Lighting in a house

Sayen

Active Member
I've been brought on to help light a band playing at a house for a party, and the intent is not only to illuminate the band but to video tape the performance as well. I'm well versed in issues such as limits of power in a residential situation, but I've never actually lit for video before. Any advice?

Can I play with color, or do I need a neutral balance? Classic warm/cool setup? Gel recommendations to go with video?

Any recommendations for gear? The individual bringing in the bands has plenty of money, I just need to tell them what to rent. I'm trying to keep this simple and down to something I can setup and run solo, but still look impressive. I figure a pair of lighting trees and some floor lights of some sort, maybe even just little PAR38s.

I also have no idea the dimensions of the space, and won't know until I arrive. All I know is that it's indoors, and the room isn't well lit for this sort of thing. At least two bands are performing.

I'm sure I'm making this harder than it needs to be, but I'm a bit nervous considering who the client is and the visibility of the project. I'm used to shows in my theater, where if the setup doesn't work I have the gear and manpower to fix it quickly, so I can normally take greater risks.
 
Last edited:
Ahh! Welcome to the age old conflict between making a live show look good live, while insuring the videotape of the same show also looks good! Start by asking which is of greater importance. If they are paying a lot for the video, they may want your priority to be the video. In any case, whenever I did a broadcast show, I asked the crew to set up a monitor next to the light board so I could back out of any effect or scene which was not turning out on camera.
 
I'd go with lots of back and side lights, and just a bit front light. for the front , I would use a McCandless style warm/cool arrangemnt. The colors are dependent on the type of band and how you think they should be represented. Normally I like R62 and R54. If you need more warm than R54 you could use R05. You could always use a bit of front fill with heavy frost just so the light is enough to reveal some features. Watch a rock concert and glean some insight there. Just remember, typical has circuit is 15AMP, and you need to make sure your outlets are on different circuits!

Check out this website. Theatre 445 -- Lighting
Mr Wild's course has helped me think in different ways regarding how I design.
 
Just remember, typical has circuit is 15AMP, and you need to make sure your outlets are on different circuits!
That's the ugly catch. I'm used to full shows with all of my resources in the theater, including movers and full dimming. If it's like most of the houses in the US, I'm guessing I'll be lucky to get two 15 amp circuits.

I think video is the primary focus, although the guy wants my involvement because of the live shows he's seen me put on. This is where I get stuck, and to be honest I barely know which end of the camera to point at the stage, let alone how to deal with lighting for video.

I like the monitor by the console idea...might have to integrate that into my theater the next time we're filming something.
 
Last edited:
I am always nervous about heavily loading receptacles in houses. Especially if its a newer home. You have receptacles supplied through 100 feet of #14, with 10 receptacles in series, all with back stabbed connections. I would hate to ruin the wiring in someones house because I put 1500w on one of these circuits for 6 hours.

One good place to get power in a (newer) home is the kitchen. You are guaranteed to have two 20amp circuits on the countertop -these are called 'small appliance branch circuits, or SABC'.

The best option, esp since they have a budget, is to get an electrican to come over and do a temporary connection to the homes main panel for a construction style spider box, that would get you 100amps of 120v via two legs of 50a each, brought right to your stage.
 
An alternate idea for your power source would be to bring in a generator. This would give you considerably more freedom in terms of power usage, but would bring other issues, such as local HOA restrictions and the requirements of your local AHJ for generators.
 
I'm a fan of LEDs in that situation - low temps indoors keep the "house" cool - low power consumption is a definite plus in a residential situation -

as far as vid - just throw up a few par36s with some diffusion or something on the faces and any videographer should be pretty happy with it... just make sure you use good LEDs - crappy ones tend to flicker at some frame rates
 
I agree with the LED suggestion, lower power consumption and more creativity when it comes to Color and Setup. Get some small sections of truss and some Genie ST-25's to hold them up and you're in business. They shouldn't be too expensive to rent and if this guy is loaded with $$$$ like you said then it shouldn't be a problem.

I also agree with the suggestion of getting an electrician in and getting a temporary 100amp service for a Spider Box into the room where the party is going to be held. If this guy has a big house then he may even have a 400 amp service to the property if it's a big enough house which would be great and you may even get to have 2 100amp Spider Boxes.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back