LED lighting comes of age

Chris Chisnall

Author: Chris Chisnall

Published 1st May 2014

by Chris Chisnall Issue 88 - April 2014

Lighting is paramount to any production, whether its for an independent short or for a multi-million pound Soap, you can own the best cameras on the market but without the right lighting you dont have the shot! Either on location or in the studio, you need to take in to consideration the lighting setup; key lights, kickers, fill lights, how warm or cool should the ambient lighting be, can I use LED lighting systems and will they balance alongside our existing tungsten lighting?
LED Lighting is very much coming of age, the latest revolution of LED systems is now changing the way we work, fantastic Colour Rendering especially at the Tungsten end, extremely eco-friendly and with a low residual heat output. LED lighting is becoming the light of choice for many Lighting Gaffers, production companies and studios across the industry, popular lighting manufacturers are turning to LEDs but there is one brand who have hit the nail on the head for LED Lighting that is ideal for most setups on set or on location.
The Rotolight Anova Bi-Colour V2 floodlight has become Coronations Streets fill-light of choice chosen by ITVs Head of Lighting, Chris Chisnall who searches high and low for the best lighting products in the industry to ensure the worlds longest-running soap produces the best results in-keeping with its illustrious history. Winner of over 10 BAFTAs, and hundreds of Television gongs, the soap is shot at the new purpose built studio in Manchesters high-tech Media Centre where Rotolight ANOVA V2 Bi Colour 110 wide beam angle units are now used as fill lighting on the set of The Rovers Return.

We caught up with Chris Chisnall, the highly experienced head of lighting at ITV for the past 11 years. Chisnall was in the market for a portable, eco-friendly lighting system that would emit high quality light and the Rotolight ANOVAs were the perfect choice, featuring up to 3.9Kw output while using just 41 watts of power! After extensive testing Chris purchased several of the new range of floodlights and he was not disappointed!
What a fantastic piece of kit! I have to say Ive fallen in love with these lights, I found them to be extremely useful on the floor as a flexible fill alternative to Chimera with Arri 300/500s. The Rotolight Anovas really speed up shooting for us and have become the fill lights of choice.
The new Rotolight ANOVA Bi Colour V2 Flood light can be electronically set to accurately reproduce any colour of white light from candlelight through to full daylight in 10 degree Kelvin steps 3150K 6300K maintaining perfect colour temperature across the whole dimming range. Each light is hand calibrated using a Laser Aligned testing process for outstanding colour accuracy.

Coronation Street is purposely lit to look warm with 1/4 CTO on all back three quarter keys apart from the window side which I keep at 3200K+1/8 CTB or cooler. As you can imagine our turnaround is very quick between scenes and the Anovas play their part superbly as a fill source.
Quick to place around cameras, the Bi-Colour Anovas make balancing easy being able to match the prevailing colour temperature perfectly without having to resort to a selection of gels. In addition the ability to run off batteries, even in studio, make them a dream for fast rigging in awkward areas of the set where we would usually have to hide cables. These lights really speed up shooting for us and have become the fill lights of choice in the Rovers.
The Rotolight ANOVA Bi-Colour V2 EcoFlood range is available in 6 different flavours including the latest Bi-Colour V2 (electronically adjustable from 3150K to 6300K) and the ANOVA SOLO Single Colour Flood lights available in 5600K (Daylight) or 3200K (Tungsten). The complete range of new ANOVA products is available in either UltraWide 110 degree beam angle for a beautiful soft fill light or Standard 50 Degree beam angle as a key light with greater straight line output.
Rotolight, based at Pinewood Studios, UK, are one of the leading manufacturers of multi award winning on-camera, studio and location LED lighting systems for photography, videography, broadcast and cinematography. Rotolights products have been used on major features including James Bond Skyfall, Captain Phillips (Dir. Paul Greengrass, DoP. Barry Ackroyd BSC), and are continuously used by leading Photographers, DoPs and Cinematographers worldwide.
www.rotolight.com

Related Listings

Related Articles

Related News

Related Videos

© KitPlus (tv-bay limited). All trademarks recognised. Reproduction of this content is strictly prohibited without written consent.