Rotolight RL48 Ringlight used on James Bond SkyFall

Rotolight lights latest Oscar winning James Bond feature, SkyFall at Pinewood Studios, UK. The Rotolight RL48 Ringlight, a highly-portable, versatile LED lighting system was recently used on set by Stefan Lange. The experienced VFX and Plate Photographer who has worked on the last six Bond Movies, Notting Hill', Dark Shadows', Mission Impossible' and many others explains how he used the Ringlights;

I believe equipment like the RL48 can play a big part. Affordable, adaptable, well designed. VFX & Plate Photography James Bond Skyfall

Visual Effects elements on films are often window of opportunity' shoots as they have to fit around the demands and tight schedule of a large-scale production. This was no exception, extra water-taxi boats were needed for the night shots of Macau and at the last moment, I got a call to go to Pinewood where a Chinese rowing skiff had become available on the Paddock Tank. The set was being struck at the time and main unit had gone on location so no lights or power were available what should I do? I had brought my own camera but crucially, I had brought my own lights just in case Rotolights!

The small boat had a battery powered red Chinese lantern up on a pole, one rower and two sitting passengers facing each other. The passengers would have been in total darkness with nothing else on board and no lighting to shine across the water. But all I had to do was hand them a Rotolight each, the one then facing away from camera would switch their lamp on and light the person opposite. We just changed the boat direction and passenger costumes to build up a library of elements for the subsequent post-production composites .

As with any production, whether it's a multi million Pound Bond feature or low-budget short, portable equipment is a necessity. Versatile, colour calibrated lighting such as the Rotolight RL48 is the perfect lighting solution for any videographer, photographer or Visual artist. The 100W 140 beam angle of the RL48 creates a naturally soft even lighting source, perfect for creating a high quality key light or ambient fill light for studio and location shooting. These features enabled Stefan to create the desired lighting he needed for a difficult situation:

What would have been a huge problem was solved immediately because the lights are so small, light and convenient that they travel with me everywhere. Were they larger and requiring some exotic power source then they wouldn't automatically be in the boot of my car with my camera. I can buy AA batteries anywhere in the world so never need to get stuck, it's that sort of practicality that I like, even an assortment of colour filters are carried at all times concealed within the lamp casing so I don't have to carry those with me as separate items.

It's because they are always to hand that they get used even when I am using a large lighting package, every so often you hit a problem during a shoot which requires extra time to solve. There are occasions when I have fixed those problems instantly' by grabbing a Rotolight from the bag and held it in place to, for example, lift that dark spot in the action or get a bit of light on a folded green screen cloth that will save costly hours of rotoscoping by a facility house.

The Rotolight RL48 mounts onto any hot-shoe accessory, tripod or lighting stand via the Rotolight stand and can also be mounted onto any Shot-gun microphone. The Rotolight Interview Kit is the most portable dual light kit on the market, a competitively priced lighting solution that creates professional high quality lighting for the seasoned professional to the hobbyist.

The cost, size and output of the Rotolights allow new videographers to do so much more with their work. I believe this is so very important because many seem to be heading down the direction of available light ONLY as higher and higher ISO's become useable. Well, just because you can, doesn't mean you should. I really hope Rotolight lighting technology feeds into this market to raise the standards of photography. The photography is already good but one should always be striving to do better and I believe equipment like the RL48 can play a big part. Affordable, adaptable, well designed. Stefan Lange. VFX James bond Skyfall'

Rotolight's list of high profile credits include; extensive use on the Latest Tom Hanks Movie Captain Philips', hand chosen by BAFTA winning Cinematographer for the Hurt Locker, Barry Aykroyd. Other credits include; BBC Prime-Time, SKY, CNN, X Factor UK and The Voice UK amongst many others.

LINK:	http://www.rotolight.com/rotolight-rl48-ringlight-used-on-james-bond-s...
	See more stories from rotolight

Most recent headlines