Litepanels Shine for Music Videos

Perfectly illuminated faces despite a dark location thanks to the MiniPlus LED camera light by Litepanels

With a RED One on an artemis EFP HD SE camera stabilizer system from Sachtler, a Vitec Group brand, German DOP and camera operator Markus Kambeck filmed two music videos with German artist Cris Cosmo. The MiniPlus LED camera light from Litepanels, also a Vitec Group brand, provided the right lighting conditions.

For the filming of "Alle in einem Boot" ("All in the same boat"), a big party was staged where a band is vigorously firing up the guests with their song and everybody is celebrating together. Markus Kambeck and his film team were right in the middle of the action. "The film location was so incredibly narrow that choreography had to be developed and rehearsed for the scene, which had to be shot without a cut. This was the only way we were able to use the narrow space available to us," explains Markus Kambeck.

Space-saving and lightweight
"The robust MiniPlus camera light from Litepanels was almost made for this project," says Kambeck. "We were able to fix the light underneath the camera on the stabilizer system. In doing so, we saved ourselves the time-consuming installation of lighting structures, which take up a lot of space. The very bright and flicker-free light of the MiniPlus optimally illuminated the faces of the band members in the darkened rooms of the house party. "That's how we got the exact atmosphere we had planned for this video," emphasizes Markus Kambeck. Furthermore, the MiniPlus can be dimmed from 100 % to 0. Throughout, the battery-operated LED light is extremely energy-efficient and generates hardly any warmth. Enhanced with a battery adapter for standard camcorder batteries, it ensures up to eight hours of operation.

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Versatile usage
"Since we worked together so well and the making of the first music video was an overall success, Cris Cosmo contracted us to do a second music video," reports Kambeck. The song about Facebook is a call to permanently networked people to leave the virtual world behind the screen to meet "real people" in the real world. During the filming of the song's video clip, the MiniPlus was also used. "An important stylistic device in this video is the screen's shine effect, in which light is projected from the computer screen onto the face. "To increase the blue shimmer, we used the MiniPlus with its different filters," explains Kambeck. The camera team "hid" the light between the screen and face and filmed so that it could not be seen in the clip.

"With its strong lighting power and compact design, the MiniPlus optimally supported us in producing music videos and commercials," says Markus Kambeck when summing up the multi-faceted video shoots.