Vitec Videocom announces multi-brand support for John Lennon Educational Tour Bus in Europe

Bury St Edmunds, UK: May 9 2013 – Vitec Videocom has announced it is a multi-brand sponsor for the non-profit John Lennon Educational Tour Bus in Europe. The company has donated a range of media production technologies to support video and photographic projects on the new state-of-the-art mobile Pro Audio and HD video recording facility. Products supplied include camera supports from Sachtler and Vinten, mobile power from Anton/Bauer, LED lighting from Litepanels, equipment protection from Petrol Bags and a remote camera system from Camera Corps.

The project’s patron and supporter Yoko Ono Lennon will publicly unveil the new bus at a launch ceremony at the Museum of Liverpool on Wednesday 8th May. The Lennon Bus debuted in the US 16 years ago to offer hands-on training in media technologies to young people and offers them practical skills to help them develop careers in the music industry. It provides workshops and seminars covering craft-based competencies including music and video production, broadcast and app development.

A long-standing sponsor of the Lennon Bus in the US, Vitec Videocom has extended its support for the project to supply additional broadcast technologies for the European tour bus, and has donated professional-grade products from six of its brands. These include: a Sachtler FSB fluid head and tripod; a Vinten Vision blue pan and tilt head and tripod; Petrol Bags photographers’ back packs and a 4K video bag; Anton/Bauer DIONIC batteries, chargers and a Gold Mount for a Sony NEX-700 camera; six 1×1 panels, three MiniPlus, three Croma on-camera fixtures and a Sola ENG Flight Kit from Litepanels; and a Lennon Bus-branded Q-Ball robotic camera head from Camera Corps.

Commenting on the sponsorship, Jake Dodson, Global Brands Director at Vitec Videocom, said: “We recognise the importance of nurturing the next generation of videographers and broadcast professionals. We share The Lennon Bus team’s vision to give young people access to the latest and most innovative technologies to help them realise their creative potential.

We are firmly behind everything the project represents and we’re delighted to be a sponsor of the Lennon Bus in Europe. We have extended our support accordingly, which has grown from contributing kit from Anton/Bauer and Litepanels for the US bus to multi-brand support on this side of the Atlantic.”

Following the launch event, the Lennon Bus will embark upon its European tour, which will stop at schools, colleges and music festivals in Austria, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK before the end of the year. This will include a residence on London’s Southbank for the duration of the Yoko Ono Lennon-curated Meltdown festival that runs between 14-22 June.

The launch event in Liverpool will be streamed live and you can also follow it on Twitter using the hashtag #Lennonbus. For more information, please visit http://www.lennonbus.org/

Litepanels: A Creative and Speedy Essential for St. Onge on Shameless

Van Nuys, California, May 7, 2013 — For gaffer David St. Onge, the lighting challenge on the Showtime series Shameless is to have the sets 75% 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,” he explains. “That means all the lighting has to be attached to ceilings and walls to keep it out of the shot. Litepanels is constantly reinventing itself and upgrading its products. They are key to our speed and creativity.

“The 1×1 Litepanels is quite useful on our sets, as I can attach a plate to the wall or ceiling, slap a V-block battery to the light, and I’m ready to go – all in two minutes or less,” he says. “I will often attach a Chimera for softening and a honeycomb for lighting control. These 1×1s are very versatile and now, with the color mixing capabilities of the newer models, I don’t have to put gels on to correct color, just turning a knob does it.”

St. Onge also finds the Sola ENG LED Fresnel light extremely useful, saying it is small and powerful with a built-in dimmer. “It has flood and spot capabilities and it’s about the size of a baseball, so you can hide it just about anywhere. They will run most of the day on one fully charged battery. I use V-block plates to power the lights. And I’ve had some plates made similar to baby nail-on plates, but instead of a spud I had nuts welded to accept Israeli arms and that gives me a full range of pan and tilt.”

For a recent car shot, St. Onge deployed the Sola ENG lights. “The camera was in the front passenger seat for a scene where Child Services collected all of the Gallagher kids,” he explains. “The kids plot to get away. To light the car, we put the ENG in as a liner for the person sitting behind the driver. And, because of the tint on the glass, we had to push this light to its limits. We then put a second ENG, with a soft adapter, between the driver and front passenger.”

For another sequence, some of the children help a friend retrieve his possessions after being thrown out of his house. “The handheld shot starts at the front door of the house and continues with someone jumping in the side door of a van,” he explains. A second camera shoots into the rear doors of the van. Again, the Sola ENG is lighting the driver for the rear camera as well as lighting the passenger behind the driver for the side door camera.”

With all his new lights, David St. Onge says he still uses his trusty MiniPlus, “the brick” as he calls it, that he bought for the award winning series, 24. “We used them in just about every shot,” he says. “And, today, I use a variety of Litepanels on practically every sequence I light on Shameless. I feel the ability to run these lights on batteries is key to lighting quickly but still keeping the look we like. I can’t wait to see what lights they come out with next!”

Shameless, the story of a highly dysfunctional family that, when put to the test, can come together and hurdle hardships, stars Oscar® nominated actor William H. Macy and airs on Showtime.

For more information on Litepanels, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, contact Litepanels, Inc., 16152 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406, Email: info@litepanels.com www.litepanels.com

The Camera Store introduces LED lighting and battery solutions from Vitec Videocom brands to the UK production community

Bury St Edmunds, UK: 2013 – The Camera Store, a London-based equipment hire specialist for the broadcast industry, has invested in LED lighting kit and mobile power and support systems from Litepanels and Anton/Bauer respectively, both Vitec Videocom brands.

Tim Highmoor, Head of Rentals at The Camera Store says: “Our recent purchase of Litepanels and Anton/Bauer solutions opens up the flexibility of LED to a wide range of broadcast and videography applications for use in studio or on location. We felt the time was right to introduce LED to our inventory. The technology has now reached the point where it offers a comparable output to traditional tungsten and HMI lights, which is good news for our customers.

“The Anton/Bauer batteries and Gold Mounts not only help to create one of the most mobile lighting solutions when combined with Litepanels fixtures, but they also offer the versatility to be used with a range of products from many manufacturers. We’re confident these solutions will prove to be a highly popular addition to our inventory.”

The order includes two units of the recently released Anton/Bauer QRC-HILIO Gold Mount, which powers Litepanels’ Hilio™ LED fixture in applications where DC power is needed. The QRC-HILIO enables the use of two Anton/Bauer Logic Series batteries to power a Hilio, creating a lightweight field lighting kit. Further, the hotswap feature means the Hilio can provide continuous lighting throughout the production day.

The Camera Store’s customers will also be take advantage of the new Anton/Bauer Gold Spectrum™ RF System. The portable AB-HDRF is a 5.8 GHz COFDM RF system which transmits a robust HD signal over distances of more than half a mile and is powered by Anton/Bauer Logic Series® batteries. The AB-HDRF kit includes all the equipment broadcast professionals need for on-site or on-the-go applications such as reality TV, ENG/EFP, OB and live event coverage.

Commenting on The Camera Store’s investment, Chris Marchitelli, VP Global Marketing at Litepanels, says: “There is a growing demand for LED lighting from the cinema and broadcast production communities and we’re really pleased The Camera Store is expanding their commitment to the technology. Cool-running Litepanels LED fixtures offer a number of benefits over traditional lighting fixtures; their lightweight design and battery power options make them ideal for rental applications.

Chris O’Neill, VP Product Management and Marketing at Anton/Bauer, says: “The Camera Store has made a smart investment in the Anton/Bauer batteries. Their superior performance, Realtime® display and compatibility with a range of brands will undoubtedly make Anton/Bauer the battery solution of choice among The Camera Store’s customers.”
The Camera Store is a sister company of Vitec Videocom. Vitec Videocom works with customers including XX. Vitec Videocom brings together some of the most respected, sought-after and innovative brands in the broadcast technology sector. These include Anton/Bauer, Autoscript, Litepanels, OConnor, Petrol Bags, Sachtler, Vinten and Vinten Radamec. Vitec Videocom encourages multi-brand system sales of these market-leading broadcast, film and pro-video products to simplify the way customers do business worldwide.

Mathers Makes the Most out of Litepanels for Indy Feature, 1000 to 1

Burbank, California, April 25, 2013 — When cinematographer and co-producer James Mathers signed on for 1000 to 1: The Cory Weissman Story he knew it would be a “labor of love”. Fortunately he had a great crew and terrific cast. His equipment had to be cost-effective and function flawlessly so to not hinder the tight shooting schedule. For lighting, he went with LED pioneers Litepanels.

1000 to 1: The Cory Weissman Story is the inspiring true tale of a young basketball star who racked up 1000 points in high school, only to be felled by a catastrophic stroke during his freshman year of college. For his principal form of capture, Mathers chose the RED Epic, equipped with Angenieux and Fujinon lenses, with the OConnor 2575 camera support. “But it was the lighting that probably presented the biggest challenge,” he admits. “We had to cover everything from a large basketball stadium to small intimate shots. There were no resources available to change out tubes or time to relight. So, I opted for a minimum of ‘big guns’ plus my trusty LED lights from Litepanels.

“Whenever we needed light floating on the floor for full and close-ups or for added punch for small interiors, the Hilio was perfect,” he explains. “It’s fairly lightweight and draws only 115 Watts. At one point when we were towing the picture car with a U-Haul trailer we powered two Hilios off a small inverter.”

Because the Hilios have plenty of output, Mathers was able to soften the light with Rosco 250 Diffusion, and add Rosco #248 Half-Minus green to compensate for the green tint of a car’s windshield, “which is a challenge with many modern, energy efficient cars these days,” he explains. “Inside the car we had a Litepanels 1×1 Bi-Color running off an Anton/Bauer camera battery. This provided plenty of exposure from the fill side, even on the very sunny day we had for the shots.

“It always amazes me how close to the subject you can sneak a Litepanels 1×1 when fighting a too bright background as in a daylight car interior,” he adds. “It can be right off camera, inches from the talent, but I suppose because of the many small source LEDs, it doesn’t give away your lighting, and it doesn’t torture an actor with hot light.

“At one point we were shooting in tight quarters, in a narrow hallway, where Hannah Marks reacts to David Henrie as he portrays Cory Weissman having a stroke on the campus of Gettysburg College,” he recalls. “I had the camera right down on the floor, but needed to ‘sneak in a little fill’. That was easy, I just placed a 1×1 at an angle to the action – and that was all we needed.

“I love my Litepanels 1×1s,” he admits. “I sneak them in constantly; they are lightweight, use very little power, are dimmable, color selectable, and stay cool to the touch. If I need, I can soften the light by simply dropping a pre-cut diffusion square into the available slot. I never worry about getting a hot light too close to the actors or crew. Whether I’m on a feature, documentary, or commercial shoot, you’ll always find a few Litepanels in my kit.”

For 1000 to 1, Mathers was introduced to another Litepanels fixture, the Inca 6 tungsten balanced LED Fresnel. “This one was about the size and output of a 1k Baby-Baby, but drew little over 100 Watts. It stayed cool to the touch. You gotta love these new LEDs.”

The project stars Beau Bridges (The Descendants), Jean Louisa Kelly (Mr. Holland’s Opus), Michael Lerner (Oscar nominated for Barton Fink), Cassi Thomson (Big Love) and David Henrie (Wizards of Waverly Place). Mathers co-produced 1000 to 1 which was written by former Growing Pains Show Runner Bob Burris and produced with former Disney Finance Exec Bruce Gordon. TV veteran Michael Levine directed the movie.

For more information about Litepanels products, contact Litepanels, Inc., 16152 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406, Email: info@litepanels.com www.litepanels.com

Litepanels® New LS Traveler LED Lighting Kits

Van Nuys, California, April 8, 2013 — Litepanels®, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, announces new LS Series lighting kits, featuring the company’s new cost-effective lineup of LED lighting fixtures. The 1×1 panel fixtures that make up the kits provide soft, full spectrum illumination. Each kit comes with AC power supplies and light stands for each lighting fixture, as well as a rugged carrying case.

The LS Traveler Duo Kit™ provides a pair of daylight color balance 1’ by 1’ LED fixtures: one 1×1 LS Mono Flood (with a beam angle of 50°) and one 1×1 LS Mono Spot (beam angle 30°). Both fixtures feature Litepanels 100% to zero dimming, with no noticeable color shift, via an on-fixture knob. The LS Traveler Duo Kit is designed as an excellent starter lighting kit for news crews and professional videographers. Weighing only 25 lbs. (11.3kg), it is ready to light any location.

The LS Traveler Trio Kit™ is comprised of three daylight color balance 1’ by 1’ LED fixtures. Two of the fixtures are Litepanels’ 1×1 LS Mono Floods (with a beam angles of 50°) and one is a 1×1 LS Mono Spot (beam angle 30°). All three fixtures feature Litepanels 100% to zero dimming, with no noticeable color shift, via an on-fixture knob. The LS Traveler Trio Kit is developed for those camera crews or independent shooters looking for a high quality kit for three-point lighting, on-camera interviews or illumination of small locations. Weighing only 46.5 lbs. (21.1kg), this kit can travel within its wheeled case without being overweight or bulky, unlike many traditional lighting kits. Users can add Anton/Bauer or V-mount battery adapter plates to provide for cable-free lighting.

The third kit in the new collection is the Litepanels LS Traveler Trio Plus Kit™. It features with two 1×1 LS Mono Bi-Colors (50° beam angle and color agile between daylight and tungsten color balance), and one 1×1 LS Mono Flood (50° beam angle).

With the two variable color fixtures in this kit, shooters not only have the perfect solution for 3-point portrait lighting for interviews and standups, but also the ability to match the ambient color temperature when lighting up a room or filling in a shadowed face outdoors. The LS Traveler Trio Plus Kit, complete with tote and wheel case, weighs in at just 46.5 lbs. / 21.1kg.

Litepanels LS Kits offer the advantage of low power draw. The LS Traveler Duo fixtures draw a combined total of 80W, and the three fixtures in each of the Trio kits draw 120W combined. They can be powered off a standard 15A wall circuit with plenty of capacity to spare.

For more information on products from Litepanels, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, contact Litepanels, Inc., 16152 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406, Email: info@litepanels.com www.litepanels.com

Litepanels® Intro’s Entry Level 1×1 LS Bi-Color™ Fixtures

Van Nuys, California, April 8, 2013 — Litepanels®, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, introduces its new color agile 1×1 LS Bi-Color™ lighting fixture.

The 1×1 LS Bi-Color features the ability to dial in color temperatures from daylight to tungsten and anything in between while maintaining a consistent intensity of full spectrum, soft, directional light just like the iconic 1×1 Bi-Color™. The LS model includes many of the same features like flicker-free analog dimming, AC or DC power options and rugged build quality to meet the needs of field productions, but without studio-specific components such as DMX control and remote control dimming. It is a lower cost alternative to the company’s full-featured fixtures.

Like all Litepanels 1×1 fixtures, the 1×1 LS Bi-Color is a versatile light that provides dependable, soft, directional output with 100% to zero dimming with no color shift. Color and dimming adjustments are provided via convenient on-fixture knobs.

The 1×1 LS Bi-Color utilizes Litepanels Cool to the Touch™ heat-free LED technology, which allows the fixtures to provide full illumination while generating no noticeable heat. Drawing just 40W, the 1×1 LS Bi-Color fixture provides a light output comparable to a 200W HMI and 500W tungsten fixture. They provide flicker-free illumination at any frame rate or shutter angle

Entry-level priced, the 1×1 LS Bi-Color is perfect for budget-conscious users.

For more information on products from Litepanels, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, contact Litepanels, Inc., 16152 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406, Email: info@litepanels.com www.litepanels.com

Cadillac Photos Pop with Twenty-One Litepanels Hilios

Van Nuys, California, March 25, 2013 – - Litepanels® high-output Hilio™ LED lighting fixtures proved to be the perfect solution for the new automobile photo booth at the Frank Kent Cadillac showroom and service complex in Fort Worth, Texas.

“The Litepanels Hilios not only provide a great deal of light, but can throw that light around 30 feet, and have it still be bright,” said Steve Stoltzfus, whose company 911 Photographic specializes in the design and installation of photo booths for car dealerships and auction houses. The Hilio lighting fixture combines 72 one-Watt daylight LEDs that are focused to a 15° angle.

Stoltzfus explained the heightened importance of top-notch photographs of cars in a dealer’s inventory because of Internet auto shopping. “Car dealers have gotten it down to the point now where you can go shopping on your iPhone, pick out a car, and actually buy the car on your iPhone. It’s critical that the customer have a good first impression when he sees that car online. Simply put, if you don’t have a good looking car picture, you’re not going to sell that car.”

The 30’ x 30’ photo booth at the Frank Kent dealership features a coved cyc floor and walls, painted white, lit with very diffuse light. “It’s about showing off the car,” Stoltzfus said. “What color it is, about the detailing, showing the chrome. The customer has to be able to see what the car looks like.” 911 Photographic’s photo booths provide enough illumination so that the photographer can use both a high shutter speed and a small aperture to provide a deep depth of field.

After shopping around himself, Stoltzfus discovered the Hilio and consulted with Litepanels co-founder Pat Grosswendt on the lighting design of the first photo booth. “Litepanels is the only company out there that has LED lights that are that bright, that use so little electricity and remain cool. They have such a good reputation in the industry and their warranty is like gold. To put it in car language, Litepanels is the Rolls Royce of lights. You can’t get any better.”

The 21 Hilios used for the Frank Kent dealership photo booth run off of a pair of 20A circuits, with capacity left on both. No additional cooling is required. The diffusion material, which is stretched like a trampoline on a frame in front of banks of Hilios, suffers no heat damage from the LED fixtures. The long life of the LED bulbs means the Hilios won’t need attention for over a dozen years.

The DMX lighting control feature of the Hilios allows them to be daisy-chained via CAT5 Ethernet cable to a simple dimmer. “Because we need to be as bright as possible, we’re not using the dimming capability regularly,” said Stoltzfus. “We do use the dimmer to turn the Hilios on and off.”

He said he expects photo booths to take off in the car dealership and auto auction industry. “Car guys are competitive. Everybody looks at everybody else, what’s the guy doing down the street? We’ve got to do what they’re doing and do it one step better.”

For more information on Litepanels, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, contact Litepanels, Inc., 16152 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406, Email: info@litepanels.com www.litepanels.com

Litepanels Goes To School

Van Nuys, California, March 18, 2013 — The students of the Communications Studies program at Plattsburgh State University of New York in Plattsburgh, NY recently unpacked new high-end lighting destined for their upgraded production studio. The state-of-the-art lighting included the same Litepanels® LED fixtures that are used in professional broadcast and television studios worldwide. The lighting, which included the Sola 6™ focusable Fresnels and 1×1™ panel lights, were donated to the university by Litepanels.

“On behalf of the Department of Communication Studies and Plattsburg State Television (PSTV), I am excited to receive this gift from an alumnus,” says Dr. Shakuntala Rao, Chairperson of the Communications Studies Program at SUNY Plattsburgh. “The lighting will be installed in Studio A of the Albert R. Montararo Television Studios. This studio is used extensively by our students to produce a variety of shows for PSTV. Good lighting is the foundation of good television. It enhances appeal, creates interest and commands audience attention. At the same time, it is not easy to achieve. And that is why we are excited to receive this cutting-edge high-end studio lighting which will give our students the opportunity to create effective and persuasive programming.”

“The Litepanels donation came at a perfect time for us,” says Jonathan Chew, Studios Manager for SUNY Plattsburgh, as he and several of his students unpacked Litepanels packages. “With these lights we are able to reduce our carbon footprint. We will be able to replace 1000W quartz lighting with Litepanels 106W Sola 6 Fresnels and swapping out our monster 2000W quartz softboxes with several of the 45W 1×1 panel lights. We’re guaranteed to see a HUGE savings in power usage, and get higher-quality, more pleasant-to-the-eye lighting in the process.”

The donation from Litepanels to upgrade the Albert Montanaro Jr. Television Studio is especially sweet for Chew. When he was a student at PSU in the 80’s, he was one of Montanaro’s students. “He helped shape my life and I find it fitting that we are to use this donation of very high-end lighting for ‘his space’,” says Chew. “It’s a fitting tribute.”

Litepanels’ Chris Marchitelli, Vice President of Global Marketing and a SUNY alumnus, worked with Chew to develop a lighting plot for this small studio, which features the school’s news/interview set. “At the moment, we are in the planning stages of this set,” says Chew. “However, I’m sure that the lights Chris carefully chose for us will fulfill all our needs on this important set where our students learn about the industry, and how to light and shoot effectively and quickly.”

SUNY’s Communications Department has close to 400 students, nine full-time faculty members, and one television studio manager. The main focus is to give professional training to students entering the broadcasting, radio, and increasingly important, web-based multi-media companies. The addition of the Litepanels LED lighting will help students learn news and entertainment production. The studio broadcasts four hours a day, seven days a week during the semesters, to surrounding communities via Channel 17 on the local Charter Cable. It is also used to record and broadcast news shows, sports and game shows.

“I am happy that Litepanels was able to donate lighting fixtures to Plattsburgh State University’s studio redesign,” says Marchitelli. “PSTV has great history of educating students on the latest technology and honoring the skills that turn technology into great television. Tomorrow’s media industry leaders will now have a venue to experience the latest LED lighting technology firsthand.”

Litepanels introduce New Products for NAB 2013

Van Nuys, California, March 14, 2013 — Litepanels®, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, will debut a variety of new LED lighting products at the 2013 NAB Convention in booth number C6425.

For the first time at NAB LED lighting pioneer, Litepanels will show production models of the largest members of its Fresnel fixture family, the Inca 12™ (tungsten balanced) and Sola 12™ (daylight balanced) fixtures. These cool-running powerhouses combine the performance of large Fresnel fixtures with the advantages of LED technology. Both versions supply powerful and controllable illumination comparable to a 2K while using just a small fraction of the energy required by traditional tungsten or daylight Fresnel fixtures. With custom designed, lightweight Fresnel lenses, they emit even, collimated light that is easily controlled manually or via an integrated DMX module to facilitate remote dimming and flood-spot focusing simultaneously.

The new 1×1 LS Bi-Color™ is the latest in the Litepanels revolutionary family of flat panel 1’x1’ fixtures. This versatile light provides dependable, soft, directional output that is adjustable from daylight to tungsten, and 100% to zero dimming with no color shift. Color and dimming adjustments are provided via convenient on-fixture knobs. LS Series fixtures maintain features such as flicker-free analog dimming and power by AC or DC, but without studio-specific components such as DMX control for dimming and color changes. The entry-level priced 1×1 LS Bi-Color is perfect for budget-conscious markets.

Litepanels has three new traveling kits featuring the company’s new cost-effective 1×1 LS fixtures: the LS Traveler Duo Kit, with one 1×1 LS Flood and one 1×1 LS Spot; the LS Traveler Trio Kit, with two 1×1 LS Floods and one 1×1 LS Spot; and the LS Traveler Trio Plus Kit, with two 1×1 LS Bi-Colors and one 1×1 LS Flood. The kits come with light stands for each fixture and a hard sided carrying case.

For more information on products from Litepanels, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, contact Litepanels, Inc., 16152 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406, Email: info@litepanels.com www.litepanels.com

Snackhaus Production Company Deploys Litepanels Sola 12 For Articles of Society Denim Fashion Video

When Snackhaus, a creative content production company based in Los Angeles, was putting together a video shoot for denim fashion brand Articles of Society, Director/Cinematographer, Chris Laughter realized there was a problem. The location, an old house built in the 1920s up among the horse ranches near Santa Clarita, California, had a very poor electrical infrastructure and bringing in a large, noisy generator was out of the question. In order to decrease his power draw while maintaining the quantity of lighting needed he turned to Litepanels.

“The location was perfect,” says Laughter, “with great character and rustic charm, it was just the look we wanted for our Spring/Summer 2013 Articles of Society videos, but unfortunately the electrical wiring was equally rustic. Many of the outlets didn’t work or were unreliable. I knew Litepanels would be releasing their Sola 12 LED Fresnel soon and I thought it would be the perfect tool for this job since it only draws 350 Watts but outputs about 2K worth of light.”

The team at Snackhaus shot in 4K with the new Canon EOS-1D C cinema camera. “We were primarily shooting video for Articles of Society’s denim jeans line,” says Laughter, “but by shooting in 4K we were able to deliver still photos for concurrent print and online promotions as well.”

Check out the finished video

The Snackhaus team was chasing the sun and with twelve different setups, they had a lot of ground to cover. “The small form factor of the 1D C allowed us to move quickly,” Laughter explains, “but the Litepanels fixtures were just as quick and incredibly versatile. I had a bunch of Litepanels at my disposal: the Sola 12 LED Fresnel, a Sola 4 LED Fresnel, two 1×1 Bi-Colors, and a Micro.”

Behind the scenes video on the making of the Articles of Society Denim Fashion Video.

Articles of Society | Behind the Scenes from TheVideoMouse on Vimeo.

“We kept the Sola 12 attached to our longest stinger and our most reliable outlet for all of the interior shots because we kept moving it around the house and punching it through windows to create nice, direct beams of daylight streaming through. We also brought it inside for one shot of our model doing some stretches on a rug. Even with the low ceiling in the house we were able to find a great angle and the Fresnel allowed us to focus the beam for a beautiful back light.”

Even after running the Sola 12 for hours at a time, our gaffer and key grip were able to adjust and reposition it quickly without gloves or any fear of burning themselves. Not to mention we didn’t have to worry about burning the low ceiling.”

Roughly two-thirds of the setups were inside and for them Laughter deployed the 1×1 Bi-Color fixtures to light the model. “Having the option of adjusting the color temperature was great,” says Laughter. “With the Bi-Colors I was able to dial in the perfect balance of daylight and tungsten to give her a slightly warm look against the daylight from the Sola 12.”

During one scene in the kitchen, the model was making coffee with her back to the camera before walking over to the table and sitting down. Laughter decided he wanted to add a little light to accentuate the Articles of Society logo on her jeans. The gaffer quickly grabbed the Litepanels Sola 4, dropped in a 1/8 CTO gel and trimmed the light with the barndoors. “He handheld the Sola 4 about waist-high and tracked our model through the shot, keeping the spot on the logo as she moved,” Laughter adds. “Being able to quickly grab a lightweight Fresnel that is cool enough to be operated handheld without gloves is great, and we used it on multiple setups just like that. We even used the Sola 4 on a stand arm about eight inches from the lens to create some great flares a few times.”

About Snackhaus
Snackhaus is a creative content production haus based in Los Angeles. Working with some of the leading DIY creatives in the digital content atmosphere, Snackhaus collaborates with clients to produce visually stimulating, story driven, short form branded and commercial content that is diverse in aesthetic and easily digestible by nature. http://snackhaus.com/

About Articles of Society
Revolutionary to its kind, Articles of Society has adopted a unique role in the premium denim industry as the first brand to offer consumers superior jeans at an affordable price. The company launched in 2012 after recognizing this missing element in the denim market and refusing to compromise quality for value. The brand satisfies a fashionable, budget-conscious generation with denim that is cutting-edge, versatile and above all iconic. http://articlesofsociety.com/

For more information on products from Litepanels, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, contact Litepanels, Inc., 16152 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406, Email: info@litepanels.com www.litepanels.com

Litepanels Sola 12™ LED Fresnel on the Red Carpet

Hollywood, California, February 26, 2013 — In one of the first high-profile uses of the new 12” Fresnel LED fixture from Litepanels, a pair of daylight balanced Sola 12™ fixtures filled a critical need for red carpet interviews by a major German television station.

“The red carpet path along Hollywood Boulevard is surrounded by tall buildings,” said Director of Photography Peter Krajewski, who for the past six years has been responsible for a program broadcast live from the red carpet. “For a portion of our broadcast, this puts our talent and the stars they interview in shadows, but with a sunlit bleacher section directly in the background.”

Krajewski had used HMI parabolic fixtures in the past, with their accompanying box of lenses, heavy stage cables and weighty ballasts. While those HMIs supplied enough light to balance illumination of the talent in the shade with the sunlit bleachers behind them, it meant multiple trips carrying lighting equipment from the parking structure to the street, and a pair of 20A circuits to power the lights.

In tests with the new Sola 12™ Fresnels, Krajewski found a number of advantages, including easily balancing the foreground and background illumination while using less than half of a single 20A circuit and transporting all of his lighting equipment in a single trip.

“The sun moves through the sky while we’re live on the air, to a point where there’s a tremendous difference in the amount of available light hitting the background bleachers versus our talent, who are in complete shadow,” said Krajewski. Because the LED Fresnels were connected to a small DMX panel, his sound engineer was able to not only add more light by adjusting the intensity, but also focus the light beam a little tighter to overcome the sunlight. “That’s a feature simply not available on traditional HMI lights,” Krajewski noted.

“Later in our broadcast, the sun moves so that both talent and the bleachers are in the shade. With the HMIs, we could only dim the lights to something like 70%, and my sound guy would have to fly silks in front of the HMIs to drop the intensity during a commercial break. Because the LED fixtures dim all the way from 100% down to zero, we were able to use the DMX box to quickly achieve the perfect balance.”

Krajewski found another feature he liked about the Sola 12 fixtures. “I didn’t have to use barndoors or add any diffusion in front of the Fresnel lens at all; it was a soft enough light that I was able to light the talent with just the bare light shining through the Fresnel. With the HMIs in years past, I had to bring barn doors to rig diffusion in front of the lenses. We were able to set up and break down much faster than in previous years.”

The Litepanels Sola 12 LED Fresnel fixture combines the performance of a large Fresnel with the advantages of LED technology. It supplies powerful and controllable daylight balanced illumination using just a small fraction of the energy required by a traditional tungsten or daylight 2K fixture. The 12” Fresnel lens emits an even, collimated light source that can be focused and controlled for maximum versatility. An integrated DMX module provides the unprecedented control of simultaneous remote dimming and focusing. The same performance can be found in a tungsten balanced sister fixture, Litepanels Inca 12™.

For more information on products from Litepanels, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, contact Litepanels, Inc., 16152 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406, Email: info@litepanels.com www.litepanels.com

Confined Spaces No Problem for Litepanels on Phantom

Valley Cottage, New York, February 20, 2013 — A major portion of director Todd Robinson’s submarine thriller Phantom, starring recent Golden Globe Award-winning actor Ed Harris, was filmed in the confines of an actual Russian submarine. “While Todd and I spent a considerable amount of time establishing a look and feel that we wanted to accomplish in Phantom, I have to credit gaffer Steve Lundgren with the innovative lighting approach,” says cinematographer Byron Werner. “He built a lot of custom lights, but Litepanels® bricks were the best and only movie lights we could use in many parts of the sub.”

“We had to approach the lighting for the sub from a very minimalistic standpoint,” says Lundgren. “Whatever units we decided to use needed to provide versatility as well as concentrated output. Litepanels became one of the most obvious choices, because of the amount of light they put out and their diversity. Since we were in confined spaces that could get uncomfortable for the actors, the fact that Litepanels run heat-free was also a plus. Also important was that we needed to be able to put lights in areas where standard rigging procedures would not prove possible. Litepanels made all this easy.”

Blocking became extremely important for Werner and Lundgren while down in the cramped sub. They had to have a very precise lighting approach. If an actor missed his mark by inches, he would be out of his lighting. Being able to add a last minute, battery-operated Litepanels MiniPlus™ was often their lifesaver.

“In one scenario, we had six of our main actors sitting around a table in the mess hall of the submarine,” recalls Lundgren. “The room was actually built on a stage but Todd wanted it to still feel as cramped as it was on the real submarine, so we faced some real challenges lighting the actors individually. We ended up rigging ten Litepanels MiniPlus units to the ceiling using 5/8” rods. Each panel had a diffusion and color package we designed for the front of the units. They were then ‘sided’ off from light spilling on the walls or onto the actors in an undesirable way. We would not have been able to reach the result we got with any other units.”

“One of the most beautiful Litepanels lit moments was a stirring scene with star Ed Harris as he sits on the bed in his stateroom trying to make sense of the challenge he faces in this nothing-is-what-it-seems-to-be underwater drama,” says Werner. “A mini grid of MiniPlus units was our only lighting. Throughout the whole movie, Litepanels fixtures were always the perfect main key lighting for Ed.

“Steve and I both own Litepanels MiniPlus kits,” Werner adds. “We always have them as our ‘go to’ tools. They are versatile, give off great light and produce a tremendous amount of light for such a small footprint.”

Battery-operated, Litepanels MiniPlus is a compact, dimmable LED softlight, available in daylight (flood and spot) and tungsten (flood) models that run cool and provide soft, directional output and smooth dimming from 100% to 0.

Written and directed by Todd Robinson, Phantom is inspired by actual events. The story follows an emotionally haunted captain (Ed Harris) of a Soviet submarine who holds the fate of the world in his hands when he’s challenged by a KGB rogue group bent on seizing the ship’s nuclear missile. It opens in theaters across the U.S. on March 1, 2013.

For more information on Litepanels, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, contact Litepanels, Inc., 16152 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406, Email: info@litepanels.com www.litepanels.com

“Elements Club” Uses Litepanels to Shoot in Historical Museum Location

Valley Cottage, New York, February 11, 2013 – - On January 24, 2013 a new entry into the extremely popular Romance genre premiered – a multi-platform production called “The Elements Club.” Producer/writer KYS Realm and cinematographer Emily Perez carefully planned the production of “Lord of Lingering Shadows,” the first of 11 episodes, knowing that it would set an entirely new look and feel for the historical romance. “Our camera choice for the series was the Canon 5D with Canon 16-35mm lens,” says Realm. “But our saving grace was a variety of Litepanels® LED lights. We simply could not have shot this first episode without them.”

Acknowledging that Realm’s series was breaking new ground in the area of historical romance, Heritage Square Museum in Los Angeles opened up access to their historical furnished rooms. The museum’s eight historic structures were constructed during the Victorian Era. “In essence, we stepped onto a set filled with antiques,” Realm explains. “With privilege comes responsibility. We had to use lighting setups that would not tax the old building’s electrical system or ones that were hot, as the heat from traditional lighting could cause damage to the antiques.”

“The Elements Club” took advantage of the Sola 4™ and Sola 6™ focusable Fresnels, 1×1 Bi-Color™, 1×1 Mono™ Spot and a MiniPlus™ Flood. “Litepanels offered us this suite of choices that allowed Emily to selectively highlight or flood various scenes,” says Realm. “She fell in love with the MiniPlus Flood. That light was used in almost every scene and the still shots as well. By the end of the shoot she had nicknamed it ‘Baby.’”

“This is the second time I’ve used LED lighting,” says Director of Photography and fashion photographer Emily Perez. For her first experience with another LED brand, the units did not cast the proper range, so she had reservations this time. But the introduction to Litepanels changed her mind. “Working within the limitations of the museum restrictions, a small team and a very tight shooting schedule, Litepanels allowed me to quickly and effectively create subtle and dynamic lighting.”

“The Heritage Square staff had never seen LED lights in use,” says Realm. “They were used to traditional lighting that sucked up tremendous amounts of electricity, which could cause the electrical system in the older structures to fail. When I showed the staff what Litepanels could do, it was easy to use the electricity on-site for the shoot.”

Another challenge for the team was that they found themselves shooting in the middle of a heat wave. “These old homes have no air conditioning,” says Realm. “Thank goodness the Litepanels are heat-free. If we hadn’t had them, our cast who wore many layers in their roles as Victorian gentlemen and ladies, would have fainted from the heat. Litepanels was the perfect lighting for this unique project.”

“The Elements Club,” set in Victorian London between 1892 and 1897, follows the various members as they each unlock the power of love and fortune. This original historical romance that Realm (kysrealm.com) calls a “transmedia project”, airs online, and features related e-books and a casual video game. The first episode can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEIX1P9DTEY

For more information on Litepanels, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, contact Litepanels, Inc., 16152 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406 Email: info@litepanels.com www.litepanels.com

Nickelodeon Novela Latinoamérica “11 11, En Mi Cuadra Nada Cuadra” filmada en Miami con lámparas LED de Litepanels.

Cuando la firma independiente SOMOS Productions fue asignada para producir la novela Latinoaméricana de adolescentes original de Nickelodeon “11 11, En Mi Cuadra Nada Cuadra” equiparon completamente uno de sus estudios en el área de Miami con las nuevas lámpara LED de Litepanels con propiedades de balance del color tungsteno.

“Ese estudio tiene seis diferentes ecenarios totalmente equipados con lámparas LED de Litepanels con el balance del color tungsteno.,” dijo John Tarver, director de fotografía y diseñador de iluminación para el proyecto de Nickelodeon. “Estamos utilizando una combinación de las lámparas Inca 6™ y Inca 4™ Fresnels, y el 1×1™ paneles. Todas las lámparas son de control DMX”.

En un estudio adyacente, que es predominantemente iluminado con lámparas de halógeno de tungsteno, Tarver lo complementa con lámparas LED de Litepanels programadas al balance del color de tungsten . 1×1s como solucionador de problemas.“Debido a su tamaño pequeño y capacidad de caber en pequeños espacios, el 1×1s es muy práctico en ese tipo de situaciones. Las hemos utilizado con gran exito, ya que han sido muy practicas, mezclandolas con las unidades de tungsteno normal.”

Tarver dijo que hay una gran diferencia entre los dos estudios cuando se trata de mantenerlos frescos.“Ciertamente en la ciudad de Miami, con el calor y la humedad aquí, es mucho más fácil mantener fresco con el aire acondicionado el estudio equipado completamente con las lamparas de Litepanels, ya que las luces de LED no generan ningun tipo de calor”

Aunque los estudios están iluminados para un balance del color de tungsteno, Tarver se ha encontrado utilizando algunas lámparas que le permiten utilizar caracteristicas de la luz del dia para crear ciertos efectos. Una es la lámpara de Litepanels 1×1 Bi-Color™, una lámpara capaz de cambiar el balance de color de luz del dia al tungsteno.

“Los Bi-colores han sido grandiosos, sobre todo porque los usamos mucho para crear efectos de transición del día a la noche. Su habilidad para cambiar el balance de la luz de tungsteno a azul permite crear un efecto nocturno. Y luego los hemos utilizado para iluminar la cara de alguien para que parezca como si la luz estuviera proyectada desde la pantalla del computador. También usamos la lámpara Croma™ de Litepanels, es pequeña, operable con bateria, luces de colores suaves, para la mayor parte de nuestros efectos de la pantalla de la computadora.

Cuando Somos Productions ordenaron las lámpara de la empresa Litepanels, incluyeron dos lámparas de Hilio™ de alto rendimiento.“Son luces asombrosas, sorprendentes,” dijo Tarver. “De alguna manera son las más revolucionarias de todas las luces que hemos usado porque agregan una cantidad enorme de luz del día pura en unidades que son ligeras, regulables, muy fáciles para manejar y utilizan muy poca energia.

“De hecho, recientemente tuvimos un uso interesante del Hilio. Necesitábamos un efecto para una tormenta eléctrica. Ya que los Hilios son muy brillantes en la luz del día, y también tienen un tiempo de respuesta muy rápida, con sólo prendiendolas y apagandolas hemos sido capaces de usarlos como un simulador de un pequeño rayo de luz estroboscópico. Estamos obteniendo un efecto relámpago muy convincente. En una parte de la historia tiene un huracán que se aproxima, y luego hay un apagón por lo tanto todas nuestras luces se apagan. Colocamos dos luces Hilio con la luz entrando por las ventanas en el contraste de la otra parte del estudio oscuro. Entonces dirigimos la luz del relámpago a través de las ventanas.”

Aunque 11 11 predominantemente está filmada en los estudios, hay escenas que se filmaron al aire libre en diferentes locaciones. Tarver elogia el Hilio en uso al aire libre también.

“En uno de nuestros primeros episodios, filmamos en un yate de lujo aquí en el puerto de Miami. Fue un barco muy lujoso, las lámparas de Hilios son inestimablemente valiosas porque fuimos capaces de utilizarlos en el interior del barco sin tener que preocuparnos acerca de la incineración de la muy costosa tapicería. Nos dieron suficiente luz para contrarestar la luz brillante de Miami en el exterior.

“El yate escena tuvo lugar en el barco amarrado al muelle, donde habia abundante energía eléctrica disponible. Pero Tarver señaló que la energía frugal 115W de la lámparas de Hilio fácilmente pudieron haber sido manipulados en el mar por el sistema eléctrico del yate, o por paquetes de batería.

Con el ambicioso primer año de rodaje requerido para finalizar 70 episodios de una hora de “11 11, En Mi Cuadra Nada Cuadra”, las lámpara LED de Litepanels con propiedades de balance del color tungsteno han sido un gran exito para Somos Productions.

Para obtener más información sobre Litepanels, parte de Vitec Videocom, una empresa del grupo Vitec, póngase en contacto con Litepanels, Inc., 16152 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406, correo electrónico: info@litepanels.com http://www.litepanels.com/

Litepanels Adds No Heat to $800/Bottle Wine Spots

Van Nuys, California, January 23, 2013 – - When filmmaker Ajay Johnson was tasked with shooting a series of promos for ORII SAVOR International, a U.S./China based promoter of wines and spirits, the first challenge he faced was how to light the delicate wine without damaging it. His immediate solution was Litepanels® LED lighting.

“Litepanels allows me to be a production predator,” Johnson says. “I’m a gaffer, DP, interviewer and camera operator – simultaneously. I have complete control of the environment. Litepanels 1×1s, the Sachtler Ace tripod, and Anton/Bauer batteries power gave me the reliability that every professional must have. On projects such as this, there is zero room for error. And no time. A professional just executes.”

And, execute, he did. He covered five high-end wineries—Moone-Tsai, Peju, Luna Vineyards, Long Meadow Ranch, Grgich Hills—throughout Napa Valley, California in one day. Johnson had two teams. Colleague Eddie Wolfl shot photos and videos of the wineries, while Ajay shot the interviews himself. With only one hour to work at each winery, Johnson says, “Litepanels lights were the only solution. They are powerful, lightweight, versatile, and there was no danger of them harming the wine due to heat in the close quarters where we shot.

“It was raining most of the time we were there so we were forced to find attractive spaces within the wineries to shoot,” explains Johnson. “Because the two Litepanels 1×1s were powered by Anton/Bauer batteries we did not have to run power cords everywhere. This allowed fast and safe set-up and I could easily move them around to my liking.”

The Litepanels one-foot square LED arrays are less than 2” thick and generate virtually no heat so they were just the ticket for this delicate environment. “One of the rooms we shot in was highly climate controlled because it housed very special high priced vintages. These brands are upscale and coveted wines. The Litepanels fixtures were a mere foot away from the bottles at times and did not change the temperature of them at all.”

Johnson’s video promos for ORII SAVOR, a new company owned by Tom Wen and Grace Tsai that exports and promotes U.S. produced wines and spirits, will be seen in HD on the web, on big screens at conventions, and select cable channels.

For more information on Litepanels, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, contact Litepanels, Inc., 16152 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406, Email: info@litepanels.com
www.litepanels.com

Litepanels Patent Defense Upheld by International Trade Commission

Litepanels was represented in the case by Pepper Hamilton LLP, a national law firm headquartered in Philadelphia and Boston and with offices in Los Angeles and Orange County. Judge Essex made his decision based upon tens of thousands of pages of Exhibits, numerous Expert Opinions and voluminous testimony from the various Parties. “Litepanels is pleased with the result,” said Rudy Pohlert, President of Litepanels. “This decision is also a victory for the rights of all those who invest their efforts, ingenuity and resources to create innovative products and technologies.”

Contrary to the substantial amount of misinformation surrounding this case, the General Exclusion Order will not affect the importation of emergency lighting, cellular phones, automobile taillights, or LED bulbs themselves. It also does not affect other forms of LED lighting used for film, video or photography such as RGB and Remote Phosphor technologies. It simply prohibits the importation into the United States of LED lighting products for film, video or photography that infringe certain claims of the Litepanels patents without the patent holder’s consent.

Of the fourteen (14) companies named in the complaint, all of the major manufacturers have taken the professional route and chosen to license its intellectual property to continue manufacturing LED lighting products for sale in the United States. The overwhelming adoption of licensing will ensure that the marketplace for LED lighting products remains as diverse, robust and competitive as ever. In fact, the licensing agreements now allow these companies to build on top of Litepanels’ technology to create even more innovative products going forward.

Nickelodeon Latin America’s “11 11, En Mi Cuadra Nada Cuadra” Shot in Miami with Litepanels

Van Nuys, California: January 14th, 2013 – When the independent SOMOS Productions was signed on to produce Nickelodeon Latin America’s original teen novella “11 11, En Mi Cuadra Nada Cuadra” it outfitted one of its Miami area studios entirely with the new Litepanels® tungsten balanced LED lighting fixtures.

“That studio has six standing sets, all completely lit with Litepanels’ LED tungsten fixtures,” said John Tarver, director of photography and lighting designer for the Nickelodeon project. “We’re using a combination of the Inca 6™ and Inca 4™ Fresnels, and the 1×1™ panels. All the fixtures are on DMX control.”

On an adjacent studio, which is predominantly lit with tungsten halogen fixtures, Tarver uses Litepanels tungsten 1×1s as problem solvers. “Because of their small size and ability to fit into small spaces, the 1×1s come in handy on that set. We’ve been using them quite successfully mixed with the normal tungsten units.”

Tarver said there is a big difference between the two studios when it comes to cooling them. “Certainly in Miami, with the heat and humidity here, it’s much easier to keep the all-Litepanels studio cool with the air conditioning because the LED fixtures don’t generate any heat at all.”

Though the studios are lit to a tungsten color balance, Tarver has found himself incorporating some daylight fixtures for certain effects. One is the Litepanels 1×1 Bi-Color™, a flood fixture capable of varying color balance from daylight to tungsten.

“The Bi-Colors have been great, especially because we use them a lot to do the day to night transition. Their ability to shift from tungsten into blue allows them to give us a nighttime look. And then we use them to illuminate someone’s face to look as though the light on them is projected by a computer screen. We also use Litepanels’ Croma™, a small, battery operated, color-agile light, for a lot of our computer screen effects.”

When Somos placed its Litepanels order, they included two of the company’s high-output Hilio™ fixtures. “They’re amazing, amazing lights,” said Tarver. “In some ways they’re the most revolutionary of all the lights that we’ve been using because they add a tremendous amount of pure daylight for units that are lightweight, dimmable, very easy to handle, and use almost no power.

“In fact, we recently had an interesting use of the Hilio. We needed an effect for a lightning storm. Because the Hilios are very bright in daylight, and also because they have a very quick response time, by just flashing them on and off we’ve been able to use them almost like a small lightning strike strobe. We’re getting a very convincing lightning effect. One part of the story has a hurricane approaching, and then there’s a power outage so all of our lights go out. We placed two Hilio’s with the light coming through the windows on the otherwise dark set. Then we flash them so the lightning strike comes through the windows.”

Though 11 11 is predominantly shot in the studios there are scenes that are shot outdoors on location. Tarver sings the praises of the Hilio in outdoors use as well.

“In one of our first episodes, we shot on a luxury yacht here in Miami harbor. It was a very high-end boat, and the Hilios were invaluable because we were able to use them on the interior without having to worry about burning the expensive upholstery of the boat. They gave us enough light to balance out against the bright Miami light on the exterior.”

The yacht scene took place with the boat tied to the dock, where abundant shore power was available. But Tarver pointed out that the energy frugal 115W draw of the Hilio could easily have been handled at sea by the yacht’s electrical system, or by battery packs.

With the ambitious first year shooting schedule required to finish 70 one-hour episodes of “11 11, En Mi Cuadra Nada Cuadra,” Litepanels tungsten and daylight balanced LED fixtures have pulled their weight for Somos Production.

For more information on Litepanels, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, contact Litepanels, Inc., 16152 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406, Email: info@litepanels.com
www.litepanels.com

Litepanels Croma LEDs Shine Light on Human Trafficking Doc – “Life is Love”

Van Nuys, California: January 3, 2012–When Cinequest Picture the Possibilities line-producer Marcela Villegas Castanon was putting the support package together for the company’s Life Is Love documentary, she chose Litepanels® Croma™ LEDs as their main lighting. The project, which is an inspirational documentary on young women who have been freed from the world of human trafficking and have been transformed through the work of Somaly Mam, in Cambodia, takes the audience through their past and present, to show the possibilities of their future.

“Our DPs have used Litepanels LEDs before and they told me these lights would be what we needed as we entered dim and small areas (brothels, small houses) for specific interviews,” says Castanon. “So we chose four on-camera LED Croma Litepanels, one for each of our DP’s Canon C300 cameras, because they are portable (no outside power), and powerful, they wouldn’t take much room, and took little time to set up. Their durability and adjustable color temperature was also a plus as we were shooting both inside and outside.”

Throughout the documentary there were three distinct situations where Litepanels provided the perfect lighting support. “We had two difficult scenes inside brothels, where we interviewed clients who partake in the industry and another with the women who work within the brothels,” she explains. “The rooms were small, dimly lit and bland in color. The Cromas allowed for some depth and color for the interviews and for the rooms themselves. And when we were filming the clients outside, they were the perfect fill light to eliminate shadows on the men’s faces.”

The second situation where Litepanels Cromas were a plus was when the small company filmed at a health clinic. “We were shadowing one of the survivors who now volunteers her services in assisting women with medical advice,” Castanon explains. “We had very limited time for set up, hence the on-camera Litepanels were easily accessible and quick to attach onto the camera. They provided just the right amount of light for the dim and small clinic room.”

The camera team often used the Litepanels as backlight or fill light during sit-down interviews. “The locations, at times, were too compact to insert c-stands and larger lights,” she explains. “So, these Cromas were very convenient to place behind the subjects, acting as backlight. We also conducted interviews outside, in which many cases there were trees that cast shadows. The Cromas were perfect to brighten and fill the interviews.”

Life is Love is slated for completion February 2013, in time to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. The project will also be submitted to Toronto, Sundance, and be showcased at the company’s own Cinequest Film Festival in 2014. The company has also struck a worldwide distribution deal for various other festivals, in an effort to raise awareness of this issue. The film will also be used by the Somaly Mam Foundation to boost their fundraising.

Cinequest Picture the Possibilities is set do to another awareness project, involving a youth empowerment program the company conducted in Mexico City and New York late in 2012. They will also use Litepanels’ Croma LEDs as their main source on this project.

For more information on Litepanels, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, contact Litepanels, Inc., 16152 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406, Email: info@litepanels.com www.litepanels.com

Litepanels Sola ENG Flight Kit Keeps Pace with Freddie Wong

Van Nuys, California: December 21, 2012 – Freddie Wong’s YouTube channel FreddieW is one of the most watched in the new age of web content. Between FreddieW and his new site www.rocketjump.com, there have been over half a billion video views to date. To feed the excitement, Wong needs to keep the content coming. One of the things that helps him get the most out of his shoots is Litepanels® new Sola ENG Ki t.™

“We’re very run-and-gun in a variety of environments,” Wong says, “and we rarely have time to map out the power grid at wherever we’re shooting, or often times simply don’t have access to it. Litepanels LED lights allow us to plug in and move quickly, not incur huge amounts of heat, and are lightweight and portable enough to be brought along to everything we do.

“Recently, we had the opportunity to interview Timur Bekmambetov [Director of Wanted and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter] in conjunction with one of our videos we did on the channel. Our Sola ENG Kit saved us,” he explains. “We had a very narrow window of time to shoot the thing and we were shooting in the post production offices of ALVH, literally as the movers were putting all the furniture into the trucks. The Sola ENG let us throw up a kit quickly without any danger of tripping a breaker somewhere in this building that was being torn apart all around us, and we were able to get the interview done quickly and efficiently.

“We also do most of our behind-the-scenes interviews lit primarily with the Sola ENG Kit on stands,” he adds. “Once again, we are grabbing our writers and crew for quick interviews and the kit allows us to have a very mobile lighting set up for sound bites and interviews.”

Because Wong is always on the move and his gear has to be easy to set up, break down and transport. The Litepanels Sola ENG Flight Kit’s wheeled case is so compact that it can be carried onto a plane. Not only does this save him time, it assures him that vital gear will reach the location when he does. The Sola ENG Flight Kit includes three Sola ENG Fixtures, three Gel Kits, three stands, mounts, adapters, barndoors, AC/DC power supplies, and a softbox with diffusion.

For more information on Litepanels, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, contact Litepanels, Inc., 16152 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406, Email: info@litepanels.com
www.litepanels.com

Litepanels Named Official Partner in Con Edison’s Energy Efficiency Program

Van Nuys, California: December 7, 2012 – Litepanels®, pioneering developer of LED lighting fixtures for film and video production and a Vitec Videocom brand, announces the company’s products have been accepted into east coast utility Con Edison’s Commercial and Industrial Energy Efficiency Program Market Partner Network. Litepanels’ customers who are commercial or industrial electric or gas customers of Con Edison, and who meet the utility’s requirements, will be eligible for cash rebates under the program.

“Litepanels in proud to join Con Edison’s efforts to promote energy efficiency,” said Chris Marchitelli, Global Vice President of Marketing at Litepanels. “Customers of Litepanels’ LED fixtures often realize an energy savings of 90 percent or more over traditional lighting fixtures and the additional rebate from Con Edison provides yet another incentive to replace outdated lighting technologies.”

Litepanels’ customers who convert their studio lighting from tungsten fixtures to the company’s LED lighting fixtures can recover their capital costs in as little as three years, depending on the number of hours a day the studio lights are used for production. Due to the extremely long life of Litepanels LED fixtures, those energy savings can continue for over a dozen years into the future.

The LED lighting fixtures produced by Litepanels offer more environmentally friendly advantages as well. Their lack of heat generation requires less HVAC usage in studios and the fixtures themselves contain no hazardous materials. The installation of Litepanels LED fixtures has also helped some broadcast studios achieve LEED certification for their facilities.

Approximately 500 companies, including manufacturers, suppliers and contractors, have been accepted into Con Edison’s Market Partner Network.

For more information on Litepanels, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, contact Litepanels, Inc., 16152 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406, Email: info@litepanels.com
www.litepanels.com

Chema Relies on Litepanels for Helene Michele Music Video

Van Nuys, California: November 28, 2012 – Nashville-based Director/DP Jon Chema battled the usual challenges for a recent music video, “Fairytale,” for independent Kansas City pop artist Helene Michele – tight budget, short two-day shoot, ambitious set ups. “To make the schedule over multiple major set ups, we had to roll, light and move quickly,” Chema explains. “Several locations had limited power and extensive electrical runs with generators were out of the question. We ate up the light because we used the RED Epic and were shooting a lot of high speed.

“Litepanels® Sola 6™ LED Fresnels were the perfect solution. It’s more than the quality of soft light and excellent color rendition,” he explains. “It’s also that they are daylight balanced. Tungsten lights require CTB gels to cool the color temperature. That means you lose a ton of light. HMIs still get really hot and require setting up ballast, header, cables, etc.”

On several occasions Chema created unique flares throughout the shot by combining the Sola 6, old Zeiss Superspeed lenses and Optefex Blue Streak filters. “I really love the lo-fi organic character that old lenses give you when paired with ultra-sharp high-resolution cameras like EPIC,” he says. “The quality of light and punch that the Litepanels gave us really helped to showcase this flare effect.”

A handheld Litepanels Sola 6 slightly out of frame added another all-important flare to one of Chema’s shots. “We were shooting in a ballroom with tungsten lights,” he recalls. “Steadicam operator Richard Peterson was getting me some close up passes but the shot just didn’t feel right. We needed a flare to make it pop. You wouldn’t be able to hold any other tungsten or HMI fixture without gloves or rigging. The Sola 6 did the job – it was daylight balanced, lightweight and cool to the touch.”

When in need of an eye light, Chema called on the Litepanels Croma. “The unit has incredible output for just how small and lightweight it is,” he says. “We could easily rig it to the mattebox on the Steadicam. Even though the power comes from six small AA batteries, it is punchy enough to be diffused and still read on camera.”

Chema was always fighting time and space. An 11th hour setup in an isolated hallway with a single questionable 15-amp circuit provided him with a bit of a challenge. “We had to get the shot before we were kicked out of the location,” he recalls. “We didn’t have an area close enough to the building for the generator, nor enough time for a distro run. The solution: 150W china hat bulbed with a 250W photoflood to the ceiling – and two Sola 6 fixtures as edge light.

“Litepanels Solas really saved me on this job,” he says. “The Fresnel nature of the light allowed me a great deal of versatility. Because they set up quickly, I had more time to focus on getting the performance I wanted. The biggest selling points of these lights, for me, are the power efficiency, light weight, and that they are daylight balanced.”

“Fairytale” is a narrative music video showcasing Helene Michel. It will be featured on her website as well as that of Quxotic Fusion – a Cirque du Soleil style dance and acrobatics group featured throughout the video.

Jon Chema shoots and directs both commercials and music videos. He has worked with clients such as Saturday Night Live, Simon & Schuster, The Tennessee Titans, Cee Lo Green, Gloriana, Leeland, Rodney Atkins and more.

For more information on Litepanels, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, contact Litepanels, Inc., 16152 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406, Email: info@litepanels.com
www.litepanels.com

Litepanels Illuminates Historic First Expedition

Bury St Edmunds, UK: 16 November 2012: Award-winning freelance photographer Natalie Hill used a Litepanels MicroPro on-camera light to help document a world-first expedition by Belgian explorer Louis-Philippe Loncke as he sought to climb and kayak 1,000km across the whole of Poland.

Loncke began his adventure by climbing the Tatra Mountains on the Polish-Slovakian border, the highest peaks in Poland, followed by kayaking from the source of the Vistula River until its challenging waters merge with the Baltic Sea.

Hill chose the MicroPro from Litepanels because she needed to capture video and stills of the four-week expedition day and night and this required portable and reliable equipment. The MicroPro is a fully dimmable, on-camera LED light that can be powered by AA batteries and is compact and lightweight enough to be used with both DV camcorders and HDSLRs.

“The Litepanels MicroPro was great for jumping off the boat, setting up and filming in the dark. Ease of use was essential, and I was very surprised by how bright it was, especially given the size of the panel. It was the ideal companion to my Canon 5D Mark III camera,” said Hill. “The MicroPro has great staying power – lasting at least four hours using normal alkaline batteries.”

Broadcasters, cinematographers and photographers around the world have praised the MicroPro for its luminous, soft, directional lighting, making it well-suited to both day and night filming.

Hill explained its appeal: “I don’t really like using flash. I like to be able to see what I’m shooting so I find continuous light much better. It makes it much easier to mould the light when I can really see it right there. I would definitely like to use Litepanels’ products more in the future. The MicroPro gave me flexible options and I was very impressed with the performance.”

For more information on Litepanels, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, email info@litepanels.com or visit www.litepanels.com

Litepanels: Providing the ideal companions for HDSLR cameras

As a film director and producer with more than 15 years’ experience in the industry, I have a real passion for creating cutting-edge moving images for short films, music videos or TV advertising.

This passion started in the early ‘90s when I studied directing, photography and lighting, followed by five years as a shooting operator and editor, where I gained valuable experience in the various elements of TV production. I then wanted to create cutting edge content on my own terms, so in 1999 I set up Akwaba Prod production company, shooting commercials and music videos, before moving into the TV industry, working on news, entertainment and live TV.

It was here where I established an interest in the latest technology advances, consistently embracing new developments in equipment. This is why I have been using Litepanels’ hallmark LED technology for several years.

I first started using Litepanels solutions on my productions back in 2004 when I was introduced to the 1×1. The product was seen as ultra-innovative and initially it had to be rented from specialist providers. It was the versatility of the product that impressed me most; the fact it is compatible with conventional batteries and has significantly lower power consumption is a major advantage.

In 2008, my professional life changed with Canon’s launch of the EOS 5D Mark II, from then on I have been fascinated by DSLR filmmaking and have even published a book entitled Shoot in Video HD with Canon HDSLR. All the time I still continue to use Litepanels products. I now also present a range of workshops on the new HDSLR technology to attendees from the industry including editors, production assistants, DPs and directors.

The workshops use the Litepanels LED modular lighting systems to teach attendees how to manage colour temperature with the 1×1 Bi-Color and how to choose the quality of lighting with the dimmable settings of the 1×1 Bi-Focus.

During one of my workshops with editors and journalists, I decided to ask my audience to make a short commercial as a one-day production with scripting, shooting and editing. After one day of theory, the second day was devoted to a practical and realistic case. I chose the Litepanels 1×1 Bi-Focus and Bi-Color fixtures as the subject of the advertising and asked them to consider it as a real order for a client.

From this we had some fantastic, creative results that really showcased the benefits of the Litepanels systems. It helped the editors to fully appreciate all of the advantages; many of them commented on the lightness, compactness and silent design of the lights.

On my own productions, I like to shoot in both low light and bright light and have used Litepanels products on a wide range of projects for almost a decade. The use of LED lighting has become more and more accessible, but its quality has decreased in some instances. Many companies make LED, but only a few are able to deliver quality light and reliability.

The main reason I use Litepanels products is because they are so versatile and they give me guaranteed high quality and reliability. The company has a diverse range of products so I know there will be a Litepanels solution, regardless of the kind of production I am working on. Their performance is in line with the new large sensor cameras so they are the ideal companion on shoots for all forms of production.

Quincy Newspapers Stations Convert to Litepanels

Van Nuys, California: October 10, 2012 – Pioneering LED lighting designer and manufacturer, Litepanels®, announces that a fourth Quincy Newspapers television station, WGEM-TV in Quincy, IL, has converted its studios to Litepanels LED lighting fixtures.

“Flesh tones really pop. We’re very happy with how it looks on the air. At the end of the day, that’s the most important thing,” said Brady Dreasler, Quincy Newspapers’ Director of Capital, Facilities and Engineering.

He added that WGEM’s news anchors have also seen a difference. “They know they look better because of the HD cameras and the lighting, and they’re happy with it.”

Dreasler noted that the cool operation of the Litepanels LED fixtures brought an added benefit to the talent. “Now they’re OK wearing a jacket in the summer time.” Previously, at each of the four stations that have undergone a Litepanels conversion, “we were running full air conditioning at all these places, even when it was 20 degrees below zero outdoors.”

In fact, the Litepanels fixtures add so little heat to the equation that at KTTC-TV, Quincy’s Rochester, MN station, engineers have installed small heaters under the anchor desk for those coldest of the cold days during the region’s brutal winters.

With well over a year’s experience with Litepanels at KTTC, Dreasler said the considerable energy savings, plus a healthy rebate from the local electrical power utility, has put them on track for a 3-year payback on their Litepanels investment.

Lighting designer Steve Mulkey of Redwood Media Group, who lit WGEM’s news set, relied primarily on Litepanels’ Sola 4™ daylight balance LED Fresnel fixtures, which combine the advantages of LED technology with the classic Fresnel fixture design. He also incorporated daylight balance Litepanels 1×1™ Flood and 1×1 Spot fixtures in the studio, and used Litepanels Sola ENG™ daylight Fresnel fixtures in the Newsroom.

In addition to WGEM and KTTC, Quincy has done Litepanels conversions at WVVA-TV in Bluefield, WV, and WSJV-TV in Elkhart, IN.

For more information on Litepanels, part of Vitec Videocom, a Vitec Group company, contact Litepanels, Inc., 16152 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, CA 91406, Email: info@litepanels.com
www.litepanels.com