[Dennis Size]

When I was lighting soap operas we used to air brush neon signs down all the time — with great success. Obviously you need to be careful not to let the paint build up or “pool” in any spots; but it’s quite effective. Usually we would use a brown, or midnight, or dark gray, depending on what we felt would work best for the sign’s tonality. Black always seemed a little too stark.
In the early 80’s (when the plug in neon dimmers came out) we started using them … but were told they might damage the ballasts so we used them sparingly — usually only on neons that were rented for a few days of shooting.
We had a disco set on a show (very popular in the ’80’s) that had a LOT of neon so we used the transformer dimmers on everything (since the air brushing was such a pain in the ___). They were very effective and we had no damage to any of the units.

Have fun in the man cave
DS

[Dennis Size]

Wow ….. you really dug deep into the COW files. Good for you.
Here’s a plot to give a whirl!

1520_boxingarenalayoutv2011.pdf.zip

[Dennis Size]

It’s Photoflex.

[Dennis Size]

It’s Photoflex.

[Dennis Size]

Contact Chimera …..or Fotoflex

[Dennis Size]

In reality you’re merely “filling” the driver’s face in to compensate for the light overpowering the video from outside the car.
Be sure to use daylight balanced sources.

DS

[Dennis Size]

I hate when people say to me, “there’s a shadow on the side of his face!” (usually in a derogatory manner as if I just started in this business and don’t see the shadow myself).
I know that they’re trying to say that they think it’s wrong, but they don’t know why — or even if that’s really the case. It’s merely that they’ve heard some idiot with the artistic sensibility and lighting knowledge of a rock repeat the sentence over and over.
Usually I say, “I’m glad you noticed; I can’t tell you how long it took me to achieve that precise shadow placement.!”
Then there’s that uncomfortable moment when they’re not sure if I’m pulling their leg or if I really did mean what I said … or if I’m just calling them a stupid idiot (usually the case).

That being said, in your particular case I would try to avoid extraneous shadows.
Since you’re doing an instructional video, in which there will be close-ups of people’s feet, it will be very distracting for the viewer to follow the four feet in the demo when there might also be a dozen other confusing feet shadows. Remember one undiffused hard light source will make a shadow of every element. If you have 2 dancers one hard light source will create 4 feet shadows. Two lights will cause 8 feet shadows. Three lights will create 12 feet shadows.You would be wise to only have one defined set of shadows to create 3 dimensionality — but no other conflicting/confusing unecessary shadows.
The trick when lighting dance is to light for shape and form — 3 dimensionality …but without creating confusion for the viewer. They need to see the exact pattern the feet are moving in. If there are a variety of confusing shadows you have defeated your instructional purpose.
If you choose the have your backlight as the main “hard” key, then so be it. Don’t let your other fixtures create shadows.
Dance is lit with low sidelight parallel to the dancers, not from above them (which causes the shadows on the floor. As much as possible you need to barndoor your lights to the feet. If you had lekos you could position your fixtures on the floor (called “shinbusters” in dance) shooting across the dance floor at your subjects, with the beam of light shuttered to their feet at the bottom of the beam, and their heads at the top. If you’re stuck with softlights then position them on low stands — crosslighting the talent — minimizing any obtrusive floor shadows.
Frankly, unless your talent is also talking to camera in close-up I would keep the “look” of your video a bit more dramatic. you don’t necessary need 3 point lighting — 2 point will suffice.

make sense?
DS

[Dennis Size]

You can gaffer tape, clamp, velcro, baling wire, the fixtures in whatever position works best for your shots. I would think they might be obtrusive on top of the dashboard. Not knowing your shots I can’t dictate the exact position. Normally, when shooting the driver, I mount the fixtures on the face of the dashboard (2 in front of the speedometer, 2 in front of the radio). Sometimes, if there’s a side shot, I’ll put a fixture on the passenger seat or door.

Note there are several other fixtures you could experiment with. If your car is moving, obviously you will need a light that can plug into the cigarette lighter power “port”.

DS

[Dennis Size]

Use 2 or 3 mini kino-flo’s (9″ or 12″) mounted on the dashboard. You could also use a few mini-lite panels if you’d prefer the directionality.
DS

[Dennis Size]

If you follow all the suggestions above, you’ll be in good shape….. and I can’t stress enough that DISTANCE will be your best friend. Put your talent about 10 feet or more from the screen.
Another helpful technique is not to use a reflective green screen. Chromakey Paint, for example, won’t be your best friend. It’s far more reflective than a fabric greenscreen …especially a fabric with a nap (or texture) that will absorb the light instead of bouncing it back to the talent

DS