Tips for Home Movie Improvements

Lighting Tips for Films Movies and DVD Recording

movie making equipment
While the budget of a major movie director would certainly be nice to work with it is necessary to start looking at things from a very different angle at times. If you have a limited budget, you are working against many of the ideas that tend to circulate about the need for highly advanced equipment. At the same time, there are ways you can get professional or near professional results for a fraction of the cost of professional equipment and lighting is one of the best places you can save money.

It is extremely important to understand that proper professional lights can easily cost between $200 to as much as $1,000 for each light. One of the best examples is a light tree, and the use of halogen lights.

These lights can frequently be purchased for less than $40 each and when combined with a $20 light tree you can easily create a comparable light source. Each halogen light can typically produce 500 watts of light, which would require the use of two halogen lights to create the 1,000 watts of power that each key light will typically offer.

If you are just trying to light up people in natural daylight the usage of additional lighting will be minimum. You are going to have more trouble if you are trying to light up a room that is completely dark. The benefit with this is that you are able to adjust the light to your specific needs without a great amount of difficulty, however it is critical that you take the time to carefully study different lighting options both behind and in front of the camera to decide what lighting source you like the absolute best.

If you discover that the usage of 500-watt halogen lights is too strong for the scene you are filming it is quite easy to decreasing the lighting.. Either you can angle the lights to focus on a different area, or alternatively you could look at even changing the bulbs in the lamps to a lower wattage. Either method will typically suffice, but it is important to ensure if you angel the lights a different direction you are not creating unwanted shadows. Many filmmakers who are just starting to make feature films find that they have problems with unwanted shadows, which are a result of poorly aimed lights. Continuously watching the footage that you are shooting and making periodic checks can help you to combat this problem.

If you find that you really need a bounce card to properly light up your scenes, you have a couple of ideas that are both reasonable. As you can see, getting professional quality lights does not have to cost a fortune.

Quality does not have to be sacrificed in the pursuit of affordability. Many filmmakers have worked with budgets that were less than stellar. They use rental houses for movie equipment if needed. Simply getting out and making films will take some practice but the experience that you gain using alternative equipment can help you to grow as a filmmaker, which will be very helpful in your experience as you grow in the future.