Fluorescents are special versions of the fixtures hanging from your office ceiling-except they've been adapted for film and video use into controllable fixtures with color-corrected tubes and high-frequency, dimmable ballasts.

Fluorescents are hugely popular these days, and for good reason. They cast a beautifully diffused soft light, use less power than incandescents do, and run cool. Nearly every fluorescent enthusiast I know talks about this last feature because shoots with a lot of incandescent lights can create a furnace-like atmosphere that requires loads of cooling and makeup repair.

Probably the foremost name in fluorescent instruments is Kino-Flo, a company that began making specialized fluorescent instruments for film in the late 80s, when fluorescent was a bad word in the trade. At that time, fluorescents were bad for video because they tended to give pictures a sick, greenish tint. They were even worse for film because the 60Hz flicker of the bulbs showed up on 24fps film as an obnoxious pulsing. Kino-Flo made their own color-balanced tubes and used special high-frequency ballasts that overcame the problems.

Today they make a whole range of fluorescent instruments ranging from huge banks to tiny little tubes with remote ballasts that can be hidden just about anywhere. The use of special color-balanced tubes allows you to mix the fluorescents with quartz lights or HMIs without gel correction.

Of course, Kino-Flo isn't the only game in town. Nearly every lighting manufacturer has fluorescent instruments these days, so the selection and competition are strong. Lowel Light in New York makes a portable fluorescent kit. De Sisti in Italy and LightTech in New York manufacture a wide range of fluorescent studio lights, though many of these are designed for fixed use, not for portable kits.

Although some shooters have taken to using fluorescents exclusively, most DPs (directors of photography) tend to use them in combination with incandescent lights. This is because there are some things that fluorscents don't do well-like throw a tight, hard beam.

There are still lots of situations where a good old fresnel will just do better. For this reason, I don't recommend buying fluorescents exclusively. Unless, of course, the only look you ever need is that soft portrait look, in which case, go for the "flos"!

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HMIs

HMI (Hydrargyrum Medium-Arc Iodine) lights are actually the modern and more portable version of the arc light, and are valued because they throw off an extremely high light level at the same color tempera-ture as sunlight. HMIs have also grown in popularity over the last few years.

HMIs are arc lights contained in a sealed capsule. Anyone who has ever had the messy and inconvenient thrill of running a traditional arc light knows how dandy these things are. No white ash all over the place and no electrode replacement every 15 seconds (okay, I exaggerate)-they give off that beautiful pure white light from a small package without all the muss and fuss. They run off of very high voltage, so you still have to drag around a heavy power supply-although these power supplies have gotten much smaller and lighter recently. Some even run off batteries.

The advantage of HMIs is that they generate a pure, intense white light that closely matches the quality of sunlight. They are available in a huge variety of sizes and wattages, ranging from the tiny Joker-Bug 150 to behemoths like the LTM Super 12/18kW (kilowatt) HMI with its 24-inch fresnel lens. They are available in open-face PAR configurations with interchangeable lenses such as the De Sisti Remingtons-or with more traditional fresnels such as the Mole HMI Solarspots. Portable HMI kits usually consist of a single instrument with a fitted case, power supply, stand, and accessories.

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Soft lights

Soft lights are designed to throw soft, diffused light. The lights range from traditional instruments with attached soft boxes (like the Chimera Softbank) to radically different, specially designed instruments such as the Bogen Aurasoft or the De Sisti Wyeth. The range is really huge. As with fluorescents, soft lights are commonly used in conjunction with open-face lights or fresnels. Several manufacturers sell kits that include a soft box or dedicated soft light combined with fresnels or open-face lights.

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Lensed instruments

Lensed instruments use a special lens in front of the lamp to control the spread of the light beam. The major categories of lensed instruments are fresnels and PARs. Fresnels use an efficient stepped lens to focus the beam. Fresnels can range in size and price from tiny 100W (watt) models to the 5000W Mole Senior Solarspot.

Fresnels are the mainstay of video and film lighting because of their flexibility. They can be adjusted to throw a wide flood beam or a narrow, hard spotlight. Nearly every lighting manufacturer has a line of fresnels, ranging from the Lowel Fren-L to the popular LTM Peppers.

Many of the kits sold by different manufacturers are built around two or three fresnels with some variation of soft light. It's pretty common to use a mix of two stronger instruments with a lower-power instrument to use as fill in a typical three-point lighting setup.

PAR (parabolic aluminized reflector) lights are fairly simple fixtures that use a self-contained bulb and reflector assembly. An old-fashioned car headlamp is an example of a PAR bulb, as are the bulbs used in common outdoor floodlights. The type of lens on the bulb determines the pattern and throw of the beam, which is not adjustable. Many PAR instruments now have separate interchangeable lenses.

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Open face

Open-face instruments consist of a bulb and a reflector, and depend on the characteristics of the reflector to focus the beam. Open-face instruments can range from an inexpensive Smith-Victor photoflood to more expensive instruments such as the ArriLite. Most of Lowel's instruments, from the V-Lite and Tota-Lite to the Omni-Lite and Lowel DP, are open-face instruments. Some can be focused, and come with barn doors and similar light controls. Others are very limited in the amount of control.

Instruments such as the Lowel Tota-Lite are very inexpensive floods that can light large areas easily. The Lowel Omni-Lite or Lowel DP can be focused and have Lowel's clever, multipart barn doors for control. Open-face instruments generally have the advantage of being much less expensive than their lensed counterparts.

Instruments such as the Lowel Tota-Lite are very inexpensive floods that can light large areas easily. The Lowel Omni-Lite or Lowel DP can be focused and have Lowel's clever, multipart barn doors for control. Open-face instruments generally have the advantage of being much less expensive than their lensed counterparts.

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Light kits

Now let's look at a few of the light kits that are on the market. Most manufacturers offer a variety of kit configurations, so this list isn't supposed to be comprehensive. I've selected a good general-purpose kit from each manufacturer as an example, so you should look through the various options and configurations before you buy.

As a general principal, if you're going to buy one light kit, you should pick one that offers the most flexibility. For most shooters, that means a kit with some sort of soft light. If you like the look of fluorescents, you may want to buy a pared-down quartz light kit and a separate portable fluorescent instrument to use in combination.



Arri Softbank 1 ($3225)

If your budget is big enough, take a look at the Arri Softbank 1 Kit. Thiskit features two 650W fresnels, one 300W fresnel, and one 1000W ArriLite with Chimera Softbank. The kit includes stands and all the accessories, including an assortment of scrims and a dandy pair of Arri logo leather gloves. The extruded aluminum Arri fresnels are very nice, with smooth operation and equally smooth light control. This is a durable, professional kit that will stand up to heavy use. Arri also makes HMI kits.



De Sisti DLK301 Kit ($2405)

This De Sisti kit is a good basic kit that includes both hard and soft lights for all-around use. It features two 650W Magi fresnels and one 1000W Wyeth soft light. The Wyeth, which is similar to Mole's soft lights, uses a hidden globe with a textured reflector to create a compact unit that gives off soft, directional light. De Sisti also makes a number of fluorescent kits, such as the CineMagic 2-Bank 2 Kit ($1262), as well as HMI kits.



K5600 Joker-Bug 200/400 Combination Kit ($10,375)

If you're in the market for HMIs, you should be familiar with K5600 Jokers and the smaller Joker-Bugs. If you noticed that you just stepped out of the bargain basement, you're right. These instruments are small, efficient-and pricey. They have a high light out-put with low-current draw. The Joker-Bug 200 has the light output of a 1000W quartz light, yet it pulls only three amps. It can also run off batteries-something that's tough to do with a 1000W quartz fresnel!

The 200/400 kit is a good all-around choice, however, because it comes with a 200W Joker-Bug, a 400W Joker, speed rings, and a Chimera-lighted bank. The Beamer attachment mounts a variety of lenses in front of the PAR assembly to create a variety of light patterns and throws.



Kino-Flo Diva-Lite 400 Kit ($1399)

Kino-Flo has recently come out with a compact fluorescent kit especially for video use. Unlike some of their larger units, which require a bit of assembly, the Diva-Lite is designed as a single unit which accepts four 55W, U-shaped color-balanced tubes. You pull it out of the case, slap it on a stand, and bathe your subject in 3200kW soft light. The ballast has a built-in dimmer, and comes with a silver egg crate and Flozier diffusion fabric. The assembly is mounted on an articulated arm (known in Kino parlance as a Lollipop) which mounts on a standard light stand.

The Diva-Lite is also available in a 200 model which uses two 55W tubes. These units are best used close to a subject because the light has a rapid dropoff. These are ideal when combined with a basic fresnel kit, and the flos can be used as either key or fill in combination with a harder complementary light and backlight. Of course, Kino-Flo has a whole range of other models which you should check out as well.



Lowel Tota-Omni Core Kit ($1450)

If you're on a budget, take a look at the line of kits offered by Lowel. They offer a dizzying array of configu-rations of their various open-face fixtures, fresnels, and soft boxes. A good choice of a basic kit would be the Tota-Omni Core Kit, which includes two Tota-Lites, two Omni-Lites, and a Rifa-Lite. The Rifa-Lite is Lowel's soft box, which is cleverly constructed to open and close like an umbrella. It has a built-in fixture, available in 500W, 750W, and 1000W ratings.

Every shooter-no matter what their budget-should get Lowel's catalog and spend some time looking through it. Lowel has an entire line of affordable gaffer gear to do all sorts of things, from mounting their lights in odd places to creating funky shadows. They've specialized in figuring out clever ways to get from here to there inexpensively. Even gaffers on a film budget ought to check out gizmos like the Hollywood-strip and the Blip-set. I'm not going tell you what they are, I just wanted to get you curious enough to check them out.

LTM Blue Pepper Pak ($1968)

If you primarily do interviews on video where you only need to light a small area-or if you're looking for an incandescent kit to combine with a fluorescent-take a look at this peck of Peppers. (Sorry, I couldn't help myself.) Peppers are popular fresnel instruments that are available in a variety of sizes. LTM has a variety of kits with every wattage level of Peppers, obscurely sorted by color.

The Blue Pepper Pak includes two 100W fresnels and one 300W fresnel with all accessories and stands. It's a great interview package, but it can also provide great back and fill lighting when combined with a fluorescent key. A good basic kit for larger areas is the Bronze Pepper Pak ($2080), which includes 100W and 300W fresnels with a 650W open-face light.



Mole-Richardson 58211 Video Kit ($2700)

This new Mole kit is an excellent general-use kit that supplies 300W and 650W "Tweenie" fresnels with a 650W Mini-Soft light. The Mini-Soft light is a compact portable unit with a concealed globe and curved, textured reflector. It gives a very soft, even light in a small package.

Mole-Richardson lights are a Hollywood staple-they're very durable and solidly built. One film gaffer I know says that they are built like a '57 Chevy, and he's right. Many of the Mole lights have been around about that long or longer, and are built as they were in the old days. But that doesn't mean they are behind the times. There's a rumor that, by the time you read this, Mole will have announced a new line of high-tech, lower-cost HMI instruments.

Smith-Victor SV-1800 ($409)

Beginners and those on really tight budgets should check out the economy lights offered by Smith-Victor. They don't have the flexibility of some of Lowel's lights, but their SV-1800 kit with optional barn doors ($64.49) can get you started with a set of three stands and functional quartz lights for well under $500.


Videssence Koolkit ($2795)


Like some of the other kits I've selected, this is a good all-purpose kit that works well in a variety of interview situations, especially for those users who like soft light. The kit combines an ICElite 117 (3W to 32W tubes) and an ICElite 220 (4W to 55W tubes) with a ShadowCaster 100W Quartz light. The ICElites are compact fluorescents in metal cases, about 14x18-inches for the 117 and 18x24-inches for the 220. The light output is about equivalent to the Kino Diva-Lite's. The addition of a quartz light to this kit makes it more flexible than fluorescents alone, though I usually like to have more than 100W available in hard light.

I hope this article gave you a good overview of the options that are available, but bear in mind that these selections are just the tip of the iceberg. You'll have to check the other options available from these manufacturers to hunt down the exact kit that will serve your needs and your budget best. Happy lighting!

The Rev. John Jackman is VP of Comenius Communication, an independent televisoduction).
ion production and consulting company in North Carolina. He's the host of the DV "Hands-On" video, Basic Lighting for DV, and the sequel, Advanced Lighting for DV (in pr

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