Video Lighting Accessories to Make your Production Pop!

When shooting video for anything from interviews to short films to high-budget productions, it's always important to keep a range of modifiers and accessories on hand to tailor your lighting to perfect it for each individual shot and give it some wow-factor. Considering the details of each frame and ensuring the lighting looks natural and eye-catching can make a big difference in the end result of your production. So, we've compiled a list of some of our favourite LED Lighting modifiers to aid you in video lighting perfection.

Fresnels

Known best for their ability to focus light and create a spotlight effect, fresnel lenses consist of a succession of concentric rings etched into glass or plastic. These rings use a combination of total internal reflection and refraction, to focus the light, allowing it to travel over greater distances.

Fresnels allow you to put a spotlight effect over the subject of a shot, which can either be sharp and dramatic, or softer and a little more subtle, to draw attention to it or them, and purvey a clear message to audiences watching by drawing the eye directly to the spotlighted area. 

A newer addition to the Godox modifier range, the FLS8 and FLS10 fresnels are both Bowens S-Type fitting LED fresnel lenses, which are great for a vast range of low to high-powered (tested on up to 600w output LEDs!) LED heads to amplify the light from the unit. 

The spread of the beam put out by the FLS fresnels can be adjusted anywhere between 10° and 40°, giving you the ability to either create a small, controlled pool of light to a flood of light in your scene.

FLS8 8" Optical Fresnel Lens With LB-01 Barn Doors	FLS10 10" Optical Fresnel Lens With LB-02 Barn Doors

See similar: Comparing Fresnel Lenses

Spotlight Attachment

However, if you're looking for a super crisp and sharp spotlight effect, we'd specifically recommend a spotlight attachment, which works instead by using focused coated lenses designed to eliminate chromatic aberration, which create the near-perfect spotlight.

Especially useful for theatre productions, these lenses are recommended for when you need to project a specific pattern of light, thanks to their cut out gobo (go-between) compatibility, or if you need replicate that perfect circular light pattern for specific shots. 

Built with the same Bowens S-Type modifier fitting, the VSA Series spotlight system works with a wide range of Godox LED Lighting for video production, and has three different lens optic options (19°, 26° and 26°) and features built-in shutter blades, enabling you to shape and control the light for creative effects.

VSA Series Spotlight Attachment Spotlight Mount Set (19K)	VSA Series Spotlight Attachment Spotlight Mount Set (36K)

Scrim Panels

Scrims, or scrim panels, are made out of translucent white or pale fabric which is placed in front of your light to both reduce the intensity, and spread the light further across your scene. Scrims are often used on large sets or productions, and are vital for controlling the light outdoors, or in locations where the natural or ambient light can't be fully tailored or overpowered by your lighting.

So, this means they're perfect for providing extra control and balance over both your own lighting and natural light, as well as reducing the sharpness of shadows. With the ability to be placed in front of windows, in front of your lights, or even rigged overhead, scrims can be an invaluable tools for ensuring consistency and control in your lighting. 

(240x240cm) 94.4x94.4" Butterfly Overhead Diffuser With Aluminium Frame

Need even more control over the spread of light? You can also purchase a honeycomb/eggcrate style grid for the 240cm Scrim separately, which is designed to attach to the front of the scrim to further reduce the spread of light entering your scrim, giving you more control over its spread and directionality.

Flags 

Alternatively, if you're looking to block off ambient lighting, flags are your friend! Flags (sometimes called floppies) generally consist of opaque, black fabric on frames of various sizes which can be placed in front of lighting to stop it from affecting the shot. This is great for location working where you can't control the ambient or natural lighting from windows, especially if you're aiming for a dark, cinematic shot, or a night-time scene if you're shooting during the day. 

120x120cm 4'X4' Black Floppy Flag Panel	Pair Of 1x2.4m Free-Standing Reflector Panels With Reversible Black/White Fabric

With a few different options, flags can come with basic frames to be attached to light stands, rigged from overhead, or on free-standing frames. 

Cine Reflector Panels

For the absolute most control over your lighting, however, we recommend Cine Light Reflector Panels. Comprised of different sized panels with different reflective qualities, cine reflectors allow you to reflect large or tiny amounts of light back onto your scene in a way that you might not otherwise be able to control the light. This can help the light feel much more natural, and draw attention to specific features, utilising the power of the inverse square law to extend the transmission distance of light, enabling you to bounce the light around your set for a more natural look.

Cine reflectors can either be used with the existing natural or ambient light, or can be used with lighting units to reach otherwise difficult to reach places. 

Godox's LiteFlow range is one of the newest additions to their professional KNOWLED equipment series, which is designed for gaffers and cinematographers at all levels. In a range of options, the Liteflow panels come in kits as small as 7x7cm, up to 100x100cm, these panels are highly versatile and produce minimal colour shift. 

Shop the LiteFlow Cine Panel Range

Sturdy Light Stands

Occasionally overlooked as a vital tool for your video lighting, a sturdy light stand can make a difference in the ease of lighting your set and adjusting the effects and settings, and can therefore make your lighting process more streamlined. So, it is important to make sure you're using the right stand for the job.

The sturdy Junior Pin Steel stands are great for most jobs, and have a max load capacity of 12kg, making them great for most mid-level LED lighting options with a modifier included. These stands also include a levelling leg which makes them handy for location shooting when you can't control the area, such as when you need to mount your stand by a curb or step. 

On the other end of the spectrum, when you need something SUPER heavy duty and want to ensure safety with large, heavy lighting, the Wind Up stand range is recommended. With a maximum weight limit of up to a whopping 65kg, these stands are designed to be as safe as possible and enable you to use large equipment in studios and on location with ease. These stands also often reach much higher than most other light stands, meaning if you need to rig a light outside a building to shine into a room up a floor for example, you will be able to do this with ease as the stands can reach up to 5.6m.

310cm Dual-Riser Stainless Steel Junior-Pin Combo Stand With Levelling Leg	560cm Heavy-Duty 4-Riser Geared Junior Pin Wind-Up Stand

Got any questions about the equipment you've seen in this blog? Why not check out our other blogs, or get in touch with our team at info@essentialphoto.co.uk for some more information.