke- of a CEO.
or when covcri ng a ceremony at the entrance to city hall ,
ENG and EFP light ing lechuiq llcs are prett y much the
The hi g dilTerence is that in FP you have enough
lC'ad tim(' to sur vey the lighting requirements before the
eve nt is taki ng place; but then you may be expected 10
make Lhe oftice of a corporate president 1001< like Ihe besl
Hollywood (an muster or to illuminate the hearing room
of the board of supervisors so tha t it ri vals a cour \'room
scene in thl." lat est blockbuster movie-all wi thoul adequate
time or equi pment.
engaged in field lighting, you will find
confrofl te\1 wilh problems oOlh indoors and OUI. When
outdoors you h,t\'C to work wi th available liglH- the illu-
minat ion al ready presenl il l Ihe scene. At night you must
5uppk ment available light or provide Ihe entirt' illumina-
tion. Although you have a linlt" more lime in EfP Ihan in
E.NG, you still wo rk quidJy and efficielltly to oblain
I
Section 8.2
notonlyadequatelight ingbutalsothcmosteffoctivelight -
ingpossibleunderthecircumstances.
SHOOTING IN BRIGHT SUNLIGHT

Emt... Most lighting probl ems occur when )'ou have to

Eruv""'" 5hoOl in bright sunlight. A shoo ter's nighfmare is
havingto cover a mixed choi r. with the women dressed
instarchedwhiteblousesand themen in whileshirtsa nd
blackjackets, \>'i lh halfofthem sianding in thesun and
the fcs tofthem in adeepshadowagainst ;! sun-fl ooded
whit ebuilding. Even a gooddigital ENG/HPcamcorde r
woul d have trouble' handl ingsuch highconl r:tSt.

Ifyou put the camera in the duto-iris mode.il wi ll

fait hfull yread thebri ght light ofthe ,<;hirls and the light
background and dose it s ins for opl jlllalexposure. The
prohl em is that the drast ic reduction oflight coming
throughlhelenswill dar kmequall ydrasti callytheSh,ldow
area and the people standing in it. The black jackets win
t urn into adull bl ackand losean detail. Ifyou sl"iteh to
manualiristoopentheaperturesomewhattoachieveSOllle
transpa rency in the shadows .lOd the black jackets, t he
whit e shjctsandthesunli tbackgroundwill be ovcrcxposed.
Worse, th e highlights on the perspiring fort heads dnd
occ3sional b<lld spots ofthechoir members wi ll begin 10
"bloom," turni ngtheski ncolorintostrangel yluminescent
whit t'" spo tssurroundedbyapinkish rim.
Shouldyougiveup?No,event ho ughyo uro pt io nsare
somewhatlimited,herearcsome potent ialremedies:
Whenever trytopositionthetalentin as.hadow
area,away from abrightbackgro und.You co ul d probably
move the whole choir in the shadow and away from the
sunlit building. For a single on-ca mera persoll , you can
alwayscreateashadowarea II' ith a large umbrell a.
Ask \oJ hether lhe male choir members ca n take on
thei r black jackrts. This is I"o rth a try, even tho ugh you
will probablybe turneJdown.
Shootfroman anglethat;!voidsthewhi tebuiJdingin
tbebackground.
Usea refl ectorto slowdown falloff. sua.19ANOa.lO
Controltheaperture.Om..:th(:talentis intheshadow
ar('(I ,youca nputthecarner:!backin auto-iri smode(oran
appropriat eexposure. Ifthi sfails 10 correct th e problem,
switch the irisbacktomanual,mdseewhetheryou can get
lherightex po,sure.
Usea neutral -densityfilte r.The ntHlflIt d.msi ty (ND)
filUf5 aCllikesunglassesof""ryingdf' nsities, reduci ngthe
Lighting in the Field
(amtraooCU
,
o
8.29 USING AREFLECTOR: SHOOTING AGAINSTTHE SUN
When shooting againslt hesun, renectasmuchsunlight
possi blebacktothetatent witha Simplerenector(in this ca se
awhitecard).
;llll ount oC l ight th;lt f;lll s on the pi ckup device witnout
di storting the actual colors ofthescene. [n (;"I(t, the ND
fi ltersccmstoreduceextremE" brightnesswhi le51 ill rE"veal-
ingdetail in the shadow areas. 11 will certainlyeliminate
the red-ri mmed l1ares o n the shirts and the perspiring
fort! he"ds of tht: choir,wit ho ut renderi ngthe rest of the
peopleinvisible.
179
180 Chaprer 8

Refttctor (fill)
SO"
(acting as tty)
f
o
ymera
8 .30 USING AREFLECTOR: SHOOTING WITH THE SUN
When shoot ing in bright sunlight, the dark shadows ( an be
easily lightened wit h a renectar.
Wllat if yOu are run ning aft er a news and have
no lime for anyof tb ese remedi es? Put the Camera in aut o-
iris mode-or, if you have ti me, pop in a neutral densit y
filter-and hope for the bes!. Em)lIGHTH Field-t outdoor
IIndoor I Itry it
SHOOTING IN OVERCAST DAYLIGHT
ENlb... The ideal light for outdoor shooting is an overcast
EW dill' : the douds or fog a( ' as diffusers for the harsh
sunlight , providi ng dn even jjlumination similar to that of
soft lights. Do not be surprised if )'Ou have to use an NO
andlor color-correction fi lter. The light of a cloudy day
is often surprisi ngly bri ght and usually has a high color
temperature.
Even in di ffused li ghting, tr y to avoid a n ove rl y
brighl background. If you have to :>hoot against a li ght
background, lOom in Oil the person (thereby avoiding as
much of the backgrou nd as possible). Be sure fhat you have
ma nual ir is control , and adjust the iris to meet the li ght
of the person rat her th.m t he background.
It is better to ha\'e an overexposed background than an
underexposed person. Despit e the highl y diffused light,
Iry (0 use a retlector 0 11 Ihc person.
SHOOTING IN INDOOR LIGHT
ENlb.. You encounter various amounts and types of li gh t
EFT whl'n shooting indoors. Some int eriors are ilium;
TECHNIQUES OF TELEVISION LIGHTING
nated by the da)'li ght that comes through large \\'indows,
others by hi gh-color temperature fluores cent b:lllks t ha i
make up d light ceiling. Still others, such as windowless
hotel rooms, have desk and floor lighting that provide a
romant k mood but hardly the proper illumination (or
good televisi on pictures. The major problem here is lIot
so much hal" to supply additional light , but 110\" to place
the insiruments for optimal aesthelic eHect and how 10
match the vJrious color temperatures. In al! ' <1ses try firsl
to maint ain the photographic principle of key, fiJI, and
back li ghts. Jf thi s isn'l possible, try to adjuslthe setup so
t hat you maintain at least the effeci of Ifiangle lighting.
Whenever possibl e Ify 10 mai ntain a back-li ght effect; il is
the back light that disti ngui shes good light ing from me re
illuminatio n.
Let's assume thai you are lighting an int erview of the
CEO Qf a soft ware company. b cept for some culaway
d ose ups of the JIlt ervi ewer at the end of the show, the CEO
is seen in a cl ose-up for most of the int erview. Let'S put her
in three different envi ronments: ( J) in a windowless hotel
room, (2) in a hotel room wil h II window, and (3) in her
office with a large pi cture wi ndow behind hn desk.
Windowless room In a room wilh no wi ndows. you
can simply set up portable, open-face light s in a typical
t riangle fashio n. Use a diffused key light, a more focused
back li ght of the same ki nd, and a reflec lor or soft light (or
a difiusi on tel11 ) for the fin (see figure 8.5). If you have a
/',
fo urth inslrument , yoll can use il as a background light. If
only two instr ument s are available, use an open-face spot
as a back li ght and use a diffused li ght (open-face SpOI with
sc rim, tent , or umbrella) as a key, pl aced so th;1\ Illost of
the face is illuminated. The spill of the key will also take
ca re of the background li ghl ing. SEE.., '
If the dir('ctor insists on cross shoot ing "' ilh two
c"menlS to catch the immediacy of !.he interviewer's "sking
questi ons or react ing to the CEO, you can st ill get by \I'i lh
two or three inS!l"utllents. Place two open-face spotS or
small rl"{' sn..-l spots with tents, scrims, or umbreUa reflectors
so that they shin ... o\'er the shoul der of the parti ci pams si t
ti ng opposit e each other. In this cross-keying, Ihe ("\"0 li ght s
now serve tiS multifunct ion key J nd back li ghts. You can
use the third instrument as general fillli ghi. This lighting
selllp can also be used for an inl erview in a h,dlway, livi ng
room, or any other such loc<l tion. sn .n
Room with window When there is a \"indow in the
room, you can usc it asa keyor e\'en a back li ght. If you use
lht! I"indow as a kl'Y. you need a reflect or or il fill li ght on the
side. In ;my caS{' you need a strong back lighl. 'Ie-
5ection 8.1
Bact:
Renector (frll)
(f'
fP
__
"""'.
8.31 TRIANGlEINHRVIEWLIGHTING
one-personlightin9 s.ellJP two instruments. The d if-
fu!.OO key light is an open-face 5pot with 11 scrim, a tent, or an
umbrell a, The back light is 11 spre3d or focused open-fa ce spot.
If M light is necessary, it can be Cleated wilh a softlight or iI
reflector. You can use an additional softlignl as a background
light. Note thilt the interviewee is rooking at the if'llerv;ewe r,
who is silting or st anding neJO:\ to the camera., 0 \.11 of the shot.
match the outdoor color lemperatun> of the window li ght ,
bo th the lin and hack lights I\e<>d either 5,600K lamps or
3,200K lamps with blue gels 10 raise their color tempera-
t ure. SEEt.n The bener way of li ghting is to position the
CEO so thaI the window <leIS as a back li ght-without let-
ting it get into Ille shot. You can then use a single diffused
5,600K key light (an open-face spot with 5,60QK Jamp o r
a 3,20QK lamp with It blue' gd) 10 illuminate most of her
[ace, diminating the need for a fill light. un.'"
Panoramic office window Atypical problem is having
10 shoot against a large window. If,for exampl e, the CEO
on making her statement fro m beh lnd her desk th:11
is located in front o f a large picture window, your li ght
ing problem is idc-ntical with that of a person standi ng in
fron! of a bright background: If you SCI the iris according
to the background brightness, the person in front tends to
appear in silhou(' ttr. If you adjust the iris for tht" person
n fro m, the background is overexposed. Here are some
IQssible solutions:

Ligh t ing in t he Field 181

(bad light rOt
InterYjewe(>, key!of
illltfviewtr)
IntPrvitwtt

Op!'n face 1pOt
(back light 101


8.32 (ROSS KEYING fOR INTERVIEW
The two portable lights serve multiple funoions; key and back
lights for the inter viewel and the inter", iewee. If you have a
thi rd li9hl, use it 3S fill.
Draw toe drapes or the blinds and light the person
with portable instruments. Or go to a li gol close up and
cut out as much background as possibl e. Un(OrlUn.Hel y,
many windows do nOI have drapes or blinds, and not all
company officials look good in extreme cl ose-up.
Move Ihe camera 10 the side ofthe desk and have the
person t:,ce the camera. You can tben shoot parallel to the
You can use the light from the window as key, and
fillwith a large reRector or an additional li ght on a stand
(see fi gure S.33).
If the person insists on having thr window in the
background, you must cover it with large color temperat ure
fill ers andlor ND filt ers ( plast ic sheets) of varying densi-
ti es. Use two strong bUI diffused open-face instnll n('tlts
(5.600K) as key and fill , or use a large. highly efficient
reHeclor that bounces the ti ght from the window onto the
CEO's face. Bear in mind that theM' procedures take up a
great amount of time and are gt:neraUy left to EFP.

182 Chapter 8

Window

"m,"
8.33 WINOOW AS KEY LIGHT
The daylight shi ni ng through a window Cd n serve as the key
fi ght. and a renector as t he fi ll light. If you use (I pon3ble light
as fill and/or back light- you need to bring it s COk?r temperature
up to the 5.600K daylight standard.
Take a pictu re of the \I' indow vicw and use it as a
chroma-key video sou rce chapl er 14).
Large-area indoor lighting Sometimes you have 10
deal ...,.ith groups of people who are gathered in locations
wit h inadequate ill umination. Typical exa mples are meet
ing rooms, ho tel tobbies, and hallwa)'li. Most of the lim",
a ca mera light provides enough ill llmination to cover the
speaker and indi vi dual audience mt'mbe rs. If you are to
doexlensi n' coverage of such an event , however, )'Oll need
additional illumination.
The quickest and most efficient way to li ght such a
local ion is 10 establi sh a general, nOlldirectiona! bilselight
lel'd. Use 11'10 or three open-face spots or V-li gbl s and
bounce the li ght off the cei ling or wal!s. If you have tight -
renecting umbrell as, direct the li ght s into the umbrell as
and place t hem so thai you can COVCf the event area. You
will be surprised by hOlv much illumination you can gel out
of a si nglc V-light when diffused by an umbreUa. If thaI is
not possible, dire(l thc li ghlson the group, bUI di ffuse the
TECHNIQUES OF TELEVISION LIGHTING
Window

Wlndowmll"lt
be outof
cameravitw

u mera
8.34 WINDOW AIBACK LIGHT
You can use window as back light so long as you t he
l alent with the window Out of the shot. The key light cao be ...
diffused openface spot that burns at S,6OQK.
light beam wi th scrims. The most cffectivc melhod is to use
port able HMf, quartz, or fl uorescent softl ighl s :lnd Rood
the acriveare:l. Ah ....ays be sure to whitr -balance the- camera
for tht li ght in which Ihe event actu?Hy takes place.
As you probably noticed, all these light ing techniques
ai m 10 establish a high bilselighl Jt- vel. Even \vh('n pressed
for time, try to place one OJ" two diffused back li ghts out of
camera range. They will providt' dnd professional
pol ish to an otherwise fhu scene. sua."
Working with fluorescents The basi c problem oC
working with the fluO(eSCenl lights used in stores, offices,
.md publ ic buildings is their color Irmperalure. II is USUJll y
higher than the 3.200K indoor standard of incand6cent
liglm. Even if some fluorescen! tubes burn at the w,nm(>f
indoor color temper<l ture, t he), have a slrange gr nish bl ue
Iint. So if you turn on the camera light for additi on:tl il\u-
mination, you are confronted with r..,.o color
Some lighting people advise turning off the Auorescents
altogether when I'lorking with quartz li ght s (3,200K ), bu
Sec t ion 8. 2 Ligh ti ng in the Field
Speaker

/ I



POl1ableliqhtwithumbretl.1
8.35 LARGE-AREA LIGHTING
Toestablish sufficient baselight a largearea,you need highlydiffused light.Here threeportabl eincandescenl lightsandlight-
diffusing umbrellasprovidema)(imallydiffusedlight OYer tileent irearea..Youcan,ofcourse, usefl uorescentor HMlligl1tsinplace
ofthequarlllightS.
thi s is unrealistic. [fyou needtoget afastbreakingstory
anoyoushootin ahallwaythaI is iIIuminared by fluores-
cent [ighls, you certainl ydo not have time 10 loc,lIe and
pe rsuade Ihebuildingmanager to turn off the li ght sand
then toreli ght thescene beforeslarting toshoot.
If the Ouor<.>sce nl lights give enough illuminatio n,
simpl )'scle<llhe colortemp<.>raturefilterillthe
camera (tobringdownthe high colort<.>mperalUreofthe
tluorescenls)andwhi tE" bal ancethecamtrawidl theavail-
able light. [fYOll haveco useacameralighl foradditio nal
illumination, either boost the colo r lemperarure of the
cameralisht(byinserti.ngadichroic tillerrhatOrtenco mes
with the camera li ght ) or while-halance tbe came ra with
he illuminati o n provided by the camera li gh t (3,200K) .
As mentioned in chapt.: r 7, the po rt able incandt's>nt
lights- indudingtheca mera li ght - aresirongeno ugh 10
washo ut til e fluorescent baselight. Ifavailable, th(> better
solution,ofcourse,is 10 use floodl igh ts that burn at the
outdoorcolorlemperatureof5,600Korf1 oodlig11 15l....nose
colo rtemperatureisr aisedbylight-bluegels.
One word of Wll f ion ; Desp iteall thepraise forfl uores-
cent(z,!lct li ght s,st<lya\vayfromthemif colorreprod uct ion
isa ilieal. Evet\ thebestfluoresce!!IlampsdonOI give you
thecolor mix for whi le ligh r that youget from
cent and HMl lamps. Ca reful whil{' -balancing will hel p,
butyou lOa)'stilidi scoveragreenishorbluish tillt toyom
picturesthaiisdi(fi,,; uh,ifpossibleatall ,toconect in post-
production.
183
---
184 Chaprer 8
SH.OOTING AT NIGHT
EfRh... When covering a nigh nime news event , you will
Ef.P'" most usc the camera light or a single light that
is ope rated by rhe camera J. ssistant . Here are some points
10 co nsider:
Assumi ng thai you have only Oll e camera lighl and
no assistant, use the camera light and aim il straiglll a1
the field repOri er. The doscr Ihe reporl er is to the ca mera,
the stronger the illumination. You '<Ill change IIle ligh t
intensity by moving just one or two toward or away
from the reporter and zoom in or out \0 compensate fot
your repo$itioning. Almost all professional camera
have diffusion filters Ihat you can use 10 soften the shadow
on the reporter's fa ce.
If you havE' an assistant. he or she ca n hold Ihe light
somewhat above camera level (to avoid shini ng the light
directly into the reporter's eyes) and a little to the side of
the camera so that the single camera light acts as a key
light. if you are fai rly close to the cI'enl, put this single light
into a semifl ood position 10 avoid hot Sp Ol 'i. Tak' ,ldvan-
tage of any addi lional light source, such as a lighted store
window or a street lamp, as fill by posi ti oning the subject
appropriately. Don' t worry about mi xing color tempera-
lUres; viewers readil y accept color distort ions when seeing
events shot at night. You could al so use the store window
as a key li ght and have rour as..'iistant hold a reflector on
8.36 EfP LOCATI ON SURVEY
TECHNIQUES OF TELEVISION LIGHTING
fhe opposit e side: to generate some fi ll . Once again, .tvoid
shoot ing against a brightl y li ghted background.
If you to cover d brief feature report outside the
county hospi' ''!' for exa mple, and you are not under great
time pressure, uS(' a portable light mounted on a li ght stand
as a key. Use tne lighted hospital door or a "'indo ..... as fill
or back light. In Ihis POSil iolt Ihe field reporter SO Ihal
hear she is not di rectl y in front of the door or \"indow but
off \0 one side and out of camera range (see figur" 8.34).
Whenever possible, plll g the li ghts into regular household
outlets r"ther than using ba tt eries as a power source.
If the reporter needs a remote teleprompter, check
that the prompting device is working before the reporter
goes on tht' air. As a repOrl er, ask the production person
in charge to run the fi rst fe\\' lint'S fo r you.
LOCATION SURVEY
Emn... One: of Ihe most imporlant aspects of light ing for
EE}P" EFP is a thorough (oauio" surveyofthe remote sill".
SU 1.36 The survey checklists in figure 8.36 1I fe intended
for relativel), si mple productions, as are all olher discus-
sions of EFP. (For more-detail ed information on location
surveys, see the remote survey section in chapter 20). The
lighting for large and complex electronic field produni ons
is moreclosc1}' related to motion picture techniques and is
Is the available light If not. what additional lighu
do you need? What type of available figh t do you have?
Incandl'S(ent/ Fluofes<ent? Daylight comifl9lhrough windows?
----, "'H" " IAcrfIOU.D
Is there any action planned against a white wall? Are there
windows in the If so, do they have curtains,
or Vt'netian blinds that can be drawn? If you want to use the
dayli ght from the window, do you have lights that mauh the
(olor temperature of the daylight (S,600K)? If the window is
too bright. or if you have to reduce the color temperatUfE coming
through the window, do youhave the appropriate N.O or color
filters to attach to the window! Youwill certai nly nef'd some
refle<tors or Olher type of fi n-light illumination.
[)ayou need any is the sun in relation
to plinned action? Is there enough room to place the
ne<mary reflectors?
How bright is the background! Even if the sun is nol hitting lhe
background at the timr of the survey, will it be there whrn the
actual production takes place? When shooling at lhe beach,
dl>es the diretto! plan to haY' jltople perform with the ocean as
the wckground? You will need feflectors andlor additional lights
(HMls) to prevent the people from turning intosi lhouettes,
unless the dire<tor plans 00 E(Us most of the lime.
- "--

Secrfon 8, ] Lighting In fhe Field 185
8.36 EfP LOCATION SURVEY ((ontinued)
If therE' are def'lSeshadoW5 or if lilt l'V1!nI takes pi.!cl' in
highcootrolSt areas (sunlight and shadows)' you Ill'ed exIra fill
light andlor NO filters to reduc!' the (ontrast.
.....HG.' '01111011$
(an you place the ligtJts out of camera range? What lightil'l9
supports do you need (light mnds, gaffer grip, damps)? OC/ Yt\1J
need special mounting devices, such as battens or UOiS braces?
Are the lighting instrumentsfar enough away from combustible
materials?Are thl' IKjhlSpoSitioned so that they do not interfere
with the event? People who a ll' not used 10 television complain
mostly about the brightness of the lig hts,
'ow,. U,".'.""S
Your main (oncern will be power and how \0 get it \0 the lighting
instruments. Is the IM!C55i1ry power available nearby?Do you need
agenerator? If you (an lap available power, make sure you (an
11'11 theengineer;n charge the approximate power requirement
forali lighlS. (Simply add up the wallage of all the lights you plan
10 use, plus another 10 pellentto ensure enough power. )00 you
have enough extension cordsto reach all the lighting inSllUments?
00 you know ex.)cUywhere Iheoutlets are. what the raling olthl'
circuits is, and which outlets are on the klme <ircuit? Make a rough
sketch of all outlels and indicate tt\(! distance to thecormponding
light or lighl5. What adilpters do you need to plug lights illto the
available outlets? Do you have the necessary <ables,
cords, and power strips that you can gel by with a minimum
of (able runs? In the projected cable runs, have you taken all
possible safety precaut ions?
nor addressed here. Btlt even in a relati vel y si Inple EFP, you
will fi nd thaI the power supply is one of the key el emenlS
for good remote lighting.
POWER. SUPPLY
In EFP you have 10 work. with three types of power for
lighting instrument s; household (Urrenr (usuall y h om 110
'0120 vol ts), genera tors, and 12V or 30\' b;rttcries.
Does the production take pl.!ce in bright sunlight? (an the S{ene
be moved inlo the shadow area? If not you muu lIMon provide for
11 generous amount offill light (reflKtors andlorHMI spotlights)
to render the shadows transparent. or ND filters to the glare
of overly bright areas.
If you need ,efltoo. 01 addilionallights on is the
ground level enough lor the stands to be setUftly 11 out-
willyou netd to take extra pmautions be(ause of wind?
pleflly of klndbags along. or t'ltn some ten! stakes and
rope, that you can Sl'{Ule the light stands in me of wind.)
You do not need to use lighting instruments very often when
shooting unless 100 shoot at ni9ht Of need to fill
in partkulally Gense shadows that (annot be' with
asimple reflectol.
The must frequent ly used supply is househol d
( UHfn!. \o\'hen using regular wall outlets, be aware of che
power rating oflhe circuits, wh ich is usually 15 or 20 amps
(<lmperes) percircuic. This rating means chal yourao theo-
reticall y plrl g in 3 I,SOOW \.o r 2,OOOW) instrument . or any
combination of li ghts that does not exceed 1,500 (or 2,000)
watl s, without overloadi ng Ihe circuit , provided nothing
el se is on the same circuit. But that is not Jlways to
10
186 Chopter 8
8.37 CALCULATING ELECTRIC POWER REQUIREMENTS
To find the maximum load (watts) for a51ngtl' of<uit Ihe following
formula:
amptrfl x vorts :;: watb
The ampere rating of II standard household mu;1 is 15 amps (normally
stoJmped on lhedrcuil breaker). This means that the c1rruil (iln theo-
reti<atly hold a maximum load of 15 ilmps x 110 volts :;: 1,650watts.
To always flgu", l00volts instead of 110 v(}lts:
1 S Imps X100 ,., 1,500 watts
TO(ill(\I1.1I1' how many instruments to plug into asingle circuit divide
their total wanaqe into 1,500 watts(maximum load). lhe table lists
the number of instruments of a(ertain wattage that you (an safely
plug ;010 II single 1 S-amp (ir(uit
do. Recall the di scussion about extension cords tnat build
up additi onal resistance, t"spedaU)' when warm. To be on
the safe side, do nO( load up a single CIrell i/ 10 full capacity.
Otherwise, you may find that the li ght s go out just at the
most important pan of the shoot.
You can find tnecapacity of the circuit by chedcing its
fuse or breaker. Each breaker is labeled with the number
of amps it can handle. You Call now figure the total \Y3tt -
age ca pacity of each ci rcui t: simply muhiply Ihe number
of amps of Ihe circuit (15 or 20 amps) by 100 (assuming
the household current rates between 110 and 120 volts).
This gil'es you 3n upper limit: 1,500 for a IS-amp
breaker ( 100\'0115 X JSamps.o::: 1,500 total wattage) or 2,000
wa ns {or a 20-amp breaker ( IOOV =. 2,000\\') . BUI don' t
press your luck. Tr y to use lower waltage inSlrumenls per
c.ircuit to ensure that the li ghts I-'.'iil work properl y during
the entire producti on. 5ElI.J7
If you need to power more li ghts than it si ngle cirCllit
can handle. plug them into different ci rcuits. Bul hm,.. do
you know whi ch outletS arc on separate circuit s'
De t e rm ining the circuits Normall y, several double
wall outlets 3re connected to a single circuit. Yo u call de-
tamine whi ch outlets are on the same circuit by plugging
o ne low powered lantp ioto.l parti cular oude\. Find thl!
specific circuit breaker that turns off the lamp. 51\1"i\ co 'he
breaker on again. TIle light should light lip ag<lin. Now plug
the light into the next convenient outlet and switch off 'he
TECHNIQUES OF TELEVISION LIGHTING
NUMBER OF INSTRUMENTS
WATIAGE OF LAMP PER 1s.AMP CIRCUIT
100 IS
1\0 10
175 9
200 7
350

500 1
,
750
1,000
1,500
sant e circuit brC:l ker or fuse . I(,he light goesouI, the plugs
are on the same ( ircuil. If the light st ays on, iI 's a different
ci rCllil ilnd you <I re safe to use it.
Safe power extensions Obviously, you need enough
extension cords 10 gel from the outlets 10 The lighting in-
strument s. You Gm minimi te cable runs by using power
strips (multiple-outlet boxes), especially if )'ou use lo\\' -
wattage UISTruments. The larger the wires in Iheextension
cords (IolYer gauge rali ngs), the more wattage the}' can
handle without gelting lIndul y hot. Have enough and va ri
ous kinds of adapt ers avail able so tb.atlighlS can be plugged
intI) the exisling outl ets.
WhenCI'er there is doubt about the aVililabilit y or
reliability of power, usc a generator, Ihe responsibilit y of
whicn (ails to the engineering crew. The circuit ratings and
tnt'" all owable c.ombined w,,\lase or the lights per circuit
still appl y.
For relatively simple on-location productions, you
...er the li ghts with balleries. First check whethcr the
lar nl>s in the portable lighTS are appropriilte for the voh;lge
of the battcr),. Obviousl}', you CaJlOo t u:.e a 12-volt lamp
\,..ilh J 3D-volt b,mery. Theil check that the b,lIteries arc
properly chargt"d Jnd Ihal Ihere ar ... enough spares for the
duration of the production. Turningoft"thcliglusl"l'henever
possi ble billiery power and greatly extends the life of
the lamps .

Seelion 8.2
Whenshootingin bright trytoplacethe lalenl
in theshaderatherthanthesun.If )'Qumustshootinthe
sun. alene<;lor and/oraneutraldensity(NO) filterto
reduct(ontl ast.
The bestoutdootShootingtight isanovercastday. The
cloudsaCIasill giantdiffusionfilter,
Usethebaskphotographic:principlewhenli ghlifl9a
single-pers.on int er view ;11 a windowless r00fl'1 . 11 you h;IV,"
only two instrument S, use a softhght from tht! front key
and fill and use a second instrument as 3 back light_ When
ClOSS shootInguse twoinstrumeOlstofulfi ll key- <Ina back-
lightfunctions.
Whena window is PfesentuseitfOt fill orba<klight. Any
indoorlighumustthenburnal S.600K.Gelyour 3,2001<
indOOf tighu withlight-bluemf'dia,01use 5,600K lamps.
Use a largE' pdnOfilmi cWIndowfor tnekeylightorcoverIt
wi tha curtainanduse atriangl e lightir1gsetup.Ifthewin-
dowisinIheshot, filterthe int('r1) ity01 thelightandlower
thecolortemperaturewithgelsonthewindow,andadd
).200Kkeyand filt lights.
Whenshootinginfluorescent light. use S,600K lightsfor ad-
ditionalkeyandDackli9ht s,or'washout"thenuoresce/1!
cei linglight swithincandescentkey, back,andfill li ghts.
Whenshoot ingatnightusethecameralightas Ihepri ncl -
f)<I lligh\source ifno Olher lightisavailable.Usea
filterOnIhecameril lightandanyotheravailablelightora
reflect or forfil!.
BeforedOingilnyEFP lighting,conducta kxationsUflley.
The fo rmul afOffiguringtheel ectri cpowerratingIS
wan= volt x ampere.
whenpow-eringportablelighlSwithhouseholdcurrent,check
thecapil ci tyofthecircuit silnddo notollerlMdthem.
Lighting i n th e Field
,
For yourreference,ortoIrackyourwork. eachVideo-
Lab programcuein thischaptCf islistedherewithits
correspondingf)<I genumber.
Elm Color whilebalance!
CO(\I(olling!tryil 1St
Em) Color lightso urces 160
m) LlGHTH Triangle keyIbcrckIfili i
background1tryit 163
B!l!)- LlGHTH highkey/Iow key 168
B!I!) silhouette 170
fED- MeasuremenH COfllrall 173
mD outdoor!indoorf
milledI tr yit '80
187