Is the future of audiovisual lighting only LED?

Jordi Bransuela, director of photography and director of the Master in Photography Direction at the CHESS, addresses the always determining issue of lighting during filming. Does the future of lighting involve the exclusive use of LEDs?

In my previous article in Panorama I was reflecting on the viability and resurgence of the film negative. There I mentioned some of the most transcendent revolutions that have occurred throughout the history of the seventh art and delved especially into the last one, the arrival of digital cinema replacing celluloid as a material for capturing and displaying films. Today I want to talk to you about another revolution, perhaps somewhat less disruptive than that of digital cinema, but equally important and one that we are still experiencing. I suppose that if you start the articles with the title you will already know what I am talking about, that is, without further ado, let's get into the matter.

He LED, acronym for Light-Emitting Diode, is a light emission technology that has been known for more than 60 years, but that did not begin to penetrate the audiovisual industry (and in a testimonial way and for very specific devices) until approximately 10-15 years. Its evolution in our industry has gone hand in hand with its development in society and the need to find more efficient, less polluting and longer lasting light sources. In general, directors of photography and illuminators have never been too concerned about these three premises, but we cannot ignore that the society in which we live sometimes requires an adaptation to new times, whether we like it or not (I still have several boxes of incandescent light bulbs stored in my attic so I can continue using them on shoots).

By this I do not mean that we are climate deniers who do not understand that we must take care of the planet. I am simply referring to the fact that, for us, what matters most are not those qualities, but very different ones; qualities related to chromatic quality of the illuminant source, color temperature, texture and brightness of the emitted light, hardness of the light source, etc. That is why it still pains us to see how the wonderful traditional incandescent bulbs, with a light of exceptional chromatic quality, have been replaced by LED bulbs, which in most cases cost five times more and which, in addition, at least at a photographic level, emit a light whose chromatic quality is more than debatable. But let's not tear our clothes yet! I'm not here to criticize the LED (although at the moment it seems that way!). Let's be fair: the lights produced by domestic fluorescents, low-consumption light bulbs (what a joke they pulled on us...) or any light emitted by discharge technology (except the HMI) are just as bad. But let's not stray from the topic.

The reason for LED

Returning to the LED and its silent revolution and that has been invading and transforming our filming for years, the question is simple: Because? I'll try to be brief, because I've already made my debut on this platform with a ten-page article and I don't want the editor to ban me permanently, so let's get to the point!

The LED It is not bad in itself (photographically speaking, that is), just as fluorescent or any other light-emitting technology that has been duly tested and perfected for use in the audiovisual industry is not. LED is no exception and we currently have a wide variety of LED fixture manufacturers that offer us full guarantees to use your light sources on filming or sets. Also, and it must be said, there are many manufacturers that take advantage of the current LED expansion to sell things similar in terms of design and functionality, but that, in the most essential part, in the quality of the light emitted, are not at all similar (very, very careful with these devices...)

So LED is now better than everything that was before in the audiovisual lighting market (cinema and TV)? Well the immediate answer is no, but we need to clarify some points first.

Evolution of lighting in audiovisual

Until the mid-2000s, basically three types of light technologies were used in lighting: incandescence, HMI and fluorescence. The first is the oldest and has been used in the world of cinema since the arrival of sound in 1927. It is inefficient, it gets very hot and its life is also quite limited due to the wear of the filament. As everyone knows, because we have all used light bulbs, their color temperature is warm and normalized to 3200º K.

He HMI It is a later technology that replaced historical devices known as “arcs” at the time, which, like HMIs, emitted white light of around 6000ºK; that is, colder than sunlight. They are basically used to match sunlight, but they can be used for anything else.

Finally, fluorescence is even more recent, from the mid-80s and 90s. It is basically represented by a manufacturer that dominated the market: Flo Cinema. Fluorescent tubes can be manufactured in any color temperature, they are very efficient, lightweight and have a very long useful life compared to HMI or tungsten.

The arrival of the LED

When LED technology presents its first specific devices for the film industry, it does so by trying to take away the market, above all, from fluorescence and small incandescence. It is not a triumphal entry and still has many things to improve, such as its chromatic response o to texture of light itself (DoPs often complained about the micro-shadows produced by the hundreds of LED diodes that make up the panels and that provide a dirty and multiple shadow). However, everyone is aware that, if it evolves in the right direction, it has a good chance of consolidating itself in the industry and carving out a place among the big three (HMI, will flow and incandescence).

Well, we are in 2021 and we can affirm that this evolution has not only occurred, but that threatens to displace light emission technologies that dominated the market in the last 30 years. Starting in the second decade of the 2000s, some top-level manufacturers (ARRI, Kino-Flo, Rosco…) and others of new creation (Velvet, DMG Light, Cineroid…) began to present increasingly more evolved devices with a clear colorimetric improvement compared to the first ones that were used. It is the time of the famous CRI (Color Rendering Index), where being above 90 gave you the ticket to large productions and being below condemned you to absolute misery as a manufacturer. Thank God, nowadays we no longer rely on that parameter alone, which is totally insufficient, to guarantee the chromatic quality of the light sources (but we will talk about that another day).

The differentiating keys of LED

As I said, these devices are beginning to flood the sector's fairs and, in a very few years, they appear to be a very, very solid option that is being introduced into the market. What are, a priori and without going into specific devices, those differences compared to other light sources? Well, first of all, the consumption. They are light sources that, in most cases, consume very little energy because they are enormously efficient and this means that with very few watts we can achieve the same amount of light as with other much more powerful sources. That also allows two more things: connect them anywhere (rare is the LED fixture that exceeds 1000-2000W) and power them with battery, which allows you to avoid the power cable and makes it possible that once the device is placed, you do not have to hide it or run the cable to its power source. This saves an enormous amount of time and problems during filming, because the aforementioned cables have caused headaches for decades for camera operators, who had to detect them hidden by the set, and for the art department, which in many cases had to figure out how to hide them.

On the other hand, those in production are delighted, because in many cases it means the rent savings and management of the electrical generator on duty or, at least, reducing the size of said generator. Another great advantage is that, since it is such a small and efficient light source (the diode), it can be manufactured extremely light and flat devices, even becoming flexible light plates and light strips that allow us to hide and put light anywhere. No other light source can do that.

An extensive list of benefits

Initially, the LEDs were of a single color temperature, but little by little modifications have been introduced in the composition of the diodes, first incorporating the devices “bicolor", with blue and yellow diodes, to be able to go from a warm temperature to a cold temperature; and later with the RGB fixtures, which have incorporated diodes of the three main colors of the additive sum (RGB), making most colors of the visible spectrum possible. The latter seem to be consolidating in recent times over the two-color or single-color ones due to their flexibility when changing the color of light it emits, and can even imitate any colored gelatin that exists on the market today (This was one of the dreams of any DoP, having the entire gelatin catalog with a single click and being able to see live how it affected your decoration...). To all this, it must be said that LED technology allows you to change the intensity of the light without modifying the color temperature (almost) and the connection by protocol DMX without major difficulty.

Furthermore, unlike other technologies, it allows devices to be easily incorporated WiFi y bluetooth for remote management, making control extremely easy and precise, in addition to being able to synchronize all devices simultaneously.

What if we do without the LED?

In short, the list of benefits is even overwhelming and surely the reader must be wondering right now if there is anyone in the audiovisual sector who still uses something other than LED. The answer is clearly yes, without a doubt. The other three technologies are still in force, perhaps with much less market than 10 years ago and with a significant annual reduction, but they are still available in rental houses because the DoP keep asking for them. The question is why. The truth is that in cinema 2 and 2 do not always give 4, and in the same way that some prefer photochemical capture to digital, here there are also directors of photography who prefer traditional light sources to the new LEDs. We would talk about texture, we would talk about color, shadow, brightness, light fall... parameters not always within the reach of the average user. but for a director of photography they are relevant.

As in photochemical, The strength that cinematographers have will not be enough to stop the evolution of the industry and I am sure that, in a few years, we will see some of those light sources that some of us like so much disappear. Let's not forget that the famous arches, practically disappeared since the 60s-70s, were not able to survive despite being, as they say, the best and brightest sunlight ever recreated (they had other problems, yes...)

Faster and more efficient shoots

But returning to LED and everything that all this is implying in our filming and sets, in the same way that digital transformed the way of making films and shooting them, LED technology is transforming the way in which we illuminate them. The multiple advantages that this technology offers at a logistical level (weight, consumption, heat, color temperature, handling and control...) is changing the way we work on film sets. The speed at which lighting and rolling has grown exponentially thanks to these advantages, and that has notably increased the number of daily shots shot, undoubtedly affecting the number of filming days, allowing them to be reduced at the end of a production (this will always ultimately depend on each production company and the type of production).

On small shoots the number of electric ones has usually been reduced, because these devices tend to be much lighter and more versatile, allowing fewer people to go as fast or even faster than before. Devices that are battery-powered, that are hidden and can be placed anywhere, that you can change the intensity and color in two clicks and that allow a speed when it comes to lighting that was hitherto unknown... It can be filmed in any location because the versatility and size of some of these sources allow us to cope any challenge no matter how difficult and complex it may be.

The limits of the LED

And where is the limit of the LED? What frontier remains to be conquered? As we have said before, there are devices and technologies that, despite certain “inconveniences”, especially logistical, continue to be liked by many operators and will continue to be available in rental rentals. However, “large” devices, spotlights over 5KW, is where the LED has not yet been able to reach. These devices, represented above all by incandescence and the HMI, do not yet have an affordable LED equivalent and, to this day, they continue to be essential for certain situations where large hits of light are required.

I am sure that, as I write these lines, some of the friends I have in rental houses or in lighting manufacturing companies are thinking that I will soon have to write a new article correcting what I wrote. However, as of today (and surely the pandemic has had something to do with this), it has not happened yet. Time to time.

Meanwhile, and despite being a staunch defender of specific devices with very particular textures and lights, I am one of those who think that LED technology has brought us many good things and that its use in filming allows us to be faster, more agile and go further in our creative proposals. We are at the beginning of a new era in the way of lighting cinema and television. And I am sure that, although we have already seen the potential of this new technology, We haven't seen it all yet.

Jordi Bransuela

Director of Photography and colorist.

For 3 years he has directed the Master's Degree in Photography Direction at the CHESS, where He also develops his teaching side, something that he is passionate about and that allows him to continue learning and experimenting every day.

www.jordibransuela.com