Make Your Own DIY Light Bar for Just $60
If you're looking to save a little bit of money on lighting and don't mind taking on a bit of a project, you can build a mountable DIY light bar using a vanity light fixture and wall plate for just $60. Here's Film Riot's always informative and hilarious Ryan Connolly to walk you through each step.
Stuff You'll Need
- Light bar fixture ($20+)
- Outdoor extension cord
- Wire nuts
- Screws
- Wing nuts
- Combination connector
- Electrical tape
- Baby pin wall plate ($20+); with swivel ($37)
- Screwdriver
- Wire strippers
- Drill
There are a bunch of great things about this light. First of all, it offers quite a bit of illumination. You can see in the video just how much the 8 lights can affect a scene, spreading over a rather large area. Furthermore, it's pretty versatile; you can switch out the bulbs to provide whatever your scene calls for (as long as your bulb fits the fixture), or take out bulbs altogether to reduce intensity. Thanks to the wall plate, you can mount it onto a C-stand. For more control, as Connolly mentions, you can outfit it with a dimmer, as well.
Probably one of the main things to keep an eye on when using this light is how it's casting shadows. Every light you use to light a subject is, for all intents and purposes, going to create a shadow, so if you're using 8, know that you'll be casting 8 of them.
It should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway, safety is of the utmost importance. If you're not entirely comfortable working with wires and cords -- things that if mishandled could eventually end up shocking you or someone else -- then you might want to skip this tutorial.
Source: Film Riot
