Thread: Some great buys on lighting!

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hey everyone, I imagine you are all crazy busy setting up your displays, and I hope they are all going well!

One thing I don't read too much about on this board is lighting. It's one of my favorite things to play with, and think it's really important. (Just see my pictures if you don't believe me lol) So many times I see haunts where people have spent HOURS on the details of props, and then thrown up a few exposed flood lights as an after thought. Your hard work deserves more!!

We could talk for DAYS about the options of lights, but for the basics, I think it's great to have something small, and versitile. When I was a kid, I used to make my own lights out of soup cans. I thought I was saving money, but by the time I had to jerry rig them, enough was enough. Sometimes it's just nice to have something made for the purpose you need! My end all be all fixture is a par16:

http://cgi.ebay.com/2x-PAR-CAN-16-Bl...item1e5e8fd302

so small, and you could even buy the bulbs at walmart if you needed to. Oh and they come with gel frames, so no more duct taping the color on the front But at almost $20 a piece (i'm a real cheap ass) I look for them used.

Now, if you are handy, and at all inclined to do some simple wiring... here is my latest find:

http://cgi.ebay.com/5-Litelab-MR-16-...item563e4989e9

This seller let me buy 20, for $100!! yes, true they are track lights, but I just got mine today, and I'm excited that the track fitting will easily be romoved, and I can remount the transformer inside a box, and the light on top. They came WITH bulbs, and the barn door attachment is just cool! You could easily sit these on the ground or mount them in trees.

Even smaller are the MR11 fixtures I bought:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

This guy accepted my offer of 15 lights for $30 with shipping! These fixtures are SO small! Now again, track lights, you'd have to take off the track mount. More specifically, these don't come with a transformer. However you could even use an outdoor lighting 12 volt transformer. And since it's 12v so much less dangerous to wire.

I've also been breaking down and buying some real theater lights. Alot of the work I do is designing for theater, so it's really fun to see what the lighting designers are able to do. it's great to have fixtures that can project gobos, which are the steel patterns:

http://www.lancelynoxford.co.uk/imag...ucts/982_1.jpg

Nothing is cooler then lights with patterns blazing through the smoke right? This auction is almost ending, but he's got no bids. I'm sure he'll relist....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Those are some great, basic and small lights just like the ones I have been buying. A zoom fixture is really nice to have. Instantly turning your light from spot to flood? And it has the metal shutters, which means you can literally frame the light output to almost any shape you want. Really cool stuff!

Wow, I need to shut up now, too much coffee! Well if any of you guys have found some great buys out there, let us know. Share pics of your lighting, or lighting you like! Have fun!

Andy

You have great lighting.I myself am still struggling to find the right fit for my haunt.
So how many light and how do you place them.I have read several tut's including skull and bones but mine still doesn't look right.

AuraofForeboding, I couldn't agree more! Lighting is so crucial and oft overlooked. Your pics are great, by the way.

halloween71, my rule of thumb is not how many lights but to light each area the right way. Some things only need one light, some need a dozen. Just play with it and see what you think. If you have something isn't satisfying you, put up some pictures as reference and I'm sure we would all be happy to offer our suggestions.

I beg to differ. We use only minimal lighting in our haunt and to great success. Most people, especially children, are more afraid of the dark than they are of brightly-lit props. It depends on what you are ultimately going for, but for us, a few candles, some glow sticks, and a few Dollar Tree LED clip-on booklights (we spraypaint them black and use them as teeny-tiny disposable mini-spots) generally do the trick.

TheEighthPlaque.... who are you disagreeing with? Sure, if you are just looking to just "Get er done" and scare kids, then yeah lighting is not important. But if like most people on the board you will want people to SEE your hard work, and the beauty in "the scary", then I guess proper lighting is a little more intricate.

Thanks for the compliments you guys! halloween71 I think you are too hard on yourself. I checked out some of your photos at night and think your lighting is pretty good. I love the combination of the blues and greens. What are you not happy with?

The only thing I could say is I'm guessing (especially the green ones) of the outdoor floodlights are very bright. Probably flooding way off of your (great) props, and creating a lot of ambient light, and generally lighting up more area then you want. I think a big trick is just getting light on what you want, and keeping the area around it dark.

Thanks for the tips...that may be what it is I never thought of it that way.

Sure, I am no expert, but I hope it helps?!