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Lighting a School classroom
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I just had to say this; I’ve always thought ear-mounted boom mics look ridiculous and distracting, I don’t care how tiny they are. Ear booms are bad enough on broadway shows and sports and exercise training shows, for telephone operators and air traffic controllers, I feel they are inappropriate most other times, and take you right out of what you’re watching. My suggestion would be a PZM type boundary mic at each table of three, or a wireless omni on a table stand, backed up by a quality shotgun, preferably hand-aimed by a grip, but on the camera is ok too. Wireless omni on the teacher, again, backed by the shotgun or a planted mic near their lecture spot. If they stand in just one place, planting a mic should be easy. Not lighting advice, but it was brought up. Or you can hang unobtrusive omni lavs from above, just out of shot, better yet, the lav-like concert recording mics used by choirs, but I’ve actually shot focus groups in classrooms hanging a lav as well as PZM’s from the ceiling tiles above, it can work. Having the cables on the ceiling is safer than having kids tripping all over them, kicking or playing with them, or parking chair legs on them, this WILL happen, though you tape them down.
Back to lights: I agree with facing the kids into the window and putting the cameraman’s back to it. You just can’t affordably or unobtrusively make up for the lost daylight on an educator’s budget, HMI’s are expensive, LEDs are nice but have short throw. So you want to balance to that daylight. Maybe, just maybe, you could afford some correction gels for the overhead flouros and though that would reduce their output, if the color balance was closer to daylight from the window I think the trade-off may still be worth it. Gelling the overheads is likely easier than gelling the window. If the windows have full-coverage blinds, I might go a different way, and just use some 1k/s in the corners, bounced off the ceiling to raise the overall light level.
Shooting the teacher backlit by the window as they teach the kids facing the window is hard. Less hard if you have a second camera set to shoot just the teacher on iso, preferably from a somewhat side-profile shot that minimizes backlighting. This will give you cover to snap-zoom and snap-pan the kids camera to get what you need, while using the teacher shot, and the edit will be cake. The iso camera shot can be pretty tight and if you let the window blow out a bit it might not matter there. Shooting the teacher from a higher or lower angle will also take more of the window out of the shot, or perhaps you could arrange a portable blackboard or easel with some stuff on it to act as a flag, to block off most of the window in just that tight teacher shot. Even a banner or posters taped over the window in that spot will not look too badly out of place, considering the setting, but will cut down the outside backlighting on the teacher there.
This is a little devious, but what if the kids did an art project ahead of time, where they each made an 8.5 by 11 inch picture or cut-out shape and they were stuck all over that window in key spots along the lower third of the windows?
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I really appreciate all the posts here, representing lots of valuable experience. Mark, I’m glad to hear your comments about the ear mike–I was having the same feeling and really hoping to not go that direction. Also, I liked your idea of shooting some lights into the ceiling instead of trying to gel the flos, which is probably more trouble and expense than I’m ready to deal with.
So here’s a thought.
1. North-facing windows
2. Turn off the flos, and shoot 3-4 totas into the ceiling with either full or 1/2 ctb.
3. Use litepanels for closeups of kids, thinking that there will be enough ambient, color-corrected light bouncing around–all in the daylight range.Thoughts?
Dan S.
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Daniel,
Totas into ceiling is useless, with gel on them even more useless. Only bounce light that would work is punchy HMI’s like multiple 800’s, 1200’s or 2500’s. I don’t think you’re ready for the cost of these. Return to original concept; keep it simple shoot away from windows and/or keep windows out of shots.
Good luck!
JS
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I missed something in this thread….. but you should defintely not bounce tota lights off the ceiling. You shouldn’t even use them.
I will refrain from saying what I really think of totas. Suffice it to say all they will do is mess up your color temperature, needlessly raise the room temperature (they’re stupidly hot); and waste money.
Use your overhead fluoros — but turn off half of them if you can. Keep your cameras positioned at the windows (with the operators backs to daylight). Shoot into the room with everyone facing the windows. Fill, as needed, with Lite Panels.DS
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I get the message loud and clear about the totas. If I have a north facing window and do as everyone says, shoot with my back to the window and faces towards the window…that all sounds good. But what if it’s a really cloudy day? I know some clouds are good for diffused natural light, but if it’s dark and rainy. Don’t I need a backup plan to get ambient light in the room?
Mabe I should consider renting HMIs. How many and how big would I need? I’ve never used them, but I’m assuming they work like Fresnels, only daylight balanced? (I’ve used fresnels, and I’m somewhat comfortable with them).
I think, for many reasons, going simple is wise–with as few mics and lights as possible to make the kids feel self-conscious. But for a backup…I’m confused all over again. I guess it’s not easy!
Dan S.
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Dan,
Even an overcast day will be fine, in terms of having enough “north light” for both the quality and quantity of light desired.
If you do want to add artificial daylight balanced illumination (either bounced off the ceiling) or direct through a Chimera box, you best bet is a couple of 800w Jokers. With this wattage, it’s unlikely you’ll blow a fuse even if you plug them both into the same circuit. But do try to split them into different circuits. I would think that a modern classroom would have two circuits. Best to check with the custodian, and look at the fuse box. It is important to at least know where it is in case!
These lights rent anywhere from $100-300/day each.
JS
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Is there anything in particular I need to know about operating HMIs? Do they all need to have a ballast? And will and HMI fresnel work basically the same as a tungsten?
I’m assuming bounced light off the ceiling would give a softer overall ambient light than chimeras pointed at the kids.
I’ll be scouting the classrooms at the end of next week, and maybe I’ll check back when I have more info.
Thanks,
Dan S.
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Yes, an HMI will have a ballast… either a magnetic ballast, or a more modern electronic ballast. They are easy to differentiate… the magnetic ballast will create a cracking sound from your spine when you pick it up, and the subsequent hernia pain. The electronic ballasts are much lighter. They can still be a big and fairly heavy piece of equipment though.
The exception to the rule are the Joker-Bugs. For some reason the Jokers, even the 800, still have pretty lightweight and easily managable ballasts.
The couple of things of note with HMIs, they put out daylight-balanced light (although some instruments do have tungsten balanced globes, but they are the exception). Secondly they put out a lot more light per watt compared to tungsten… anywhere from three to five times as much, depending on the instrument. Also a plus, they tend to run a bit cooler than same-wattage tungsten instruments.
Some HMIs aren’t “hot restrike,” which means once you shut them off there is a cooling down period before you can restrike them. Most modern instruments are hot restrike, and can be re-ignited immediately… though I do have one that isn’t… and unfortunately seem to keep forgetting that.
As for comparing it to other lighting instruments… a light is a light is a light… it’s pretty much like any other, just a lot more of it and of perhaps a different color temperature. You can do anything with it that you would any other instrument… use it directly, flag it with barn doors, bounce it, shoot it through a silk or scrim, etc.
Most HMIs will be either fresnels or PARs. The frensel is made and works like any tungsten fresnel. The PAR has a parabolic reflector, it’s focused by a mechanism that slides the globe in and out of the reflector a bit.
My favorite workhouses are our 1200w fresnel HMIs. They are big, but not too big, have good output… and they are about the biggest HMI that you can relatively confidently power by ordinary home or office electrical outlets without tripping breakers (although you still will, if much is already on the circuit).
My most frequent use of an HMI is as a key light, shooting it into a white 4×4 bounce card. That gives really beautiful soft, natural looking light.
That’s what I’d probably do in a classroom, too. If fact, we just did that. If you pop over to the business forum, just today I posted a little thing about some video storyboards that we did, and there is a sample video that has a classroom scene (https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/17/868835). That scene was lit with a single 1200w HMI and a white 4×4 bounce. Incidentally, the other HMI scenes in that piece are the opening glass-hallway scene, the stairwell scene, the “grandparents” scene, and the end hospital room scene. Pretty much any scene that would otherwise have bright blown-out windows.
HMIs aren’t scary, they’re pretty great. I couldn’t live without them.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Aren’t there fluorescent fixtures overhead in this classroom?
Then why would you want to bounce light off the ceiling? ….. where there are already existing soft light sources?You’re obsessing WAAAYYYYY too much about this project. Stop beating yourself up and start to visualize it withOUT using any additional fixtures. Then supplement where you need to. You’ll find you won’t need much — as long as you use the “Key” lighting that God is giving you through the windows.
DS
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I have to agree with Dennis, my long-winded treatse about HMIs notwithstanding… in my defense I had not read the thread, was just responding to the “tell me about HMIs” question…
Upon reading it all now, I do think this sounds like a relatively easy gig that you are working very hard at to try to make difficult. It’s probably not.
I get the feeling this doesn’t exactly have to look like a feature film that Roger Deakins might have shot… it just has to look good, and that shouldn’t be too hard. Get a classroom with good windows facing the right direction, and this could be a pretty darn easy shoot with just available light (or nearly so).
T2
__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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