A Word of Caution

Last week, I met with “The Dude from Downstairs”, Gregory Vilfranc. If you remember, Gregory is doing the sound design for PARALLAX. In our session, I filmed some behind the scenes footage of him working on the score.

I planned on using two 500 watt hotlights to light the scene. One to his right as the key light, and one twice as far on his left to supply the fill. I had reservations about using 1,000 watts in a residential environment, so I made sure to bring extra bulbs and to plug the lights into an empty line.

If you’re like me, you’re a beginner with no real experience. If so, learn a valuable lesson from what happened to me. I had both 500 watt fixtures plugged in and decided to test them, one at a time. The first bulb blasted when I flipped the switch. It did not explode, but there was a small explosion, the filament was fried, and a small burst of flame came out of the ceramic base where the bulb screwed in.

We were all, obviously, amazed. I went to test the other bulb, which was a brand new bulb. When I flipped the switch, the bulb blew. A loud pop, fried filaments, inside of the bulb turned dark grey: I blew it.

The situation could have been worse: I could have blown a fuse in the house and/or caused a fire. I’m thankful that only the $5.00 bulbs were sacrificed.

If you are going to film in a residential setting, check the location first to see how many currents are being drawn. Make sure that you don’t overload the lines!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]