Night Shot with cars

[John Sharaf]

Either you rent a Musco light at about $3500 or shoot at twilight.

JS

[Tom Nelson]

I’m assuming you have 2 JTL soft boxes.

I think we need more information on this. It sounds like you have a good idea, but you haven’t developed it all the way yet. I hope the shoot hasn’t happened yet, because it sounds like there needs to be more thought put into it.

Are there specific shots planned out for the shoot? You need to think about those specific shots, and determine shot-for-shot what lights may be needed, if any.

For instance, you could have a moving shot down a road in another car as the subject car passes. The camera, we’ll say it’s in the back of a slow-moving pickup truck (if budget isn’t an issue, it’s on a crane), pans right to left as the car passes by, and is shot in 60 fps so you can slow it down in post. As the car passes, reflections of light shimmer across the shiny paint job. If you’re on a busy city street with many neon signs and the ground is wet from a recent rainfall (or your buddy with a garden hose), how cool would that look? Reflections galore, and someone else is paying the electric bill. Just thinking about that one shot gives me chills.

How about another shot straight up through a sunroof as it opens to show lit buildings reaching towards the sky? Cool, and your lights are already there.

You can pull it off. You just need to put some thought into it.

Tom Nelson
Videographer/Editor
Essex Television Group