Re: Spacelight Options

Space lights are a terrific tool. However, they are not in themselves a full solution to a shadow-free stage. They are hotter directly underneath, unless you scrim the bottoms (a good idea in any case; I had one explode, and the hot glass came down directly; fortunately, no one was underneath. Now I always ask for a wire scrim to be put in place.) And even then, you get uneven illumination. To be truly shadow free, you need to fly a large diffusion below those lights. With 15' to the grid, that will be difficult with 6Ks. The 2K's are shorter and you might be able to pull off something.

On the other hand, I've shot lots of white limbo with just plain space lights. A ground key from the side creates a distinctive and stronger shadow and also fills in the multiple space-light shadows. Better a 10K from far back, than a smaller unit closer -- too much change in intensity as talent moves toward or away from the light. However, in your small stage, a 5K probably can do it, or possibly a studio Junior.

As to your question, would the 2K space lights be bright enough? I suspect they will, unless clients have "slow" cameras. Rent or buy just one. Put it up, take a light meter and measure output (or throw up a camera.) It's been a while since I've used them -- usually my gaffer goes for the 6Ks.

Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
and part-time instructor lighting and camera
grad school, SF Academy of Art University/Film and Video
http://www.RickWiseDP.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/rwise
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com