DIY Film Making

750w to 1500w Work Light Mod

2011-07-11T19:53:00.000-07:00

Here we go! The 750 to 1500 watt work light mod. You will want to be extra careful with this one, since it uses so much power and takes a bit more wiring.

So here is a shot of everything I used for this project, and in a list:

Screwdriver set
Soldering gun
husky brand (home depot) 750w work lights (it uses 2 bulbs)
25 ft 14 gauge extension cord
home made U bracket (pictured later)
pliers
scissors

So now it's time to take the whole light apart. Completely gut the thing. It's a good idea to get a piece of paper and record which bolts are for what so you can put it back together when you're done.

It should look like this now:

You see that box on the back with the buttons on it? Unscrew that and take it apart. Take all the wires out of it, the only one you will need is the end part of the green one, 3" or so. You see that nice bracket in there holding the power cable in the box? Keep that for later.

Cut that green wire and strip it down. Now take your nice extension cord and cut the end off that does NOT plug into the wall. Strip the orange back about 1 foot (enough to run all the into the light). Oh look! A green wire. Connect them with solder. Now run all the cables through that black box like this:

Now you can feed those black and white wires into the light fixture and attach that green one back to the outside of the fixture.

Time for the bracket. The bulb is 6.5" long, so the bracket should measure 5" to accommodate the R7s connectors on the ends. This is the hardest part because you need to get the order of connecting the pieces in the right order. Proper order:

Solder wires to r7s contacts
Assemble bracket

You may need some of your own hardware to do this. It's easy to figure out though.

Put bracket in fixture

It should look like this:

Now you just need to get the reflector in. Use the scissors to cut the metal to fit into the housing. You may need to find more metal to go behind the bulb for better efficiency.

NOTICE: Make sure the wires that are behind the reflector are as far away as possible from the bulb. The first time I did this the light exploded and a wire burned through some metal. Heat shield everything as much a possible. Also, wiring a switch didn't work out yet. I need to rewire it and I will post and update when that gets done.

Plug it in and enjoy your 42,000 lumens!

Next up: Make a TVMP Adapter for $1.73 (lightstand adapter)

Stand Mount and Cable Management

2011-06-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

As good as work lights are, only the $35 ones come with some sort of stand you can mount them on. Fortunately, there are other methods to get lights on stands. Right now, the cheapest option is the Smith-Victor 525a Stand Mount. This will mount onto a standard 5/8" light stand and has a hole on top to drive a bolt though.The L bracket comes off. Here I have used this adapter on a work light:

This adapter is also very versatile. You can mount it sideways on a stand. I have seen two of them used to hold a homemade Kino bank on two stands. Next, you will want to keep your cables tidy on your lights. Most professional lights come with a little cord that makes a U shape you can sling the power cord though. All you need to do is grab a 12" piece of rope and tie it to the bracket on one end and on the other tie a loop with with a slip knot or a bowline as pictured. This will help keep the cables off the ground and less tangled.

Next Up: 750w to 1500w super work light conversion with in-line switch.

500w to 1000w Work Light Mod

2011-06-12T18:52:00.000-07:00

If you have ever tried using halogen work lights as low budget film lights you may have noticed that the light output is not as much as you'd like, especially after you diffuse it. Well, I have a solution for you. What I have done is take a 500w work light from Lowes and converted it to use a 1K bulb found in the Mickey-Mole and other pro film lights. While the beam spread may not be as good as the name brand lights, it gets the job done for a fraction of the cost. The total cost for this project is $25.

Go to Lowes (or Home Depot) and find a 500w work light ($10). I'm not sure if the light I used is exclusive to Lowes since Home Depot didn't have one.
There are two options for a bulb. This one ($10) may be able to go directly into the light without any modification, but I haven't tried it. If you use that bulb, skip to step 7. This is the bulb ($15) I used, which required some extra steps.
Since the bulb I used is shorter than the one designed for the work light I have to shorten the bracket. This is what I came up with:

I made this out of a piece of 1/16" steel. It just took a lot of hammering in a vice.

4. I then took apart the work light and removed all of the inside parts.

5. After installing the new bracket and r7s connectors I put the light back together.

6. To get the bulb to fit well I had to make some cuts on the reflector.

7. Install the bulb, and there we go, the new light puts out about 2 stops more light!

Note: This projects violates what the fixture says about not using a bulb higher than 500w. Proceed at your own risk. I have used this light for hours at a time without problem, although the light does get VERY hot.

Next Up: I will be writing up how I have modified the work light to make it more film friendly, such as a stinger rope and a TVMP adapter.

Powering Lights in Remote Locations

2011-01-29T17:51:00.000-08:00

If you have ever thought about shooting in the middle of a forest at night or in some other remote location where you need lights you may have wondered how you will power your 1000W halogen lights. Well the first and easiest option is to try to light the scene without extra lights.Anything light colored will work as a reflector to bounce light back at your subject. This will obviously only work during the day. But sometimes your shoot will need to be at night. Have you ever wondered what the difference is between day and night? Besides the brightness and color temperature there is no difference. To go from day to night you can just underexpose the shot by 2-3 stops and set your white balance to something blue, 2500K.

If you are really set on shooting at night then you can stop by home depot and pick up a 3000W portable generator for $219. It will provide plenty of power at the cost of a little noise in your audio. Just get a 50 foot extension cord and with a little noise removal in Audacity you should be good to go.

Another option is to find a location within reach of extension cords. I wouldn't reccomend going further than 150 feet to avoid burning out the cords.

The last and most expensive option is to power you lights with a battery. A 10 to 20 amp hour sealed lead acid (SLA) battery will work well. You can find them on ebay for $25-$45 depending on the size. Combined with a clamp light and a 45W CFL you should have light for about an hour.

Clamp Light

2011-01-29T17:05:00.000-08:00

The clamp light is the best unintentional invention for film making. They can be found at any hardware store and typically cost about $8. They are essentially a 10 foot cord with a light bulb socket on the end. You can keep or remove the metal reflector dish depending on the kind of light you want. You can put any kind of standard bulb in them as long as it is less than about 500W. I find that 23-45W CFL lights work best because they produce much more light than an incandescent bulb, but if you're on a tight budget you can always grab regular bulbs.

The best place on the internet to find all kinds of bulbs is 1000bulbs.com

Tip: The "standard" socket is called E26 or E27. They are pretty much the same thing.

What It's All About

2011-01-29T16:28:00.000-08:00

This blog was created to show how I go about film making. I will show the home made equipment I have as well as the "professional" tools I use. A lot of the home made stuff ends up not working, but I still found that it helped me learn a little more about how the real thing works.

I consider myself more of a cinematographer rather than a film maker only because I have more experience in lighting and cameras. Therefore I will be focusing mainly on the technical side of film making rather than the artistic. I will hopefully cover everything on lighting and shooting films, and also share any other useful information I have discovered on the way. Given that my only source of income barely pays for my gas I will do things the cheapest possible way. My goal is to never spend more than absolutely necessary and to make as much of my own equipment as possible.