Oh right, lights!

Okay, so, we've covered cameras, actors, crew and audio. Now it's time to cover other things people sometimes forget: lights and junk! Lights are important for a lot of reasons. Proper lighting helps set the tone of a scene, helps delineate actors from the background and makes the scene visible. Not much point in a movie you can't actually see.

When we last left off, we had a budget of $58,215 going. Let's jump right into the fun!

Lights are tricky business. The best option I've seen for getting a quick and dirty light setup that'll work for most beginning filmmakers is the Arri fresnel 4-light combo. It's only about $2,450 and comes with its own transport case, which is something you don't normally get with rentals. It is actually SO well featured that I'll break down what it comes with in its entirety:

2x Arri Fresnel 300W lights: Normally $30 a day per light, which means that as a rental this would cost $600 for the shoot.

2x Arri Fresnel 650W lights: Normally $40 a day per light, so that's $800 for the shoot.

4x light stands: These are usually cheap anyway, but they come with the kit. Normally they're $5 a day per stand, so that's $200 for the whole shoot.

4x barn doors: This kind of amuses me because they aren't included in the rental cost but at dirt cheap to rent. $1 a day per door, so $40.

4x filter frames: Just like the barn doors, these are really cheap but not included in rental costs. $40 again!

8x scrims: Wow, lot of tiny little costs in rentals. That's another $80!

2x 300W replacement lamps: these actually cost $40 each and you have to buy them. That's $80

2x 650W replacement lamps. Same deal as above, and another $80.

1x Arri accessory box. This includes a lot of handy stuff you'll need like a pair of leather gloves for handling the lights, wooden clothes pins, a lamp storage case, a 3 outlet extension cord and a carrying bag. This typically costs another $90.

1x Heavy duty location case. This is my favourite thing in the kit. It drastically cuts the amount of worry in transporting your lights over long distances since it's designed to take a hit. It also has built-in wheels so it's a lot easy to move around than it could be. This normally sells for about $430.

So, after all that, getting the same equipment with rentals would be about $2,440. If you REALLY wanted to scrimp and save, then you could rent and save yourself that whole $10, but really, this case is a really great deal if you ever plan on shooting more than once. This is a long article considering all it does is bring our budget up to $60,665 but it's something you REALLY have to consider.

A couple of afterthoughts and notes on today's update:

I'm not a shill, I promise! You'll notice that I usually link to Amazon.com or B&H a lot, but that's because I mostly really trust them with my orders. If Amazon has it in stock you'll usually see it in a day or two but yes, you could easily check your nearest bookstore. B&H is just amazing though and I'd trust them with any order.

Also, on a more personal note, I'm in a new place now, so updates should be more regular and probably a bit lighter in tone now that I'm about 90% less stressed about everything.