Comments on: Lighting an Interview with $26 Worth of Equipment: a Free SMAPP Tutorial from Stillmotion

By: Daniel Mimura

Daniel Mimura — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 03:34:04 +0000

Using tape on a hot light (a halogen) lamp is kind of stupid. Ponies or c-47s.

I remember acting in a student film years ago and in the middle of several takes, melted adhesive kept coming undone and diffusion or bounce or whatever would fall off the light. Plus most adhesives are pretty toxic when burned.

Low budget/no budget is no excuse for using something less toxic, more consistent, and reusable at the same time. (Cheaper than gaff tape as well.)

By: Cameron

Cameron — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 17:34:14 +0000

For anyone who watched that. What is a “Leviton Power Thingy”? I’ve been shopping around buying the materials necessary and that last item is giving me some trouble.

By: Colin

Colin — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 14:28:18 +0000

Did anyone else spot the continuity error when he screws the Ikea lamp into the lampholder?

Round about 3:05 he switches hands in the edit. Not the biggest crime ever but it distracts the viewer.

Great tutorial though.

By: Heiko

Heiko — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 20:08:38 +0000

Nobody said you should use these lights on a paid job!

By: Heiko

Heiko — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 20:02:08 +0000

“it looks like the actual tape used on the project is gaffer’s tape (though I could be wrong), which would cost about as much as all of the equipment put together. ”

Do you mean a specific brand of gaffer’s tape? If you mean Advance Tape “Gaffa” , it is definitely not that expensive. You can get a 50m roll for a lot less than 10 bucks. Only the matte black or matte white varieties are a little more expensive, but still less than 26USD.

By: earnest reply

earnest reply — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 00:34:50 +0000

Great concept and video. I just wish they showed 1-3 super wide angles to see exactly where they placed all those lights. It would have been so EASY and SO instructional. The graphic overlay does almost nothing for me. But big kudos.

One tweak. If that light gets too hot you could substitute baking parchment paper as it’s rated for up to 450 degrees. You can’t adjust diffusion like with the shears but it’s definitely safer.

By: chop

chop — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 23:11:59 +0000

Seems cool but I no one is doing this sort of thing on a paid gig lol

By: DIYFilmSchool

DIYFilmSchool — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 15:29:16 +0000

Thanks for posting this article. The tutorial has a lot of helpful hints and solid theory that should really help beginners understand three-point lighting.

By: Markus

Markus — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 03:07:19 +0000

They seem like really good guys and it’s great that they are offering such great content for free. The softbox with the laundry basket is a terrific idea and it was rather fortuitous that the Home Depot light even had a built in speed ring (sort of). Of course there are better, more robust continuous lighting kits for only a bit more money but it’s great when DIY creativity make all budgets workable.