Reddit reviews Set Lighting Technician's Handbook: Film Lighting Equipment, Practice, and Electrical Distribution
We found 39 Reddit comments about Set Lighting Technician's Handbook: Film Lighting Equipment, Practice, and Electrical Distribution. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Focal Press
The American Cinematography Manual lists a lot of lamp types and phtotmetric data.
Film Lighting I find to be an interesting read.
Set Lighting Technicians handbook always comes highly recommended, but I have not personally read it.
Other resources include youtube videos or searching for images.
https://www.amazon.com/Set-Lighting-Technicians-Handbook-Distribution/dp/0240810759
Know what the lights are called, and where the power is. If you're running a generator you kind of need to know what your doing, so hopefully you're not using any lights bigger than a 2k and just running off house power. Know where the fuse box is. I can't quite remember if it's each wall has its own circuit or if it's different rooms have their own circuits but don't plug in more than 2000 ways total on one circuit if the circuits are 20amp. If their 15amp don't plug in more than 1500 watts on one circuit.
Have a set crate with zip stingers, cube taps, black wrap, clothes pins and some pre cut gels near set. If you don't have any pre cut, label them as you make them and keep em for later in the show. Have some 50' & 25' Edison cables in a crate near set, have some c stands and baby stands near set, see what fixtures the gaffer thinks he will need and have them staged near set.
Keep everything as organized as you can and clean up. If you lose the gear that's on you kind of. If you haven't yet, hire a killer 3rd electrician and he can deal with set and the gaffer, you just deal with the equipment, keep it organized and ready to go. Get the plan from the gaffer and prepare as best you can to implement it when needed.
Most importantly don't do anything you're not 100% sure about when it comes to electricity. It can be dangerous, burn down houses and electrocute people dangerous, so just use your best judgement and if anyone asks you to do a tie in, tell them to fuck off and do it themselves.
Also it seems important for BBE to be grumpy and kind of get pissed if anyone asks for something to charge their phone with. So do that too.
lights are almost always measured by wattage, so 12k= 12 kilowatts or 12,000 Watts.
1/2 and full white are referring to different thickness of diffusions, 1/2 white(250)= 1/2 a stop of light loss, full white(216)=full stop. most DP's Grips and Gaffers will refer to diff by its catalog number(410, 250, 216, 129, 1099)
Grids are a cloth diffusion with a grid pattern of white thread, referred to the same way as half stop and full stop.
pick up the Set Lighting Technicians Handbook its well worth it and will answer almost any question you may need answered, or talk to your best boy electric, hes probably got a copy of it in the set cart next to the fluke meter.
Here are a few:
http://www.amazon.com/Set-Lighting-Technicians-Handbook-Distribution/dp/0240810759
http://www.amazon.com/Cinematography-Theory-Practice-Cinematographers-Directors/dp/0240812093
http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Cinematography-Fundamentals-Techniques-Workflows/dp/0240817915/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410971724&sr=1-1&keywords=david+stump+ASC
http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Story-Creating-Structure-Digital/dp/0240807790/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410971760&sr=1-1&keywords=the+visual+story
Glad you're trying it out and putting in the effort.
I don't want to sound like I'm encouraging quitting or anything but there's nothing wrong with realizing that something isn't for you. You may need to check out more things/adjust your expectations (of yourself and of the work) before making that decision.
Don't be frustrated just because you don't understand as much as you thought. If you want to and you're dedicated, you can become even more skilled and knowledgeable than anyone on that set. These things take time and effort, of course.
Lighting isn't the easiest thing to grasp and "3-point lighting" is really just a starting point; a general way that you might decide to use to light a scene and which can work any number of ways rather than being one particular setup/ratio. The Set Lighting Technician's Handbook is very informative, if you're really interested, but there's also plenty of guides online and I'd be happy to break down a few basics if you'd like.
With good cinematography comes great lighting. When I first started in the film industry as Grip, I literally sat on the back of the truck between takes and read Harry Box's Set Lighting Technicians Handbook. Its invaluable information as far as lighting is concerned. The Grip Book by Mike Uva is another great handbook. Generally, if you walked into Barnes and Noble, all the other books on the shelf are worth a read. "Rebel without a Crew" And "Save the Cat" are some great reads.
Here is a PDF of some general set terms
Each department will have loads of their own unique terms, sometimes several for the same thing. Clothespins (used for attaching colored gels to the barndoors of lights) are often called bullets, clothes pins or c-47. Spring clamps might be called "pony clamps" or "grip clamps" as well.
barndoors - the movable wings that attach to the front of a light. used to shape the beam and attach gels.
There is also slang for every type of light that you would use on set. Most of them refer to different versions of Mole-Richardson lights, the standard in the film industry for quite some time.
Each of these lights has a larger and smaller version. The larger version is usually considered the "studio" version. The smaller versions that you will find on equipment trucks and location shoots are denoted by adding "baby" to it, except in the case of the 1k fresnel since it would be silly to call it a "baby baby".
Those are just Mole-Richardson tungsten lights. There are other terms for HMIs, Fluorescent lights, light banks and even other brands of tungsten lights. There are also terms for each type of stand. The basics would be walker = stand without wheels, roller = stand with wheels.
I really recommend The Set Lighting And Technicians Handbook. If you are working in a production crew it should be your bible.
Fellow Columbia Alum here, this book is an indispensable resource as well. Won't exactly tell you "how" to light your scene, but covers all the gear and how it works.
The Set Lighting Technician's Handbook
Set Lighting Technician's Handbook by Harry C. Box
As many cameras as there are, there are countless numbers of lights. Many of these "must have" lights like a basic 1.2HMI run many thousands of dollars which is beyond the scope of purchase for most users (as it should be). Lights at even a mid range production level are rented because you need so many of so many different types based on what, when, and where you're shooting (as well as what you're shooting on).
The scope is massive and beyond the capabilities of the sub. Fortunately, there is already a fairly affordable reference in The Set Lighting Technicians Handbook (as mentioned by /u/itschrisreed).
"Set Lighting Technician's Handbook." This is the one.
If your looking to get into cinematography, you should check out "Cinematography" and "Motion Picture and Video Lighting" by Blain Brown. Anything from Kris Malkiewicz is worth a read too. "The Grip Book" by Michael Uva, "Set Lighting Technician's Handbook" by Harry Box and "The Camera Assistant" by Doug Hart are all excellent books for more trade specific people.
Edit for links:
http://www.amazon.com/Cinematography-Practice-Edition-Cinematographers-Directors/dp/0240812093/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333841096&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Motion-Picture-Lighting-Second-Edition/dp/0240807634/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1333841096&sr=8-3
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_7?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=kris+malkiewicz&sprefix=Kris+ma%2Caps%2C359&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Akris+malkiewicz&ajr=0
http://www.amazon.com/The-Grip-Book-Fourth-Edition/dp/0240812913/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333841229&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Lighting-Technicians-Handbook-Fourth-Edition/dp/0240810759/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1333841229&sr=8-4
http://www.amazon.com/The-Camera-Assistant-Complete-Professional/dp/0240800427/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1333841294&sr=8-4
I'd just like to point out that I'm not a film maker in any way shape or form so it would be nice if somebody could verify what I'm about to say.
I've been watching a lot of videos by FilmmakerIQ.com on Vimeo and have learned a lot from them. Anyway, they have a list of recommended books that I haven't checked out yet but would like to. I'll just list them out here:
Painting With Light
Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need
The Hollywood Standard: The Complete and Authoritative Guide to Script Format and Style (Hollywood Standard: The Complete & Authoritative Guide to)
Set Lighting Technician's Handbook: Film Lighting Equipment, Practice, and Electrical Distribution
Master Shots: 100 Advanced Camera Techniques to Get an Expensive Look on Your Low-Budget Movie
Cinematography: Theory and Practice: Image Making for Cinematographers and Directors
The Camera Assistant's Manual
The Makeup Artist Handbook: Techniques for Film, Television, Photography, and Theatre
Special Makeup Effects for Stage and Screen: Making and Applying Prosthetics
Grammar of the Shot (Media Manuals)
Rebel without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player
Cinematic Storytelling: The 100 Most Powerful Film Conventions Every Filmmaker Must Know
The Five C's of Cinematography: Motion Picture Filming Techniques
Set Lighting Technician's Handbook is a popular one.
I second this. The ASC is a wonderful resource, also subscribe to their newsletter they usually have links to relevant articles that didn't make the magazine along with info about upcoming events/expos.
I also found these helpful:
"Lighting for Cinematography: A Practical Guide to the Art and Craft of Lighting for the Moving Image" https://www.amazon.com/dp/1628926929/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_J5uen5Oey5Orz
"Master Shots Volumes 1,2,&3" https://www.amazon.com/dp/1615931546/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Ez-4ybHE81VH1
And "Set Lighting Technician's Handbook: Film Lighting Equipment, Practice, and Electrical Distribution" https://www.amazon.com/dp/0240810759/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_tA-4yb18WDJFC
I like where your heart's at, but honestly books just aren't going to help you much for what you're after. Everything you said you wanted to learn is stuff you learn by just doing it and seeing other people do it. Time to get your butt out on set! And if there's no set, it's time for you to buy some cheap lights and fuck around with them endlessly!
If you really want a book for the technical stuff in lighting, buy the Set Lighting Technician's Handbook. That's the industry standard reference manual for lighting.
this is what I started with.
this is what I use now.
Edit: thank you for the gold /u/dethswatch
It's sometimes embarrassing to have a DSLR because DSLR filmmakers show up to a pro set looking like Blankman.
I'm trying not to be too critical but Flourescent bulbs aren't exactly sought after for their CRI, flicker characteristics, and inability to be dimmed well. Sure, they output a LOT of light, but you need to be careful because they pulse like mad, have a REALLY strange color cast, they can't be dimmed, AND are really noisy if you get dimmable ones.
Just get a PAR64 as a direct light through diffusion or build a softlight with some bare studio bulbs for softboxes and (the only good idea in the whole tutorial) that crazy cake pan reflector painted white. Either idea would probably only cost slightly more (for the REAL bulb receptacles) and put out A SHITLOAD more light (and a better quality/CRI of light).
Also, it's not that hard to build film lights with spare parts. There's even a section that starts on page 144 of the Harry C Box Set Lighting Technician's Handbook that teaches you how to make quality lights for the same amount of money or slightly more. The coop light that they recommend is REALLY good and isn't an embarrassing blankman invention. Clients actually do respond negatively to cheap equipment.
Also, you can build a kino flo if you have the time. All you need is coreplast (corrugated plastic), some fluorescent shoplights with ballasts, and real kino bulbs (since they have a much more acceptable CRI and are more rugged by a factor of 100).
It boggles my mind how people are so scared of real film lights even though they are commonly hand-built for specific purposes in the pro parts of the industry I'll get off my high horse. I'm just getting really tired of DSLR shooters kludging everything together just because they're scared of real film equipment.
http://www.amazon.com/Set-Lighting-Technicians-Handbook-Distribution/dp/0240810759/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397498684&sr=1-1&keywords=set+technicians+handbook
This is a good place to start. Also check local gigs, prepare for application to the local union.
Read this book.
Read this book.
Read this book too.
These will give you a good basis to build knowledge/experience from.
Multitool
crescent wrench,
phase tape (colored electrical tape),
copy of this http://www.amazon.com/Set-Lighting-Technicians-Handbook-Distribution/dp/0240810759/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376759311&sr=8-1&keywords=set+lighting+technician%27s+handbook,
a few 1" spring clips,
utility knife,
sash cord,
trick line,
alcohol wipes,
BURN CREAM,
6 cube taps,
sharpies,
pens,
notebook,
hammer,
screw gun
This book is primarily for Film Lighting, but it is a great resource. It is THE film lighting book, including Dimmers, LEDs, moving lights, everything. It should be in every electricians inventory, theater or film.
Harry Box's Set Lighting Handbook
Set Lighting Technician's Handbook: Film Lighting Equipment, Practice, and Electrical Distribution https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0240810759/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_lOYVDb10S7M6K
If you like reading, this book is a great resource. It covers lots of big lights (and how to use / troubleshoot them,) the calculations most commonly needed for power draw and genny balancing, different kinds of electric setups and all the special connectors like bates and camlok, etc. It's (IMO) one of the most valuable resources in the industry by far: https://www.amazon.com/Set-Lighting-Technicians-Handbook-Distribution/dp/0240810759
Set Lighting Technician's Handbook
edit- added link
You might mean 'cube tap' instead of 'cub tap'. It's a small cube-like plug that allows you to make 1 Edison receptacle into 3.
I'd recommend picking up a copy of Set Lighting Technician's Handbook…), best $40 you can spend for this sort of info.
Set lighting technicians handbook
Excellent book that is good starting out, and at an advanced level.
It's really got nothing to do with the camera you're using. It's about lighting.
Light the scene to your and then add one or two flicker gags -- essentially, have someone dim the light up and down to simulate the flicker of a candle (it can be your key or an additional light or whatever, but use your eye to find what's most effective).
For bigger budgets there are plenty of "flicker boxes" that you can plug the lights into that will automatically do the dimming, but I've seen it done the simple hand dimmer way hundreds of times.
This book is your best friend:
http://www.amazon.com/Set-Lighting-Technicians-Handbook-Fourth/dp/0240810759/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
Where do you live?
If you want to do it, just try and get a job working as a PA on student films or something shooting in your area. You don't need experience, you don't need a degree, and the hardest part will be getting that first job.
I've seen too many of my friends in the business crippled by student loans that were unnecessary and actually counterproductive to their success. The people the did the best in the industry now actually dropped out of school 2 or 3 years in because they saw school was getting in the way of the work they were getting.
I hope you like reading, because while you're trying to get a job you should read these books.
Five C's of Cinematography
(http://www.amazon.com/The-Five-Cs-Cinematography-Techniques/dp/187950541X)
Set Lighting Technicians Handbook
http://www.amazon.com/Set-Lighting-Technicians-Handbook-Distribution/dp/0240810759
Camera Assistants Handbook
http://www.amazon.com/The-Camera-Assistant-Complete-Professional/dp/0240800427
Placing Shadows
http://www.amazon.com/Placing-Shadows-Lighting-Techniques-Production/dp/0240806611
Then watch these DVD's - They're expensive, look for them on eBay or used or something.
http://www.hollywoodcamerawork.com/mc_index.html
Have you made a movie before? If not, start churning them out. They don't have to be good, you just have to finish them. Believe it or not it is quantity, not quality, as the first few movies are going to be filled with the most stupid terrible mistakes you'll ever make, mistakes that will totally prevent you from telling a bearable story.
So if you combine all these...you look for a job, you start working as a PA, you read whatever you can get your hands on, especially those books listed, and you start shooting your own movies and applying what you learn from books and work to those films, you'll be in great shape.
My favorite lighting-related resources are:
For basic lighting YouTube is your friend.
> 12k's/6k's/4k's/2k's? I'm assuming it's not temperature but brightness?
Correct, or more accurately referring to the wattage of the lamp in the unit (k=1000, so 12000W lamp etc); which results in differing brightness levels depending on the lamp type and optics of the light source - HMIs are generally brighter per watt than tungsten/incandescent bulbs, but reflectors and lenses in the lamp housing can change that.
>1/2 white/full white (boards?)?
> Full/Half grids?
These are diffusion filters, I think (we use the term grid here, but not 1/2 white or full white, we just say 216 which is the Lee filter number) - basically a piece of (usually) heat-treated plastic that serves to spread out the light source so that it's bigger relative to the subject. Diffusion, thanks to physics, will lower the intensity of the light, so you need to compensate for that when you use it.
Books:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0671766341
http://www.amazon.com/Set-Lighting-Technicians-Handbook-Distribution/dp/0240810759/
> The Set Lighting Technician's Handbook
This one?
https://www.amazon.ca/Set-Lighting-Technicians-Handbook-Distribution/dp/0240810759/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492538461&sr=8-1&keywords=set+lighting+technician%27s+handbook
Congrats on working on your first feature. If you haven't already I would suggest buying this It's packed full of brillant advice and information. There's a chapter on knots too!
Save your money.
Grab the grip and lighting book from Harry Box (yes it’s a terrible name). It’s the book we use on film sets, it’s an easy read and has some awful jokes in it too.
Watch every film you can, and the commentaries.
Watch thing in theaters, Hollywood theater, watch rare things at movie madness.
Get a subscription to American Cinematographers magazine. (Read old articles.)
Buy a camera. 6k blackmagic or canon 5D miv. Have an iPhone (works easily, and easy to edit on.)
Have fun. Be curious. Be a happy puppy, and treat everyone fairly. Punch up, never punch down.
If you want a job in the film business, know that you want to do it for free...for love, if you do it only for money...you will fail.
http://www.amazon.com/Set-Lighting-Technicians-Handbook-Distribution/dp/0240810759
That's a link to the Set Lighting Technician's handbook. It's fantastic.
On set communication: Good point. I was thinking about that and wondering if there's perhaps a glossary of terms used on german sets, something like the glossary in the Set Lighting Technician's Handbook by Harry Box. I'd love to get a heads up on what a half double net/scrim is called in Berlin...
Here are some links for the product in the above comment for different countries:
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TL;DR: A 70D package with everything you need is about $1350 on amazon. Skip the Point and shoot, don't worry about 4K yet, and lighting is important.
This Canon 70D package is about $150 out of your price range, but you have pretty much everything you would need: Camera, Lens, 32GB Class 10 SD Card, and a Rode Mic.
I would skip the point and shoot all together to be honest: your Cellphone already fulfills whatever you would want out of a point and shoot, as well as the GoPro.
The 70D features an articulating screen, 1080p Automatic and manual video exposure, Kelvin scale white balancing, and so on. Knowing how to use these features, such as manual exposure and white balancing are extremely important to the film making process, and a firm grasp of these elements will only make your videos better and more professional. For further reading on exposure, read this, or for Kelvin scale White balancing, read this.
As a plus, the 70D is the go to camera for cinematographers to preview lighting on set while they wait for the Cinema Camera to be built. (Movies use cameras that require accessories mounted on the camera in order to work, such as external monitors, External recorders, wireless video, etc.)
The lens bundled with the kit is honestly shite, but you can still get great picture out of it, and of course going with a canon DSLR means that you can save up for higher quality glass further down the line, and future proof yourself when you want to upgrade the body. Plus, Canon mount is an Film industry standard lens mount along with PL, B4, and C, but you can't really get a sub 5k camera with any of those mounts.
Now, the main drawback of this package compared to others in the $1-4k price range is the video resolution: 1920x1080p, or HD. Most cameras in this price range are moving towards 4K platforms (around 4 times 1080p). Consider, however, that most people watching youtube videos usually are looking at 720p Laptop monitors with shitty bit rates due to youtube compression. 4K is still a few years from being a household standard resolution, as most UHD 4K displays are extremely expensive. The big two 4k prosumer cameras right now are the A7s II, and the GH4, and they aren't all that great yet: the A7s, while being used in hollywood for interviews and as a B-Camera, is only really good at interviews and low light. The GH4, on the other hand uses a Micro 4/3rds sensor, which is much too small for most professional use, though it occasionally pops up on ultra low budget jobs. In a few years, Canon might develop a body that does 4K well: The 5D MK IV has 4k video, for example, but the way in which the camera does it creates all sorts of problems that ultimately make video shooting with it unusable. Further down the line, of course, you can upgrade to an A7s or GH4 and adapt them to a canon mount.
Another thing you should consider after buying your camera is saving up for some lighting. This is the most important part of shooting, before the camera and the lens. For now, some house hold lamps can work, but in the future, you should consider getting some video lights. I started with Home Depot Clamp lights, but eventually went to cheap LED fixtures, and now Tungsten Fresnels, HMIs, and Fluorescent sources. Lighting can be tough to grasp, but if you read The Set Lighting Technician's Handbook by Harry Box, then you will quickly have enough knowledge to become a hollywood electrician.
Good luck, and I hope your Knee gets better!
Edits: sentence structure.
Source: Camera Technician, and Gaffer
Perhaps take a look at the Set Lighting Technicians Handbook.
https://www.amazon.ca/Set-Lighting-Technicians-Handbook-Distribution/dp/0240810759
Might be more technical than you want.
Pretty much what you're looking for is China Ball. Soft light on a stick, works pretty good for most stuff.