You can never have enough lights, and every film you make alters your idea of what a lighting kit should contain.
AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE If you buy through links on this page, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It keeps the lights on and occasionally funds a coffee that doesn’t taste like a parking garage. OVERVIEW SNIPPET Filming yourself professionally means building a production system simple enough for one person to operate … Read more
How to Use a 5-in-1 Reflector for Cinematic Lighting The grip assistant held the silver reflector six inches from the actor’s face. I was three hours into an exterior dialogue scene near Sooke, racing the sun, and the bounce looked wrong. Too specular. Too harsh. The actor looked sweaty against a soft background, like someone … Read more
The $47 Light That Saved My Shoot Last month I was filming B-roll for a client project in this tiny coffee shop. Natural light? Gone by 3 PM. Budget for rentals? Also gone. I pulled out the Godox RGB Mini from my bag—cost me around $90—and stuck it behind a potted plant. Suddenly the whole … Read more
A Cramped Festival, One Phone, and a Surprise My phone buzzed at 2 AM during the 48-hour film festival. Thirty-six hours in, my camera crew had bailed to become actors, I’d rewritten the script twice, and we were shooting Noelle’s Package entirely on my iPhone. The deadline loomed. I’d forgotten how brutal editing deadlines were … Read more