Lighting Fixtures and Their Uses — Point Sources, Panels, Practicals, Tungsten and HMI

Rather than memorizing gear lists, first decide what the light does in the scene. That narrows down which fixture you need.

A COB (chip on board) LED packs many LEDs into a small area so it works like one strong point source. Bare, the light is hard, but its character changes a lot depending on the modifier you mount in front.

• Reflector — Concentrates light forward and throws it far. Hard light with crisp shadows.
• Softbox — A fabric box that enlarges the light’s surface to soften it. Add a grid to the front to cut spill to the sides.
• Lantern (china ball) — Spreads light evenly in all directions, good for lighting several people at once, such as around a dinner table.
• Fresnel lens — A stepped lens that focuses (spot) or widens (flood) the beam, making it easy to light only where you want.

An HMI is a daylight-balanced discharge lamp. It is very bright for its power draw and has long been used for sunlight through windows or large exteriors. It needs a separate power unit (ballast), and takes time after striking for brightness and color to settle.

Panel lights have a wide emitting surface, so they give fairly soft light even without a softbox. Being thin, they fit well in small rooms, cars and near the ceiling.

• Flexible mat — An LED sheet that bends like fabric. Mount it in a frame as a large soft source, or fold it to hide in tight spots.
• Limits — The light doesn’t travel far, so it may not fill a large space. When you need a really big surface, pushing a point source through or off a large piece of fabric is often more efficient.

Lights that appear in the frame, such as lamps, ceiling fixtures and neon, are called practicals. They make the audience believe the light comes from there, so matching your real key to their direction makes the scene feel natural.

• Bulb LEDs — Screw into a standard socket and let you adjust brightness and color. Swapping the bulb in a practical lamp makes it easy to balance its brightness on screen.
• Tube LEDs — Bar lights shaped like fluorescent tubes. Many have built-in batteries, so you can hide them on walls or ceilings or let them show in the frame.
• Pocket lights — Palm-sized lights. Hide them in gaps, near a car dashboard or behind props to add a touch of light to a face.
• Eye light — A weak light that creates a small reflection in the eyes (a catchlight). Place it near the camera to bring the eyes to life.

Tungsten lights with halogen bulbs give warm light at about 3200K with a continuous spectrum that renders skin beautifully. The downsides: high power draw, a lot of heat, and when you dim them the color drops toward orange too.

• Fresnel — Has a lens for spot and flood control, and barn doors (the flaps in front) make it easy to shape the beam.
• Open face — No lens, just a reflector, so it is light and bright, but the beam spreads wide and shadows overlap easily; it is often used with bounce or diffusion.

• Power draw — Check each light’s wattage (W) and spread the load within the location’s breakers and generator capacity. The math is in the “Safety and setup order” lesson.
• Batteries — Large camera and lighting batteries come in mount standards such as V-mount. Divide capacity (Wh) by the light’s power draw (W) for a rough runtime. Batteries carried on planes are restricted by capacity, so check your airline’s rules.
• Heat — Tungsten and HMI run especially hot. Keep them away from fabric, paper and gels, and wear gloves when handling them.
• Cooling fan noise — LED fans can be picked up by production sound. In quiet scenes, lower the fan mode or keep the light away from the mic.
• Rain and water — Outdoors, check whether lights and power units are weather-resistant and bring rain covers.