Tip: Floor Lamp Lighting

This month in the tip episode, I share something I've been using recently that's efficient, thrifty and effective. When shooting any video in my apartment (intros, build instructions), I would normally have to assemble some PVC light stands and attach clamp lights, or bounce some work lights off of the ceiling. The problem was, I was spending more time than I wanted on the setup/teardown. I am often doing these videos late at night and when I'm done, I want to go to bed, not spend another 30 minutes striking.

I started looking around at available lighting and found that I could use two floor lamps, a ceiling fan lamp, and a kitchen light to get a similar result to the DIY gear. The only catch was I had to be standing up (the floor lamps are about 6' tall), but that just created a new look for the videos (never a bad thing).  After some experimenting and moving lights around, I found a good combination that provides a decent look with only about 5 minutes of setup time.

I believe the floor lamps came from IKEA, but you can find them just about anywhere. They are very common and will only run you about $9-12. The best part is, when I'm done, they go back against the wall. It's just more evidence that if examine your immediate surroundings, the answer to a filmmaking problem might be right in front of you.