In car lighting
 

Has anyone had expirience lighting actors inside moving cars? I'm using an XL-1s inside of an '02 Passat. With the wide angle adapter I can get the views I want but as some of the shoots are at night, I need some form of lighting. I'd like something pretty subtle. Any suggestions? Thanks.

You have a couple of choices for lighting night car interiors, both of which are motivated by the vehicle's own dash lights.

The first option is to rent a Kinflo miniflo kit which consists of two 9" fluorescent lights that can be plugged into the cigarette lighter of your car. They usually rent for about $45/day.

The second option is to purchase an inverter from Radio Shack or Sears and use a couple strings of white colored Christmas lights. Plug the inverter into your cigarette lighter and plug the lights into the inverter.

Mount the lights (either the miniflos or the Christmas lights) just under the frame line. They should provide just enough light to get a decent exposure w/out looking too obvious.

You may also want to stage the shot so that additional lights from store fronts or passing cars are not only visible from interior of the car but also occasionally shine into the the car.

Jessica Gallant
Los Angeles based Director of Photography
West Coast Systems Administrator, Cinematography Mailing List
http://www.cinematography.net

In Car Lighting
 

If this is a stationary shoot, as opposed to a vehichle on the move, try a couple of 500 watt to 1K on the floor of said vehicle, for an extremely dramatic shot.

Also, with these new cameras, the overhead lights in the vehicle, can occassionally add a nice touch. Obviously, out of sight, of the capture creature's lens.

BoB.