[Dennis Size]

“Expensive” is relative to how much money you have. If you only have $100, something that costs $200 could be considered too expensive.
To purchase the proper LED moving light package for a simple, medium sized boxing ring anticipate spending about $200,000.
DS

[Dennis Size]

Put neon fixtures/signs in the background so your viewer sees the ‘apparent’ source of light, but actually light your actors with conventional instrumentation (tungsten, fluorescent, LED, etc) gelled with the correct color to match your apparent naturalistic source.
You could even use one of the many dozen RGB or RGBAW LED fixtures and tailor your lighting to precisely whatever color match you need to carry through the artistic conceit!
Have fun with it!
Dennis

[Dennis Size]

Great comments Todd, as always.
Regarding the photo of the Greenscreen set-up, I’m surprised you spent all that time examining the instrumentation.
That light hang is an embarrassment, and bears NO resemblance to the way a greenscreen (especially a commercial one
of that nature) would be lit.
Regarding LED instrumentation, my personal favorites — in descending order — are:
+ ARRI Skypanels (30, 60, or 90)
+ Kino Flo CELEBs (201, 400q, and 401)
+ Cineo Trucolor HS units
These are all incredibly wonderful fixtures and I swear by them.
If my budget prohibits their use, I drop down to fluorescent fixtures and will use all kino-flos, a mixture of:
+ Vistabeams
+ Image 80’s
+ Parabeams

To use such sophisticated instrumentation properly you MUST hire people who know what they’re doing.
To get a rough idea of how much to plan on spending for the greenscreen you’re planning, get the cost of each fixture and multiply by 25. You’ll be in the ballpark.
Good luck ….. happy illumination.
Dennis Size

[Dennis Size]

I have been abandoning HMI’s — except for when I need a lot of intensity — and will then use an HMI in the 6kw, 12kw, or 18kw range.
Normally — as of late — I’ll use Cineo Trucolor LED fixtures or one of the Aadyntech LED units. The Punch Plus was my ‘weapon of choice’ for all the broadcast coverage I lit of the recent Presidential Debates..
DS

[Dennis Size]

This product is the newer version of the technology we were using 30 years ago to simulate the effect of fire on people’s faces:

https://www.gamonline.com/catalog/flickermaster/index.php

This is one of many solutions and there are certainly a dozen ways to “light the fire” but I’ve found using this device to control several mutliple colored light sources is the easiest.
DS

[Dennis Size]

Can you not afford a color temperature meter?

[Dennis Size]

If I were looking for way to do this ‘on the cheap’ I would probably budget a minimum of $10,000 for some sort of lighting grid.
There are many ‘improvisational’ methods to rigging the grid you would need, and if you are a gambling man feel free to do any of them.
The best advice I can give you is to make sure you have plenty of liability insurance.
DS

[Dennis Size]

With a $5,000 budget you don’t even have the money for the truss, let alone the lights.
DS

[Dennis Size]

BINGO! Mark nailed it. The subtext and emotional reactions that viewers have to darkness and shadow, or brightness and highlight, is the reason we have jobs!
DS

[Dennis Size]

ANDY ….. You can NOT use GAM FLOOR to create a curve …. but if you have a hard curve you can use it to cover the curve. Think of GAM FLOOR as “contact paper”.
Regarding my excessive (???)use of shop lights (12), I was actually being very conservative. I only want you to use the 12 shop lights, NOTHING ELSE. Stop thinking about PARs and Dedos. I wouldn’t even use any Kino frontlight (and would only keep the Parabeams as a CYA). If I did use them, they would be as “footlights”.
I’ll clarify:
+ use 4 @ 4′-0″ from overhead (2 in the downstage “in 1” position, 2 in the upstage “in 2″ position)
+ use 4 @ 4′-0” mounted on the stage left wall — 2 in the downstage “in 1″ position (one low, about 6” off the floor, one above it), 2 in the upstage “in 2″ position. THIS IS YOUR SIDELIGHT from stage left (camera right).
+ use 4 @ 4′-0” mounted on the stage right wall — 2 in the downstage “in 1″ postion (one high, one low underneath it and about 6” off the floor), 2 in the upstage “in 2” position. THIS IS YOUR SIDELIGHT from stage right (camera left).

As I said earlier, lighting dance is all about modeling and enhancing the 3 dimensionality. The sidelight is VERY important — and essential. I’m saying to ONLY light your talent AND THE GREENSCREEN with these 12 lights.
My priority would probably be the sidelight. Those 8 fixtures are KEY lights.
The 4 overhead fixtures are essentially to fill in the greenscreen and help separate your dancers.
Think of your little box at the end of the room as a refrigerator …. open the door (turn on the camera) and reveal the contents — in an all encompassing wash of light.
As for the Kino frontlights … use them IF — and only IF — the shadows on the front of the dancers bothers someone’s parents. But even then argue for NO frontlight. If you must use it do it from the footlight angle.
I repeat …. have fun with this, and don’t treat it like it’s an interview with some CEO.
DS