VAN NUYS, CALIF.: While Litepanels LEDs are an essential part of cinematographer Matthew Irving’s lighting toolkit on every project he shoots, the independent feature “Geography Club” posed some interesting challenges that required extra firepower.
“We were going to be spending a whole day shooting some bike riding scenes on tree-lined residential streets,” Irving said. “There would be all kinds of shots with our two leads having conversations while riding, stopping and starting their bikes at different points in the dialogue. I wanted to make sure we could travel up and down our various streets all day long without worrying about whether or not our characters’ faces were getting too shadowed by the trees. I needed a consistent fill light that would also put a nice ‘spark’ in their eyes, without the monetary and logistical costs of having a camera car with an onboard genny and a big HMI.”
Gaffer Patrick Russo suggested Litepanels Hilio fixtures. Irving agreed. The batter-powered fixtures would be rigged on a golf cart. Irving and team rigged two Hilio fixtures on speed rail, which could be swapped easily to either the right or left side of the golf cart, depending upon the actors’ eyeline.
“Geography Club,” a teen comedy based on Brent Hartinger’s young adult novel, was shot entirely on location in Los Angeles. In post now, the film is set for release later this year.
