"You can't work in the movies. Movies are all about lighting."
- John Malkovich* |
With assistance from Chris McMeen - VP Sales, Scharff Weisberg Lighting
Michael McDonough, flickr
Coming across Malkovich's quote, it reminded me of the lighting rental work we've done for films and how it compares to the event, broadcast or entertainment projects that are our more typical fare. It's an interesting contrast for us in the biz, particularly in New York where local film production has been a stabilizing economic force in a subdued event marketplace.
The traditional uses for lighting equipment in film and TV production call for large fixtures with quartz or tungsten lamps and lots and lots of hardware to mount the fixtures - all administered to by grips, gaffers and electrics crew. On occasion, the shooting script or location calls for a look that cannot be fulfilled by the standard complement of film gear and for those instances the film production will call upon the entertainment community to fill the void.
I think location trucks are pretty neat. Growing up in Brooklyn Heights, a popular location for filming, my friends and I became used to seeing the platoon of trucks required to support a location shoot show up and unload electrical cables, wardrobe and props. At the time we were most attracted to the doughnuts laid out by craft services, while these days I'm most often concerned about the parking spaces displaced by the trucks. Despite these distractions, I'm still impressed by the vast quantity of lighting, cable and widgets arrayed within the grip trucks and the time-honored methods used by the technicians responsible for them.
The major difference between entertainment lighting and grip equipment is that entertainment is much more reliant on electronics such as dimmers, consoles and the like, as well as a very broad variety of fixtures that include everything from incandescent to LED to fixed to automated fixtures. Film production lighting tends to be far more straight-forward and focused, if you'll pardon the pun. For example, the most common control interface in a film lighting rig is an ON/OFF switch - something rarely utilized in the live event environment.
Where we get involved in film production is as a complement to the standard gear and "complement" is the best term to describe the dynamic of working with a film production team. We might, for example, be asked to provide dimmers and multi-cable to be used with the production fixtures or a few moving fixtures to create a particular effect. We'll also handle requests to provide a full truss and lighting package to recreate a concert stage, nightclub or even a game show set.
What we've found is that the film folks require a very exacting level of customer service. They want to work with people that are very familiar with the equipment, always come through with what has been promised and who are simpatico with the production men and woman on the film crew. Not so different than most of our client relationships but the perspective has a slightly different viewpoint in that our scope is a relatively small part of the overall scheme and anything unexpected can ripple through with consequences that far outweigh our contribution.
Another facet of the entertainment to film lighting comparison is that the film gear must be pristine if it is to be used in the frame. If the set designer wants it to appear used, they'll make it happen themselves, thank you very much, so no beat up stuff need apply for these jobs! It is also a fact that the vast majority of film production in New York is handled by union members so the corresponding entertainment lighting shop is likely to be union-represented as well. For us, our IATSE affiliation is a prime qualification in this regard.
Finally, we've learned that as a lighting supplier to film shoots we must get used to seeing the fruits of our labors being left on the cutting room floor - a most unusual situation when we are used to seeing our gear front and center on all of our gigs. For example, watch the first twenty seconds of this trailer and see if you can spot the VL-1000's we provided to the soon to be released romantic comedy "It's Complicated" starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin: It's Complicated Trailer
*Malkovich goes on to state that the technical preoccupations prevalent in film making do not allow an actor the time and space required to fully inhabit the role he is portraying. I'm sure he has nothing against lighting, specifically.
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