Litepanels Lights Up ‘Shameless’

VAN NUYS, CALIF. — For gaffer David St. Onge, the lighting challenge on the Showtime series “Shameless” is to have the sets 75 percent ready to shoot when the company moves in.

“Then we need to keep the lighting setup time down around 15 to 20 minutes,” says St. Onge. “We shoot with two cameras and between them we cover 180 to 250 degrees of the set, on just about every setup. That means all the lighting has to be attached to ceilings and walls to keep it out of the shot.”

He uses the Litepanels 1x1, often attaching a Chimera for softening and a honeycomb for lighting control. St. Onge also uses the Sola ENG LED Fresne. He used the Sola for a recent car shot where the camera was in the front passenger seat. St. Onge says he also still uses the MiniPlus that he bought for the series, “24.”