LCA - Lights, Camera, Action

On set with up and coming DoP Annika Summerson

2012-02-29T03:18:00.002-08:00

LCA met up with up and coming DoP Annika Summerson on set at Cineco Studios, Brentford, while shooting the promo for Dog Is Dead - Two Devils directed by Prano Bailey-Bond. Annika tells us of the challenges she faced lighting the promo on a tight budget and with limited space.

"The lighting kit wasn't very exciting, mainly par cans and 650w fresnels, 2k fresnel and chimera on a boom arm for top lighting, a 5k fresnel for general fill when needed and a 4k HMI for the forest, we were on a pretty tight budget...

The forest itself was made of cardboard that had been ripped and roughed up to create the birch tree like texture but it also meant you couldn't really backlight them since they then got a strange glow that we decided didn't fit so the most difficult thing was lighting the 100 trees from the right angle in a fairly small studio. It was a lot tighter then it looks.

And a five piece band that all needed to look pretty (which they of course were in real life), but sneaking beauty lights in for the wideshot was pretty tricky since there was no grid in the ceiling yet so everything had to go on the floor and be hidden behind other props.

The production designer Damien Creagh was pretty brilliant and clever I must say though, he basically made it all out of nothing, really minimal budget, and the girl coming up from under the bed was his contraption as well as when she sinks into the ground so he did the SFX as well together with John who owns cineco studios."

LCA Show New Lights at BVE

2012-02-28T03:22:00.004-08:00

BVE at Earls Court proved to be a great success showing a number of new and innovative lights to the film, TV and photographic industry. The stand was busy throughout the exhibition with a lot of interest being shown in all the new equipment.

On show was the latest K5600 Alpha 1600 alongside their Soft Tube (below). The shot on the right shows the Alpha 1600 at strike up.

The K5600 Big Eye was also exhibited. The two images below show the light lit and at strike up.

LCA's Big Softie, daylight LED light source, made an appearance with its 118cm circular hole in the middle.

LCA also presented the latest innovation from Cinesphere - the CineMagicTube which allows you to run both daylight and tungsten from the same tube!

Lastly, but no means least, Litepanels Hilio, 1x1 and Sola 4 were also on show (below)

For more information on any of the above lights, please contact the team at LCA on +44 (0)20 8833 7600 or sales@lcauk.com.

www.lcauk.com

LCA Big Softie Softens Tyson!

2012-02-21T03:50:00.002-08:00

Cinematographer, Eduard Grau, recently gave a big thumbs up to LCA's Big Softie on his latest commercial shoot for Fiat Panda commercial starring Mike Tyson.

Eduard recent accolades include the award winning movies Buried, featuring Ryan Reynolds and A Single Man starring Colin Firth who was Oscar nominated, and won a BAFTA for his performance in the film.

Eduard, has recently finished working on three other movies: Animals, featuring Martin Freeman, Arthur Newman, Gold Pro starring Emily Blunt, Colin Firth and Anne Heche and finally A Single Shot starring William H Macy.

The LCA Big Softie key features include:

610mm circular big softie eyelight with 118mm circular hole in the middle
High Output 6000k
Daylight LED Light Source
Fully dimmable from 0-100% with hand held in-line dimmer
AC/DC option

The Big Softie comes in a Kit format which includes:

Head
AC supply
Power cable
In-line dimmer
Mounting plates
1 x circular discs (for gel or to create your own effects, stars,stripes)
Flight case.

Contact the LCA team for more details at sales@lcauk.com or call +44 (0)20 88337600.

Visit the LCA website at www.lcauk.com

The World's Most Powerful LEDs

2012-02-15T05:20:00.001-08:00

And we're not exaggerating!

FilmGear Lighting have added a new range of extremely powerful LED lights to their current and established range of Film and TV lighting.

AC or DC, these powerful LED lights come in a 360 and a smaller 240: The 240 runs AC230 and 220v or 15-30v DC, 9600 lux at 3 metres. The 360 runs the same voltage range, 14000 lux at 3 metres and an incredible 31000 lux at 2 metres. Both dim from 0-100% and can be DMX controlled.

Rear Housing showing heat syncs, ac/dc input,
dimmer knob and DMX input

To find out more about the World's Most Powerful LEDs simply give the LCA team a call on +44(0)20 8833 7600 or email sales@lcauk.com

LCA - Lights, Camera, Action, suppliers of lights and lighting equipment to the Film & TV Industry

K5600 is certainly no 'Casualty' on set!

2012-02-08T02:40:00.000-08:00

Jaz Castleton, the lead DP on BBC's long running 'Casualty', spoke to LCA about his choice of K5600 lights on the set of Casualty and how they have lived up to expectations.

"I was first introduced to the K5600 product line by Nick Shapley from LCA, the UK agent for K5600.

At that time I was working on a project to move the long running BBCDrama “Casualty” from its home in Bristol to a brand new studio facility inCardiff.

Part of the brief was to change from a “Tungsten Set” to Daylightsources, this was to facilitate the combining of the interior and exterior setsand also to explore the possibilities of more energy efficient lighting. Thiscombined with moving over to HD on the light sensitive Arri Alexa camera meantwe could look at lower powered light sources.

Nick was keen for me to meet with Marc Galerne MD of K5600 and felt Marc had a range of lamps that would fit my needs.

Well I wasn’t disappointed; little did I know that they had a range ofPar and Fresnel HMI lamps from 200w to 18k with a very useful array ofaccessories, I was previously aware of the Joker Bug range but not of theseaccessories, they really enhance the versatility of the lamps.

Ultimately we specified a range of Joker Bugs of 200w, 400w and 800wwith soft tubes and the Big eye attachments. They have proved to be the right choice with 5 months of service behindthem they have lived up to my expectations.

They are compact, have great light output, have proved to be reliableand of excellent quality construction and even the Sound Dept like them, asthey are silent!!!!

For Location Filming we also went for the Alpha range of 2.5K/4K and18K Lamps. I particularly liked the innovative Quartz reflector technology thishas led to a very light weight compact lamp head that competes directly withthe competition, but with a couple of tricks up their sleeve’s, how aboutmounting an 18k vertically down with a 160 degree beam angle and a ¼ stopdifference across that beam.

With the clear glass lens the Alpha lamps produce a stunning qualityshadow due know doubt to that special reflector.

I’m really happy that I went with K5600 they delivered on their promiseand turned around a large order in just a few short weeks, both Nick and Marchave been a pleasure to deal with and Marc’s passion for his product is clearto see, constantly on the lookout to improve and innovate.

I look forward to the surprises that K5600 will produce in the future."

Spotted at BSC!

2012-02-07T03:39:00.000-08:00

The great and the good took the time to visit the LCA stand at the BSC show last weekend and all seemed suitably impressed with the new equipment on show - but perhaps not Nick's green jumper!

Marc Galerne from K5600, Nick and DoP, Dick Pope BSC (Me and Orson Wells, Angis, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging and Bernie featuring Jack Back, Matthew McConaughey and Shirley MacLaine)

Marc Galerne with Dick Pope checking out the K5600 Big Eye

Eddie Knight (left) Gaffer, Rigging Gaffer Dave Ridout and Paul Sullivan from Warner Brothers

Toby Newman, Barney Newman (back to camera) from Pixi Motion chatting with Stephen Murphy DOP

DoP David Higgs BSC chatting to Nick and Marc Galerne (hiding behind the Alpha 4kw)

Harry Higgins - Gaffer checking out the K5600 Big Eye

DoP, Mike Southon BSC (Air Buddies, The Nutcracker in 3D, TV Series The Little House) looking at the Compact size of the Alpha 18kw.

2012-02-06T08:45:00.000-08:00

LCA were proud to be showing a fantastic selection of new lighting products at the latest BSC Show held at the George Lucas Stage, Elstree Studios.

On show was the the new K5600 Alpha 1600 and Joker 1600 - the Alpha 1800 was used to light the stand from above, the innovative CineMagic Tube, Briese 330, H5 and globes, and the Litepanels Hilio, Sola 6 and 1x1.

Check out our stand, lights and equipment exhibited at the show. All lights are available at LCA - give us a call on +44 (0)20 88337600 if you would like to find out more or email us at sales@lcauk.com

Outside the George Lucas Stage

LCA Stand

Aerial shot of the stand

K5600 Alpha 18kw rigged pointing straight down

The K5600 products on display

The new Alpha 16kw from K5600

K5600 Big Eye

The Alpha 16kw with it's big brother
the 18kw behind

Briese H5 (5kw) tungsten on display clearly

showing the 4 x 1250w bulbs

Briese 180 fitted with the brand new H5 (5kw)
tungsten lamp head

Briese 330/Briese 90 cm Chinese lantern/
4x4 Dop choice snap on grid

Briese 77, Briese 140, Briese 330 on display

Briese 90cm Chinese Lantern fitted
with a 2.5kw HMI suspended on a boom arm

Briese 90cm Chinese lantern and the Big Softie

The CineMagic Tube

Litepanels sola 6, 1x1 with chimera, sola 4 and Helio

The Litepanels Display

Kenny Galerne and Stuart Russell

Jurgen Thiele, Kenny Galerne, Stefan karle from Dop choice

Daylight and Tungsten from the same tube! The new Cine Magic Tube is here

2012-01-12T04:21:00.000-08:00

LCA– Lights, Camera, Action will be presenting the latest innovation in lightingequipment at this years BSC Show and at BVE London. The Cine Magic Tube (CMT) is a 32watt 60cmPlasma tube available in daylight or tungsten - from the same tube! The unitscan be AC or DC driven, DMX Controlled and either mounted and riggedindividually or in 1,2,4,6 or 8 bank housings.

Designed and constructed in Germany by Cinesphere, LCA will be soledistributors of the CMT in the UK.

Key facts:

Dimmable to 30%  With theexternal ballast, the CMTs can be dimmed to approximately 30% of their maximum outputwith a minimum change in the colour temperature (approx. 100° Kelvin).Operating at 40 - 70kHz all ballasts are flicker-free and camera speed andshutter angle can be adjusted freely. The ballasts can be switched from 18W to36W which enables the utilisation of either 60cm (2ft) or 120cm (4ft) CMTs.

Compatibility  The CMTis fully compatible with other systems. With mechanical and electrical adapterstubelights or ballasts of other manufacturers can be used.

Squashed Grids  With twodifferent coloured grids (silver or black) the light can be directed asdesired. The grids are being fastened to the lamps with Velcro straps and aresecured by two safety clips.

Sturdy Design  Thedesign with a flexible shaft increases the lifetime of the foldable wingsconsiderably. The wings serve as reflectors or barndoors and also protect thetubes during transportation. Metal edges reinforce the black housing. The innerwings are white.

Quick Release  A quickrelease ball-socket bracket plate slides into an interlocking plate on thehousing to speed up installation. The plate is secured by a screw. Two versionsof the mounting plate are available: spigot or socket.

Security  Eachsingular tube or the complete unit can be disconnected and reconnected from orto the ballast at any time without damage to electronics or the tubes. All tubesare covered with a splinter protection for more security in transport andhandling.

Also available with the CMT is a range of flicker-free electronic ballasts, capable of dimming to 30% of themaximum power without any significant shift in colour temperature. The ballastsare capable of dimming T-8 tubes (18/36W) or other standard T-12 tubes (20/40W)and are therefore directly interchangeable with other fixtures.

For each bank-size there is a dedicated ballast. The Eight Bank versioncan alternatively supply two Four Banks or one Eight Bank fixture. The toggleswitch allows for switching from 18W to 36W enabling you to have one ballastfor either a 60cm (2'-0") or a 120cm (4'-0") fixture. On request allballasts can be ordered with analogue and / or digital DMX interface forlighting consoles.

With the additional mounting clamp the ballasts can beattached to a stand. This keeps the ballasts off the ground and protects themagainst damage. The CMT comes with a range of accessories including a range ifdifferent size bags, squashed grid in silver or black and a quick-release ball-socket bracket plate with16mm spigot or socket.

Contact LCA on +44 (0)20 8833 7600 for more information or email sales@lcauk.com

No stage fright for the Joker Bug!

2011-12-06T04:41:00.001-08:00

On a recent shoot, Stephen Murphy, DoP, had a very specific lighting brief from the BBC and Royal Shakespeare Company. Following a recent demo of K5600's Joker Bugs at LCA, Stephen decided to utilise these lights with a pleasing outcome:

"When I was asked to shoot the second season of "Shakespeare Unlocked" for the BBC and the Royal Shakespeare Company I knew I'd need a very particular kind of light to help me. I had seen the Joker Bugs at a demo by LCA- Lights, Camera, Action in London and quickly realized that their compact size, powerful output and incredible range of accessories were the perfect combination. My creative remit was to deliver cinematic images while showcasing the existing lighting design at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. With limited time and multiple lighting styles to work within I used Joker Bug 400 and 800's direct and with both Soft Tube and Chinaball accessories, mixing both hard and soft light in a variety of rigging situations. Their flexibility and ease of use kept us on schedule and the beautiful quality of light gave us results we are all extremely pleased with"

For more information on the Joker Bug range, contact LCA +44 (0)20 8833 7600, sales@lcauk.com or www.lcauk.com.

For bookings for Stephen Murphy, please contact Suz Cruz on +44 (0)1932 252 577 or visit
http://www.Stephen-Murphy.com to see his award winning Showreel

K5600 completes the Alpha and Joker Bug range.

2011-12-05T06:17:00.001-08:00

Recent blogs have shown you the versatility of K5600's Alpha with the very helpful insight from DoP David Procter and Gaffer, Reuben Garrett. To complete the range of Alpha 2,5/4Kw and 6/12/18Kw, K5600 have launched the Alpha 1600w.

The Alpha 1600w features a new MSR 1600w UV-block bulb produced by Koto/G.E, and a G22 socket to reduce the size and weight of the head (less than 10Kg). The ballast is very compact (same size as the 800w ballast) and allow the system to be integrated in a Fly case. It can also run with 100Hz, 300Hz or Silent mode.
As the other Alphas, the 1600w can be used pointing straight down and offers the same versatility of use with its own Spacebeam and the open-eye mode (with just a clear lens for a 160° angle beam and sharp shadows).
The Alpha 1600w complete kit includes a head with bulb, electronic ballast, a 250mm Fresnel lens, a 10m extension cable, a barndoor and a fly case.

The Joker Bug 1600w will be available soon to complete the logical range of 200w, 400w and 800w.
Two types of reflectors will be offered: a traditional PAR beamer and a new lens-less zoom beamer,
offering a 10 to 60° powerful and clean beam.

Pictures below: Joker bug 800 vs Joker bug 1600

Ed Lachman visits DoPChoice at Camerimage

2011-12-05T02:42:00.001-08:00

DoPChoice welcomed on to their stand at Camerimage, Cinematographer Ed Lachman.

Lachman has worked on numerous movies and TV series including Erin Brockovich, The Virgin Suicides, Far From Heaven and I'm Not There. He has recently worked on a TV mini series, Mildred Pierce and biographical movie of Allen Ginsberg, Howl.

The John Seale Master Class at Camerimage

2011-11-30T05:02:00.001-08:00

Australian cinematographer John Seale, best known for his Oscar-winning work with the late Anthony Minghella on The English Patient, will receive the Golden Frog Award for career achievement at the Plus Camerimage Festival currently on until 3rd December in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Not only will his achievement be celebrated with the screening of a handful of films, he also presented a Master Class sponsored by Panavision (see images).

John was also Director of Photography on The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain and The Perfect Storm, as well as working as DoP with fellow Aussie Peter Weir on Witness and Dead Poets Society. His subsequent DoP credits included Rain Man, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and The Tourist with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie.

Alpha 4kW Steals the scene on 'Quartet'

2011-11-28T02:29:00.001-08:00

Gaffer, Reuben Garrett, currently on set with director Dustin Hoffman and DoP, John De Borman filming Quartet, spoke to LCA for the need of a specific light required in a restricted location.

"We used the Alpha 4V2 with the shallow medium bank chimera as we needed a lightweight soft source that could be used on a boom arm. The restriction of our location meant that we could not use a Cherry Picker and had to rig a light from the balcony of the room we were shooting in. The balcony was on a listed building which was over a hundred years old so any solution had to be lightweight and not damage the structure of the building. Any other 4K with a Chimera would of been too heavy.

In preparation, John De Borman, DoP and Director Dustin Hoffman had discussed the look of the characters of the film which were mainly elderly. They had talked about showing the beauty of their age as much as the distinguishing features of there age therefore the modelling of the key light was essential. The combination of the Alpha 4V2 with the medium chimera was perfect for this and suited many of the restrictions of our locations."

A great night at BSC Operators night

2011-11-19T08:56:00.001-08:00

A great night was had by all at the Annual British Society of Cinematographers Operators night on Friday.

The night gives the BSC the opportunity to acknowledge their operators and as usual was held in the main ballroom at Pinewood Studios.

Attending the evening was Dustin Hoffman and John De Borman, along with their production team who arrived straight from shooting Dustin's first directorial role in the feature, Quartet.

Dustin Hoffman

John De Borman giving his speech

Billy Williams and Dustin Hoffman chatting over dinner

New Cine Magic Tube seen at BVE

2011-11-18T00:03:00.001-08:00

Seen at BVEnorth for the first time, the brand new Cine Magic Tube. 30W 60cm Plasma Tube AC/DC, 100% dimmable and changes colour temperature from 2500 degrees kelvin to 8400, or anywhere inbetween.

Watch the CMT in action:

For more information contact Nick Shapley @LCA - nshapley@lcauk.co.uk

Meet LCA at BVE Manchester

2011-11-15T11:20:00.001-08:00

Taking place at Manchester Central on the 16th and 17th November, BVE North is the essential exhibition for broadcast, video and audio professionals.

Come and meet LCA and the Team at stand 225 where you can see on show a selection of lights from Briese Lighting, K600, Filmgear and Litepanels.

We look forward to seeing you!

DoPchoice Snapgrids - the choice of DoP's!

2011-11-14T02:32:00.001-08:00

If you've wondered why the DoPchoice Snapgrids are different to existing louvers and why they won the Cinec Award 2010, the read on...

NO TUMMY.
Conventional grids always droop when used upside down. DoPchoice Snapgrids areeven upside down tightly stretched, because of the integrated stretching frame.

NO WEAROUT.
Strips of conventional grids are just stuck together so the louver easily getsdamaged. For every DoPchoice Grid they use specially developed robust fabricwhich keeps the grid stable. All strips are neatly sewn strips.

NO HASSLE.
Stretch and install your DoPchoice Snapgrid in 3 simple steps. Because of thepatented Snapgrid technology you save a lot of time installing the Grid ina Softbank or on a Frame.

Three easy steps to using your DoPchoice Snapgrid

DopChoice Snapgrids are available for:

ChimeraSoftbox
The DoPchoice Snapgrids produce 40-degree coverage and mount many Chimera Lightbanks via Velcro^®. The built-in snap frame allows for fast set-up without the hassles of “bellysag” when your Lightbank is overhead in a horizontal position. They areconstructed of pre-stretched fabric with a built-in stainless steelframe. Every Snapgrid comes with its own storage case.

Frost/GelFrames 4x4ft and 5x5ft
You want a quick softlight solution on your film set? Very often a Frost Frameis used for this. Now we have the perfect tool to avoid spill light and todirect your soft light: The DoPchoice Snapgrids for Frostframes.
It’s so easy to attach the Snapgrid on every 4x4ft (1,2 x 1,2m) and 5x5ft (1,5 x 1,5m) Gel Frame with thehelp of the bungee fasteners. The integrated Snapgrid Frame keeps the Gridalways tight even if the frame is overhead in a horizontal position! The DoPchoice Snapgrids for Frost Frames are availablein 40° and 50°. Special sizes are available on request.

KinoFlo 4Banks and Diva 40
The DoPchoice Snapgrids produce 40 and 50-degree coverage and mount on any 4Bank Kino Flo System and the Diva 400. The built-in snapframe allows for fast set-up without the hassles of “bellysag” when your 4Bank is overhead in a horizontal position. They areconstructed of pre-stretched fabric with a built-in stainless steelframe. Every DoPchoice Snapgrid comeswith its own storage case and 2 side covers. They avoid the spill light to theside and can also be used without the Snapgrid. The flexible ventilation flaps assures a good aircirculation. No hassle with color shift of the tubes!

Made in Germany and sold at www.lcauk.com

Contact LCA for more info and pricing sales@lcauk.com

An Interview with Roger Deakins

2011-11-10T07:35:00.000-08:00

Thursday 19th May was a great day for cinematography, when the British Society of Cinematographers (BSC), organised a showing of Roger Deakins classic film, the Shawshank Redemption, at the Odeon in Piccadilly followed by a Q&A session.

The interview was conducted by John de Borman, President of the BSC, also a renowned Director of Photography, and is currently filming Quartet starring Dustin Hoffman, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon and Billy Connolly. John has also worked on An Education, The Full Monty, The Guru and recently The Engagement.

Lighting the interview was the Briese 77, supplied by Pixi Motion. These were the only lights required.

Roger Deakins is currently working on his latest project with director Sam Mendes, Skyfall, the latest Bond movie staring Daniel Craig as 007. His other achievements include block busters such as True Grit, No Country for Old Men, Jarhead, Fargo, The Big Lebowski and recently In Time and The Company Men.

You can see the Q&A session on the SC website at http://www.bscine.com/events/

It's an Honor for Briese

2011-11-08T04:21:00.000-08:00

The Briese 140 has been in action once again. Ed Moore, DoP, needed a certain light to do a specific job and tells us why he used the Briese 140:

"This shoot was for a national TV advert featuring Honor Blackman. I needed a very flattering, powerful key light that would enable me to balance interior levels against a large set of windows with the minimum of NDing required. The Briese Focus 140 was the perfect tool for the job - it has an extremely effective reflector which coupled with the 2.5KW HMI lamp provided ample amounts of light... but more to the point the design of the unit and its diffusion produced a very lovely quality of light that worked fantastically. The size of the 140 was a perfect match for a seated subject a few meters away."

Technical specs for the Briese 140

Lamp options: 1200w MSR daylight, 2500w MSR daylight, 2000w tungsten, Low volt tungsten (Equivalent to 5000w)
Standard kit diffusion: 1/4 Grid Cloth, 1/2 Grid Cloth
Optional diffusion: 1/4 silk, Full silk
Honeycomb option
Dimensions: Diameter 140cm, Depth 104cm, Weight 8.2kg

For more information on the Briese 140, contact LCA - Lights, Camera, Action on +44(0) 20 88 33 7600 or email sales@lcauk.com. Visit our website at www.lcauk.com

To contact Ed Moore, Director of Photography;

07980 524136 | http://www.edmooredop.com

LED Lighting: The Perfect Recession-Friendly Investment?

2011-10-19T05:35:00.000-07:00

We speak to Stuart G. Russell,

EMEAA Marketing Manager

for Litepanels about the financial
and environmental implications
surrounding today's lighting.

One of the most interesting and stimulating aspects of thebroadcast industry for me is the continually shifting landscape in terms oftechnology: that sense that around every corner lurks a new technologicaldevelopment that will revolutionise the way broadcast content is created anddelivered to the viewer. Unfortunately, of course, it is also one of the mostmaddening and frustrating aspects of the business too. How many column inches, seminar hours andpontificating pundits have already been devoted to the benefits and pitfalls of3D this year when so many broadcasters around the world are still eyeing up thetransition to HD? Still, such is the nature of the beast and one takes comfortin the belief that the better innovations do tend to stick whereas the gimmickssoon fall by the wayside.

It is worth noting, however, that the pace of progress hasnot been universally rapid and lighting is one area where ‘game changing’innovations have been relatively few and far between. Visit any reasonably sized studio operated bya household-name broadcaster today and you will generally still see a varietyof very traditional lighting fixtures, usually tungsten, hanging from ceilinggantries. Because that’s the way it hasalways been done. Change is in the air,though, and the last 10 years have seen the introduction and growth of a fewnew technology platforms – most notably LED – into the stubbornly orange-tintedworld of broadcast lighting. Given thatI work for an LED lighting manufacturer, I am admittedly biased when it comesto arguments about lighting technology platforms but I put it to you that thereare now very few arguments to support the use of these traditional fixtures inthe broadcast arena when there are so many alternative products out there thatdo the job better, when judged against any economic or performance criteria.

Let’s talk first about money. We are quite clearly living through tougheconomic times and austerity is the flavour of the month for the foreseeablefuture. Not the most exciting of diets, granted, but a necessary bitter brew tohelp get the world economy back on track. In this climate, funding is scarceand many broadcast organisations are dramatically scaling back their capitalexpenditure budgets, preferring to repair and refurbish rather than splash outon new equipment. An understandable and perfectly pragmatic move, you mightsay. However, how many broadcasters actually have a clear view of how muchtheir existing lighting fixtures are costing them on an on-going basis? Any CAPEX investment may have long sincedepreciated off into the sunset but what about the day-to-day costs in terms ofenergy, maintenance, human labour and time? With energy prices seemingly beinghiked every quarter can any responsible broadcaster continue to throw money attraditional lighting fixtures that are incredibly energy-inefficient andwasteful? I understand that a great many Lighting Directors grew up withtungsten technology and so cling on to these fixtures through familiarity butthe heat generated by these fixtures is staggering – that’s a great deal ofwasted energy that needs to be removed from the studio environment by airconditioning, which is extremely energy hungry in its own right. As a relativenewcomer to this industry, I was astonished to first hear the now oft-repeatedadage that every 1 KW of lighting generally requires another 500 W of airconditioning to deal with the resulting heat. I’ve even heard stories ofviewers calling TV stations to complain about the humming noise from the aircon that is being picked up by the studio mics. Additionally, the heat generated by these fixtures makes them difficultto move and more than a little uncomfortable to work under. Theseinconveniences may have been regarded in years gone by as unavoidableoccupational hazards that needed to be endured because the Lighting Directorknew the results would be worth the suffering, but we now live in an era wheresuch masochism can thankfully be consigned to the filing cabinet marked‘nostalgia’.

It’s a bold claim, I accept, but LED has now reached thestage of maturity as a technology platform for professional broadcast lightingwhere it can absolutely replace and outperform traditional lighting fixtures.For a start, LED lights generally consume only a fraction of the energy oftraditional tungsten fixtures. Empirical data gathered from real studioinstallations we have overseen has illustrated average reductions in energyusage of 85-95%. Given the rising cost of energy, these figures clearly and happilyequate to financial savings of many thousands of Dollars/Pounds/Euros perannum. And, as an added bonus, LED fixtures generate virtually no heat so theoverall need for air conditioning is greatly diminished. Which also helps tokeep your energy bills and your operating costs down. Furthermore, the lack ofheat has a number of ancillary and less obvious benefits: less make-upretouches, happier and more comfortable talent on set, faster and easierchanges to the lighting plan (LED lights have no restrike period so no time iswasted waiting for lights to get up to operating temperature) and a greaternumber of creative options thanks to the ability to position lights much closerto the action. And let’s not forget theissue of maintenance – most traditional lighting fixtures rely on bulbs thathave a limited operational lifespan and need regular replacement. That’s oftenan expensive endeavour in terms of finance and labour, whereas good-quality LEDlights offer many years of maintenance-free operation.

It would also be remiss of me not to talk about theenvironment in the context of lighting. Most private and public broadcastersaround the world now have some kind of environmental or sustainability policyor charter that sets out a commitment to reduce the environmental impact oftheir operations and commits them to targets for sustainability or reducedcarbon emissions. LED lights are very much in tune with this prevailing mood –by migrating over to LED lighting a broadcaster can quickly and easily reduceenergy usage and carbon footprint which obviously helps them meet theirenvironmental targets and allows them to promote their role as a good corporatecitizen.

So far, I have made the case for LED lighting in terms ofreduced energy usage, the environmental benefits, cost savings and theoperational ease-of-use. The big issues I have not addressed are quality oflight and throw. “LED is all well and good” say the old-school LightingDirectors, “but I always shoot indoors at 2900° or 3200° Kelvin and theseLED lights are 5600° daylight balanced. I’m working from high ceilings and I’mnot sure that I’ll be happy with the quality of light / throw” (delete asapplicable). Fair point, and it iscertainly true that many LED lighting fixtures have not been able to light oversignificant distances when compared to their larger, tungsten counterparts butthis situation is changing. Good qualityLED lights have traditionally offered a very soft, flattering and wrap-around lightthat is ideal for lighting skin. Our square 1x1 panels, for example, have beenwidely used on a variety of high-budget syndicated TV shows such as 24 andDesperate Housewives. Many international broadcasters also rely on these 1x1panels every day to light a range of different sets, from 24 hour news studiosto reality talent shows. The confidence that these organisations have shown inour products is testament to the quality of light produced. Within the last six months we have also seenthe introduction of a number of LED Fresnel products - like the Sola range fromLitepanels - that offer a harder light source (with all the single shadowproperties of a typical Fresnel light) combined with the energy and heat-freebenefits of LED. These fixtures do offersignificantly more punch than their flat-panel brethren and are therefore ableto cope with greater distances. In any event, it is clear that the whole LEDmarket is moving towards ever larger fixtures to address this need and the 2Kand 5K tungsten equivalents are not so far away. In terms of the colour temperature / lightquality issue, the move towards HD has helped strengthen the case fordaylight-balanced lighting fixtures because the chips in the latesthigh-definition cameras are more sensitive to blue light and images captured withthese cameras therefore appear more vibrant and alive when daylight-balancedlighting has been used rather than tungsten. Please don’t take my word for it,though – set up some camera tests and capture images using a variety ofdifferent lights and colour temperatures. I’m confident the results will speak for themselves…

As a final thought,I would like to make the point that all LEDs are not the same. Imitation is thesincerest form of flattery and the market has seen an explosion in the numberof companies promoting LED lights and panels, many at a third of the price ofpremiums brands like Litepanels et al.Buyer beware! To be blunt, any company can purchase a batch of off-the-shelfLEDs to create a bright, cheap panel that (they claim) will be ideal for use ina professional broadcast environment. Experience shows, however, that thesepanels will look very different even just a few months after purchase. Manycompanies achieve very bright results by applying too much voltage to the LEDsinside their lights and so overdrive them. Fast forward a few months of evenmodest use and the colour temperature of the light output will have shifted,giving the lights a distinctly green or magenta hue. This can also happen when fixtures areregularly dimmed. I have even seen someproducts being sold with magenta filters in the box in order to try and off-setthis effect, which strikes me as a flagrant acceptance of guilt if ever therewas one! Companies like Litepanels have invested an enormous amount of time andmoney into R&D in order to offer products that provide consistentperformance and consistent colour temperature over the lifespan of the fixture.These products are certainly not cheap, but high-quality products rarely are. Professionals in the broadcast industry needto work with tools that offer reliability and consistency of performance –their livelihoods and reputations depend on it – so why take risks withunproven products that will disappoint and quickly need to be replaced? It’sfalse economy. Having attended both theBVE (London) and NAB (Las Vegas) shows this year, I was heartened by the numberof visitors to the Vitec booth who openly admitted they had previously boughtcheaper LED lights and were disappointed with the results so wanted to talk tous. Maybe this means the tide is turning and users are beginning to considerthe issue of ‘value’ over and above the ticket price.

In conclusion, Ifeel that the future for LED as a lighting platform is, if you’ll pardon thepun, very bright indeed. Some of the world’s foremost broadcasters (e.g. CNBC,CNN, BBC and CBS, to name but a few) are embracing and moving over to LED inrecognition of the cost, environmental and operational benefits these productsoffer and we’re only going to see this trend continue in the next few years,especially as more and more studios are refurbished or created from what waspreviously commercial office space. There are certainly challenges – we need tokeep pushing the boundaries in terms of fixture size and light output – butthese are technology issues and, as I noted at the beginning of this piece, thetechnology landscape in this business rarely stays static for long.

For more information on Litepanels’ range ofenergy-saving LED lighting fixtures, please visit www.litepanels.com or www.lcauk.com

LCA's New Litepanel Battery Kit

2011-10-18T04:01:00.000-07:00

LCA is proud to announce it's first step into the manufacturing of equipment for the film and TV industry.

First to come out of the blocks is the Litepanels Battery Kit, which has many great features including a combined charger and PSU which allows you to run the unit on AC and charge the battery at the same time. Not only that, battery charge time is fast - just 2 hours!

Features include:

High Power 100W Lithium
Fast Charge (2 hours)
Overload Protection (auto reset)
Twin Outputs (can power 2 heads)
Fits all Litepanel 1x1 models
Combined Charger and PSU – allows you to run the unit on AC and charge the battery at the same time (no other charger does)
No additional mounting plate required
Push Button Voltage Meter
Conforms to Air Transport Regulations(see - www.idx-europe.co.uk/pdfs/other/IDX_transport_declaration.pdf)

Technical Specification

Kit Contents
1 x 100w Battery
1 x Charger / PSU
1 x Charger Mains Lead
1 x Universal Mounting Bracket
1 x DC Jumper Lead
2 x Bracket Screws

Battery
Lithium Manganese
Lithium Content - 7.9g
Nominal Voltage - 25.2V
Running Time - approx 2.4 hours
Auto Disconnect at 15V
Internal self resetting electronic fuse
Dimensions (cm) - L155 x H85 x W52
Weight - 764g
Twin Output Connectors – 2.4mm socket
Voltage Meter – 5 segment LED

Charger
Input Voltage – 110v to 250v
Charge Time - approx 2hrs
Dimensions (cm) – L160 x H75 x W52
Weight – 512g
Input Connector – IEC panel mount
Output Connector – 2.4mm plug on flying lead
Charging & Charged LED indicators

The Litepanels Battery Kit is now available to purchase - simply call the office on +44 (0)20 8833 7600 or email sales@lcauk.com.

The Litepanels Battery Kit - made in Great Britain by LCA - Lights, Camera, Action

It's a Briese...Lighting Boy Band, JLS

2011-10-17T03:43:00.000-07:00

Recently shot on the banks of the River Thames, the latest JLS music video was lit on the south bank near London Bridge by Briese Lighting's 140.

August Jakobsson , DoP, used the Briese as it was the ideal large soft directional beauty light - it was easy to move and rig on a mega boom and created a beautiful soft pool of light wrapping around the 4 singers.

The Briese 140 H specs:

Lamp options:

1200w MSR daylight, 2500w MSR daylight, 2000w tungsten, Low volt tungsten (Equivalent to 5000w)

Standard kit diffusion:

1/4 Grid Cloth, 1/2 Grid Cloth

Optional diffusion:

1/4 silk, Full silk
Honeycomb option

Dimensions:

Diameter 140cm, Depth 104cm, Weight 8.2kg

For more information on Briese Lighting, contact the LCA team on +44 (0)20 8833 7600 or visit our website http://www.lcauk.com

DoP David Procter's on Set with K5600 Alphas

2011-09-28T05:42:00.000-07:00

David Procter, DoP, gives us an insight into a recent shoot for SKY using the K5600 Alphas.

GARDEN SCENE

The client wanted a sunlit garden exterior and there was no option of either shooting abroad or for a studio build. The camera moves 360 degrees through the scene so I knew that operator shadows would quickly become a problem.

To get up high we looked into the Luminys Softsun units, crane mounted, but unfortunately it was beyond the restraints of the budget. The next realistic solution was a pair of Alpha18k which I knew I could take to the top of a 5-Stage Stratosafe and tilt sharply downwards without the usual problems of HMI tilt limit.

Carefully flagging the spread from both units, double shadows were avoided and using half CTS I was able to achieve a believable sunlight effect over the scene. I wrapped the exposed uprights of the stratosafes with a faux bark that we had manufactured by Palmbrokers so that if caught in the back of shot, they passed as thin tree-trunks.

I was even able to evoke an optical flare as the camera swung into the lights, further selling, the summer's afternoon aesthetic. The Apha18Ks were the perfect tools for the job, on budget.

STATION SCENE

For the train station location, on which I used three Alpha4K units, we were shooting on an operational train platform with strict limitations on light position & space.

Whilst there is rigging space in the platform awning, there was pigeon netting which we were under strict instruction not to touch. Once again we had a 360 degree field of view on a wide lens and hence had very little space to hide lights.

As it was a very particular set of demands, I looked into the photometrics of all lights that could physically be concealed from their shot, even the Kinoflo Vistabeam 600 didn't give enough footcandles.

Due to the Alpha 4K's slim-line design and unique tilt ability, I sincerely believe that no other light on the market could have achieved what we needed without compromising the shot.

Production Companies: Capture / Still Productions

Producers: Matthew Jones & Sylvie Campenois
Agency: WCRS

Director: Gary Salter

DoP: David Procter

Gaffer: Aaron Szogi

Lighting Supplied by: Panalux / Piximotion

Camera: Filmscape Media

Welcome to the LCA blog page

2011-09-28T03:01:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Welcome to our new blog page - we hope to bring you the latest news, product reviews, tips and techniques - pretty much anything to do with the film and TV lighting.

So enjoy, happy reading and we look forward to your comments.

The LCA team