Ryan Lites "Transformers" for Michael Bay
"Michael Bay loves Litepanels because they are so fast," says gaffer Andy Ryan. On "Transformers," the new Michael Bay feature based on the popular toys, Ryan had one lamp operator constantly making sure all of the Litepanels were charged and readily available on the set. "We simply used them that much," he adds.
No stranger to a Michael Bay picture, Ryan knows the ability to light quickly is of optimum importance. "With Michael, we average 45 to 50 set ups a day," he says. "I'm lucky if I get ten minutes before he shouts 'lighting time up'. "One of our first shots was to light a car interior," he explains. "Michael told us to light the interior in a way that I could duplicate for our night driving. Litepanels were the first thing that came to mind. We mounted them in the car, inserted the snap-in filter, and rolled the camera. It was a clean, fast way of solving that problem.
"Any edge I can get, I want. That's what Litepanels can do. For example, we were shooting in a conference room. Actors around a table. Camera on a Steadicam doing a 360 around the table. How do you get more light on Jon Voight? A Litepanels on the table just out of frame with a little bit of diffusion."
The team of Mitch Amundsen and Andy Ryan are on to a 100-million dollar action picture starring Morgan Freeman, and the first thing they ordered is Litepanels. "We couldn't do another picture without them," says Ryan.
