헐리웃 때깔 그 지긋한 컴플렉스여..
bigandsoftlighting을 어줍지 않게 흉내내고 있는 작금의 현실에 또 하나의 빡센 작업 하나가 늘었으니
맨 유니버시티 전속 촬영기사 단테 스피노티가 유행시킨 'batten lights' 바로 비밀의 그것.
일명 박쥐조명, 빼튼라잇, 명칭 덕에 무슨 야간에 고담시 밝히는 라이튼가 하는 의혹이 초창기에 있었다고도..

하쉬하되 하드하지 않고 소프트한테 멍청하지 않은 걔네들의 비결은 사실 간단한 기본원리에 기초해서 시작.
- mulitple shadow, 여러개의 소스가 모여 이뤄진 하나의 소스가 하드한 광원이 어김없이 남기는 거친 shape를 상쇄시킨다고..
- non-existing but 'directional'

정말 간단한 응용이되 엄청 손이 많이 가는 까다로움을 동시에 필요로 한다. 초짜가 전기한번씩 먹는건 다반사고 엄청난 발열 때문에 화재위험이 항상 도사리고 있다는, 세트 왕창 태워먹고 애꿎은 스텝들 유독가스에 기어다닐수 있으니 항상 안전에 만전을 기할 것.
세미프로가 보기에 가시적인 차이점을 느끼지 못하는 측면도 없지 않지만, 촬영이란게 하나씩 포기할수록 뒤에 돌아오는 짜친 퀄리티와 타협후에 가슴을 치는 자괴감은 무시못하는 법. 게다 시행착오끝엔 제법 거뜬한 홈메이드라이트 하나 장만할 수 있다는 점도 장점, 잘 만든 빡스라이트 하나 아리정품라이트 하나 안부럽다는..

어쨌든 촬영하는놈이라면 그토록 애타게 추구하는 그 '자연스러움'을 목표로 한다.

Dante Spinotti's comment on batten lights

다음은 양키애들의 포럼에서 채집한 논의들.
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Bat Lights (Batten Lights)

Published : 3rd January 2005

Hello all.
OK so I've heard a little about these...bat lights.
Sounds like lots of small lamps on a strip that can be hung?
Does anyone feel like letting me in on the secret? Have they been around for a while? What sort of lamps do they use? And when do you use them?
Cheers.

John Brawley
DOP
v:media
Melbourne Australia
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BATTEN STRIPS

Generally batten strips are constructed by taking a 1" x3" wood batten (or 5/4" x 3" in New York) and screwing surface-mount porcelain medium screw base sockets to it on one foot centres or so. You can use them with EAL's or other color correct photofloods (R40 reflector globes) or you can use them with regular A lamps or PS lamps.

They can be used in front of diffusion or to light a backing that is too close to light with scoops or bigger fixtures - say outside a window on a set that is built too close to the wall (not that this ever happens)
They can also be used in building soft boxes or book lights- bouncing them into the back of the box, for instance.

I haven't used them much myself, having built a few sets over the years...I think the last set I built was for a scene that involved a long walk under a covered walkway - we screwed them to the sides of the cross-members of the walkway every so often so the actors would go through patches of light - more front lit than back lit as they got close to them -

In this case, I just used 150 watt PS (stands for pear-shaped) lamps - for a soft mushy light - Kinda like a KinoFlo on steroids.

If you think of the classic Broadway or Hollywood makeup mirror with a string of bulbs around it, you can get some other ideas about ways they can be used.

One of the interesting things about batten lights is the nature of the shadows that are created by them - depending on lamp spacing and what sort of lamps you use, and the distance between subject and lamp and background (or floor) you can either get a bunch of shadows or just a soft mushy linear area of less intensity - and being a line source, the fall-off as you move away from them is different than the fall-off from a point source

For very little money, you can get the bits together to build one or two at the local DIY place or Home Despot - if you have the time, make one up and play with it with normal household bulbs and see what it can do for you.

I have found that when I did build them, I would then store them for seven or eight years, finally give them away or throw them out, and then have to build a set again a few years later. I gave my last set to someone else who will now store them for a few years before throwing them out and then building them again.

Mark Weingartner
LA based
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I have also seen people using these as a broad backlight across a room.....pushed up to the cornice of a room and diffused. Dante Spinotti uses a gee whiz version of these...a cross between the bat light and ministrips. His version used PAR 16 bulbs and was used a fair bit on his later films..."Wonderboys" and "The Insider" I believe.

My reference to Dante Spinotti's use of bat light types of fixtures mentioned Par 16 lamps...I haven't seen them here but they are like shrunken sealed beam Par 64s and not like the MR16s we find in down lights and the like.

You can also use them vertically in a corner. I guess they are a Kino with punch for lovely hot edges with limited room.

Nick Paton
Director of Photography
High Def./Standard Def./Film
Aaton XTR Prod owner operator
Brisbane, Australia
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Hi Nick, Jim, John,

I know I am way late to the conversation about bat lights and you may already have your answers but here is what I have.

I had the pleasure of day playing as an Set electric on Wonder Boys just for the chance to observe Dante Spinotti working with light. He used bat lights everywhere for interiors mounted vertically, horizontally and diagonally.

Always on a variac and dimmed for a low color temp (2600K ish). Jay Fortune was the CLT and brought many of his own bat strips, the standard New York style (1" x 3" or 4" with porcelain sockets) in varying lengths. Early on in the show there was a genesis of the bat strip and the fixtures used. They switched to use the Sylvania Capsylite Designer 16 ( hence the confusion) NFL (Narrow Flood) 75 watt 30 degree beam angle. This light is a sealed beam Par 16 with a 2 inch stippled front lens. The CRI is 100 with a color temp of 2950K.

The entire light except lens and base is porcelain to withstand the massive heat generated. The lights were spaced evenly across the 1 x 3 board with just enough room to screw in the bulb. The problem was the bats fully loaded weighed too much for the board, they would flex unless secured in multiple points. I am not sure whose idea it was but it was decided to create an I beam like fixture made from welded aluminium. They were 4 feet long with 2 baby spuds welded on each end of the backside channel which also helped contain the wiring which is always a pain with the bats. The draw back to these newly designed lights was it always took two people to hang them or adjust them. They do however have a narrow profile and put out a beautiful light. By the end of the show there would be upwards of 25-30 units playing throughout a set!

I must add that Dante was the nicest D.P I have ever worked with. He constantly offered up unsolicited information about what he was doing and why. He would often say "you want a little of that learning you came here for?" Of course we (crew) would say "sure". He by the way was using the Beta version of the KLMS ( different name?) at that time, very cool.

I recommend for anyone who shoots and lights to get on other D.P's sets (if you can) to see what they are doing. This will help you from falling into a routine of lighting all of your stuff the same way.

Hope this helps.

Ted Wiegand
Dir/D.P
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Hi Nick, Jim, John
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A couple of notes about bat(ten) lights, aka cleat lights - after the name of the porcelain sockets known as cleat sockets.

Using a 1x3 wooden batten means the unit can be easily cut to fit wherever it needs to be fitted -- it's only a batten and the only tool required is a Swiss Army knife with a saw blade or a Leatherman, etc.

Using heavier bulbs will of course bow the batten. Uneven drying from the heat of the lamps will also unevenly dry the wood. As an alternative, we used 2x4s or 2x3s., they can still be cut with a pocket tool, it just takes a little longer.

A couple of safety tips : the total wattage/amperage of these units can increase very rapidly when you start to up the bulb wattage, and has been noticed, they can and often do, get extremely hot. Hot enough to melt the insulation off the light weight zip cord that is often used to make up these fixtures.

It's really worth the trouble to use a temperature rated fixture wire like THHN in these units and then properly attach a length of S or SJ cord -- stranded THHN is not designed for continual flexing.

History of batten lights :

Years ago, it was not uncommon to see 500 watt EAL photofloods in these fixtures. Of course, asbestos cloth and board were also readily available then. There was always a roll of asbestos cloth on the truck. (People also smoked on the set.) I was told that they used to use 1000 watt or 1500 watt or even 2000 watt mogul based bulbs in batten lights but thankfully I never saw one in use.

A very clever key grip used to make batten lights out of three 1x3s glued and screwed into a "U" shaped channel. This kept the board from bowing as it dried, and protected the porcelain cleats from breaking during shipping (loading by the teamsters). The electricians then wired them using HPN or heater cord - a high temp two conductor cord that looks like zip cord.

Brian "Do you smell something burning?" Heller
IA 600 DP
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>Ah, Clive. I am much for safety as the next guy, but we are talking about >cutting piece of a wood…

Balsa wood I assume with your reference to a multi-tool. :P

The only multi-tool I'd consider using for such a task would be the Gerber that takes standard jigsaw blades. I'd remove the blade, stick it in an electric jigsaw and be through the wood in no time.

Now be honest. Have you actually cut through a significant wooden batten with a multi-tool's saw blade? I mean, perhaps if it was a two foot long Leatherman with a full size forestry attachment.... It's bad enough trying to cut a bit of resinous wood with the electricians trusty pal the hacksaw.

>Now be honest. Have you actually cut through a significant wooden >batten with a multi-tool's saw blade?

Yes, and I do it regularly. I can't speak for all multi-tools. Only a Victorinox Swiss Army Knife. I'm quite serious that I can usually cut the 1x3 nominal (3/4" x 21/2") pine batten by the time somebody comes back with a saw. It usually takes less than 30 seconds. It's not magic, the SAK has a very high quality saw albeit quite small. I'm not suggesting building a house with one, or even cutting 2x4. Obviously, if a real hand saw was nearby, it would be faster. BTW, this started with a discussion about permanent (aluminium) bat lights being somewhat of a contradiction.

>I mean, perhaps if it was a two foot long Leatherman with a full size >forestry attachment....

Come on Clive.

>It's bad enough trying to cut a bit of resinous wood with the electricians >trusty pal the hacksaw.

Most electricians I know seem completely unaware of three facts:

First ... that hacksaw blades get dull;

Second ... that the blade can be replaced for about a dollar without having to buy a whole new saw;

and Third ... that there is a difference between cutting wood and metal; and that when used without a cutting fluid, aluminium will permanently clog a hack saw blade.

Disclaimer : I have no interest in Victorinox, but I have found that a SAK to be extremely handy around movie cameras.

Brian Heller
IA 600 DP

P.S. We're snowed in here so before I loaned my neighbour’s kid another shovel I asked him to cut a batten with
my SAK. Total elapsed time: 27 seconds.