This time “On the Job” with LiteRibbon is Mott Hupfel and Budweiser. Shooting in a sensitive location is always a tough situation. A recent Budweiser commercial shot in a bar which had many limitations on rigging due to past experiences. Mott wanted to hide lights in the ceiling by attaching them to wood headers. Normally a clamp or screws would be used to secure these lights but that was not an option. The only approved method of mounting was adhesive. Because fluorescent or typical LED fixtures would clearly be too heavy, gaffer Mike Bauman decided to make custom LED panels from VHO LiteRibbon attached to thin plastic sheet.
The result, as you can see from the photos, were 12″ x 24″ panels that weighed just 2 lbs each. The plastic panels were scored every inch and allowed for a controlled bend to attach diffusion and filters. Easily taped to the ceiling of this sensitive location was a soft and dimmable array that was installed in 10 minutes. Another challenge was hiding lighting sources for bottles and glasses of beer behind a small lip that surrounded the bar. Usually the only option would be Micro or Mini Kino Flo’s. Using short lengths of LiteRibbon, Mike and the guys created small LED units by attached LiteRibbon to extruded C-channel aluminum.
Several of these modules were then hidden around the bar providing discrete, bright, and controllable light. This is a great example of how our LED LiteRibbon and Flicker-Free Dimmers allow for on-the-fly solutions to unforeseen challenges. The result in this case is a happy DP, and location manager.
Cinematographer: Mott Hupfel
Gaffer: Mike Bauman
Best Boy: Micheal Bonnaud
Set Technicians:Mike Tolotchko, Don Davidson, Jeff Delucia, Anthony Guidino
