Okay, so I've been roped into doing lighting for an independent film. I've never lit film before (I've done plenty of theatrical productions) and I'm presuming I'm going to need some sort of portable lighting, which I can absolutely locate and rig, but I'm concerned about any dimming I may need to do.
I'm an undergrad, so I'm certain I can get access to some instruments that are collecting dust, and wherever we may end up shooting I'm sure I can find power, but I'd really love to be able to dim my instruments.
We don't have any portable dimmer packs and I'm certain I can't get my hands on a console as they're always in use, so I had thought to perhaps make a sort of home-made console for a few lights.
My theoretical design entails some basic dimmer switches, and some basic inputs and outputs.
Problem being that the dimmer switches one could get at home depot for cheap have a wattage max of about 600 watts. That's fine if I assume I'm not using any instruments over 600 watts, but that may not be possible.
My other thought was to see if barbizon sells any high wattage dimmer switches, and they do, but they're fairly expensive relative to the home depot switches.
So my question is, what's the cheapest way for me to build a system that can dim a few lights? The film is fairly low budget... in fact it's probably whatever we can scrounge up plus whatever we are personally willing to put in. If I have to pay for my system out of pocket, I'd like for that system to be as cheap as is possible.
I'm an undergrad, so I'm certain I can get access to some instruments that are collecting dust, and wherever we may end up shooting I'm sure I can find power, but I'd really love to be able to dim my instruments.
We don't have any portable dimmer packs and I'm certain I can't get my hands on a console as they're always in use, so I had thought to perhaps make a sort of home-made console for a few lights.
My theoretical design entails some basic dimmer switches, and some basic inputs and outputs.
Problem being that the dimmer switches one could get at home depot for cheap have a wattage max of about 600 watts. That's fine if I assume I'm not using any instruments over 600 watts, but that may not be possible.
My other thought was to see if barbizon sells any high wattage dimmer switches, and they do, but they're fairly expensive relative to the home depot switches.
So my question is, what's the cheapest way for me to build a system that can dim a few lights? The film is fairly low budget... in fact it's probably whatever we can scrounge up plus whatever we are personally willing to put in. If I have to pay for my system out of pocket, I'd like for that system to be as cheap as is possible.