Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Assemble Video Production Light Kits







Lighting is crutical to all video and film productions. Without good lighting one might never be able to see a great acting performance or be able to distinguish the color red from the color pink. Whether you're shooting a feature film, commercial or home video having a light kit that you can use will make your videos that much better.


Instructions


1. Open your tripod stands. Unscrew the top lever and pull out the extension. Tighten the lever when you reach the desired heigth. Secure the tripod legs. Some stands have twist levers and others do not. Check your tripod legs.


2. Screw on the bulb head base. There should be a pointed screw coming out of your tripod stand. The light base screws diretly on to this. Many have additional screws to level the base. Adjust these as needed.


3. Attach the barn doors if using straight, undiffused light. These attach by sliding into the metal frame that surrounds the front of the light base. Open the two or four barn doors as needed. If you're using a filter you can slide that in at this time as well. The filter also slides in the space between the light and frame.








4. Open your softbox and install the piping to securely hold the housing open. The softbox will also attach at the light base but instead of sliding in it will cover over the frame. Softboxes are made for specific lights so as long as you have the correct soft box it should fit perfectly.


5. Plug your lights in. Tape the cords to the ground to prevent anyone from tripping over them and bringing the lights to a crashing fall. Put your gloves on and turn the light on. Most production lights have a switch attached to the cord about halfway down. Flip the switch. Congratulations, your lights are ready and it's time to begin filming!

Tags: light base, your tripod, barn doors, Open your, tripod legs, your lights