Comments on: Building the Perfect Key Light

By: Daniel Rheaume

Daniel Rheaume — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:02:26 +0000

Hi Shane!
Looking at building one of these – curious though,
Any reason you advise against using a round aluminum pizza pan instead of the serving tray?
It seems the pizza pan might reflect back more light, but then again maybe the beauty in this is the type if hardness from the serving tray. Thought I would ask in case you had a thought on it.
Thanks!
Daniel
Portland, OR

By: Shane

Shane — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 05:08:40 +0000

Jonas Lundin, great lights, thanks so much for sharing.

By: Jonas Lundin

Jonas Lundin — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 13:10:19 +0000

Great article! Sometimes DIY stuff is the best solution, I’ve built myself a couple of lighting setups. Theres on in particular that I use a lot! I bought 5 meters of warm white adhesive LED strips and 5 meters of cool white LED strips. Put them on a board, soldered them together and put dimmers so I can alter the color temprature between 2800K to 5700K. Run them for an hour or so on a small 11.1V Lipo battery. Perfect when you don’t have much time, space or electricity available.

Here’s some pictures, all 4200K balanced:
The LED: http://i.imgur.com/K7TSG.jpg
The battery/dimmer: http://i.imgur.com/Jn4q5.jpg
Warm white only: http://i.imgur.com/bfSEj.jpg
Cool white only: http://i.imgur.com/ub1I5.jpg
All LEDs: http://i.imgur.com/kqHoF.jpg

By: Shane

Shane — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 11:10:23 +0000

Peter Mosiman, that is what makes us different. Too many GD camera/gear sites. Story and
Lighting are king. Coming from the gaffing side I feel gave me a leg up. Thanks for you support.

By: Shane

Shane — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 11:04:34 +0000

Bill Hammell, I use them in a fixture. They are not my favorite light because there pattern is so uneven. Great for background work.

By: Bill Hamell

Bill Hamell — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 10:52:54 +0000

Shane,

Do you use the MR-16s hanging free or in a fixture? I use a few MR-16 Par fixtures with Barn Doors as well as a few free hanging sockets.

Bill

By: Peter Mosiman

Peter Mosiman — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:05:29 +0000

Shane, thank you sir.

I intend on making one very soon and I love how you say go blue up. I’m more of a “put some B on that” kinda guy, but I think I’ll add the “blue up” to my vocab. ;)

I look forward to making more lights in the future and sharing them. Thank you also for putting up lighting resources on the internet. There aren’t nearly as many as there are camera resources, hence why I started gaffersunite.com. And as once upon a time gaffer yourself, I’m sure you can agree.

Seriously thanks again for everything.

By: Shane

Shane — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:50:16 +0000

Peter Mosiman, that is very cool. Thank you so much for your kind words. I love making my own lights. The rope light wound up has a ton of punch that you can blue up or go naked. Little more controllable as well. Try it out, I think you will love it.

By: Peter Mosiman

Peter Mosiman — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:23:56 +0000

Shane,

These are fantastic. I have recently fallen in love with how non-film tailored lights look and the absolute freedom of creativity they allot an individual with an eye for lighting. I was recently gaffing a music video where I had to come up with a “unique” low-key eye-light that could also be used as a key as well, and after reading about your Tray Light, and remembering what Andrew Lesnie, ACS, ASC did for Galadriel’s eye-light in The Two Towers, I made up this little guy with a little inspiration as well from David Kruta and it is fantastic. It’s super simple, decently soft, light, and has low power consumption (link: http://gaffersunite.com/2012/02/08/my-version-of-the-hanna-light/ ).
Thanks for the inspiration and wisdom Shane. It is greatly appreciated.
Cheers!
Peter

By: usługi prawne katowice

usługi prawne katowice — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:20:17 +0000

hi, impressi ve blog on suety loss. suchlike helped. Z zagwarantowaniem gęsto rozważałeś o tym dlaczemu znawcy z dziedziny prawa spadkowego nie dają treści zahaczających tej zagwostki w wirtualnym świecie. Od dzisiaj nie musisz się nad tym rozważać. Pragniemy teraz pokazać nowy serwis prawniczy, jaki projektowany jest przez radcę prawnego od prawa spadkowego. Przez oglądanie zamieszczonych tu informacji i szybkie rozważania ze radcą prawnym dowiesz się tu wielu ciekawych treści związanych z spadkiem.

By: Bill Hamell

Bill Hamell — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:13:11 +0000

Shane,

Do you use the MR-16s hanging free or in a fixture? I use a few MR-16 Par fixtures with Barn Doors.

Bill

By: Shane

Shane — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:37:56 +0000

Fletcher Murray, Thank you so much for those wonderful words. I use the MR-16 often as well. I find that I have to spray the face of the light with dulling spray to get rid of the weird pattern it exhibits. Kino Flo is very soft and they have barn doors but nothing that would feel like a MR-16.

By: Fletcher Murray

Fletcher Murray — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 05:30:42 +0000

Shane, you continue to show what a big being you are by sharing your breakthroughs. Do you love the light the MR-16 bulbs put out? I have been mesmerized by these lights since I shot some extreme closeup work of the faceplates of Alpine’s CD players. I think Kino-flo used to have extremely small lights like that with tiny bar doors etc. Your thoughts?

By: Shane

Shane — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:08:09 +0000

Page Lynch, you are very welcome.

By: Page Lynch

Page Lynch — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:51:46 +0000

Excellent words of wisdom! Thank you so much, Shane!

By: Shane

Shane — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 07:29:26 +0000

Tej Babra, one of our co-collabortors has help me out with a schematic for the buffet tray light. Here is the link: ">

By: Shane

Shane — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 07:24:43 +0000

Steven C, One of our co-collaborators Logan Courter helped me out here with a picture and description. I hope this helps: Thought other readers would benefit from it’s construction. I am also completing one for the second light and will post it soon. Thanks again for the wealth of knowledge and keep the how-to’s coming. Click Here for LightJPEG

By: Shane

Shane — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 07:20:56 +0000

Logan Courter, thank you so much for these wonderful words and support. Your light schematics look awesome. Thank you so much for your input on the blog. This diagram is spot on. Once you fire this baby up you will see the power as a soft controlled source.

By: Shane

Shane — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 07:09:07 +0000

Page Lynch, first of I want to thank you for all of those wonderful words. This means so much to me to hear that I am making a difference. All of this takes many hours of my time and wouldn’t do it without filmmakers like yourself. The only advice I can offer is keep making your videos! It’s one thing to go to film school or to read about filmmaking but I believe the only way you improve your craft is to actually do it. You’ll find that your ability to create effects, your ability to shoot and your ability to direct will all improve with experience. Also, watch a ton of movies. Figure out what you like, why you like it and then start dissecting a particular scene that resonates with you. What about it do you like. What is is the frame telling you? What are the actors facial expressions or small details telling you? Keep producing and building an audience online. Many filmmakers are finding a market and an audience online–once you have a platform or a community with which you may share your work, investors will come to you if they like your material. Keep up the good work and good luck! You it Rock Out!!!.

By: James

James — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 05:02:22 +0000

Hey Shane,

I’m wanting to assemble a small location lighting kit predominantly for cinematic looking stills both on location and in our small home built studio..I don’t particularly like strobes as I find the modifiers are pretty limited and I was used to (and prefer) the look movie lights give with snoots, flags etc. (But without the expense and hassle/lack of portability of actually using proper movie lights)

Do you have any recommendations for small SOTA portable kits for a 1-2 person operation re lights /stands/modifiers? i.e LED, dedo etc

I don’t want to buy a couple of elinchrom with portable battery and a softbox if you have a better idea.

Any thoughts much appreciated, Herb Ritts and Albert Watson definitely inspirations for stills.