The Future of Light: Hurry Up and Wait and what happened to my Crew

40 years ago, when working on a PBS documentary, we traveled around the country to various locations with a crew of four, along with 12 cases, which included an ARRI SR camera with all its lenses and accessories, 4 film magazines, 10 Arri hot lights, two cases of long AC cords and light stands, a Nagra tape recorder and several cases of grip gear. Travelling was a major undertaking.

Several years ago, when I travelled to China and Japan to do a series of documentary films, I travelled as a crew of one, with a large production backpack, that actually would fit under an airline seat. In that backpack were 3 cameras, 4 lights, 3 microphones, 4 lenses, various batteries and a laptop (which I actually carried up the thousands of stairs to the Buddha Cave at the Shaolin Temple).

The miniaturization of technology, and the advent of battery power, has transformed the production arena. On some shoots, there is no longer a need for a large electric and grip crew, as battery powered LED lights are now part of the equation.

And now, we can paint and create sourced light in post. My sense is that it will be possible to create your lighting (source, direction, tone, mood, style, back light, cross light etc.) totally in post. All you would need is enough general light to film on location or in the studio, then all the lighting added later, and you would have complete control over it.

There will always be doubters, just as there were when digital photo and video first became available, but the future has a way of showing up. And it will be driven by none other than the almighty dollar (not again...!)

On set, you would no longer have to spend prep days in pre-light, no longer have to stand around and wait for those lighting adjustments, no longer have to do retakes because of someone did not hit their marks, no longer have to spend wrap days loading out lights, power and cables and all the ancillary stuff.

And for the talent, it has the benefit of not having to do multiple takes because of a lighting problem, not have to stand around while the crew relights a scene--so the talent can focus on their performance and not lose their intensity in repeated takes.

So there could be significant cost savings for producers in terms of crew size, equipment, number of shooting days etc.

And oh, I almost forgot, there would be a down side (irony intended). Fewer days on set, means less paid days for crew and talent. The loss of jobs per the lighting/grip crew would certainly be a negative, --but there would be a lot of new jobs created to do lighting in post. And there is an ever increasing demand for quality entertainment.

Would people resist this change? You betcha. There will always be those that go old school, just as there people who still shoot film as opposed to digital, who would shoot talent in actual locations as opposed to shooting them on green screen--and there will still be directors who will do their lighting on set, and not in the edit suites.

Its all about story. The tools that are used to tell the story, will always evolve, always change. Our challenge as filmmakers is to tell our stories in a way that entertains the audience and elicits a lasting emotional response.

Tools of the trade. Its just the way to get there.