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Screen Africa chats to Dave Howe, gaffer and founder of Orbital Lighting, about how he got started in the lighting industry, his career highlights and challenges, current favourite pieces of equipment and more
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Tell us a bit about your background in lighting and how you got into it?
I got into lighting in 1994, I worked for a show lighting company called MJ Lighting, today known as MJ Event Gear. I was employed as a driver and workshop assistant. There I learnt high rigging as well as generic and then automated lighting, and gained knowledge of electrical power and distribution. We did mainly entertainment, show lighting and corporate events. I was with MJ for three and a half years.
I then got an opportunity to work at Southern Lighting, it was there that I was introduced to the world of film and television, and let me tell you it was a whole new world! The only real discipline you can carry over as a junior technician from show lighting is your limited knowledge of power and distribution as well as rigging, it was as if I had to start all over again, trying to understand lighting for a camera and not a live audience was a very difficult and frustrating endeavor.
I spent three years at Southern Lighting and then joined the often scary and unpredictable world of a freelance technician. Having spent almost seven years working full-time for two great lighting companies and having learnt from some of the best mentors in the film industry, it boosted my knowledge and confidence enormously. I registered my business Orbital Lighting in 2001, but I was only really in business from around 2004. We are still going strong!
Why lighting? What about it captured you?
I guess I never found lighting, lighting found me. I remember going home to my mom after my first week working at MJ Lighting and exclaiming that I couldn't believe that I was getting paid to do something that was so exciting and so much fun! It's hard to say specifically what captures you; there are so many different parts that make the whole. The creativity, the technicality, the difficulty, the physicality, the team work!
As a gaffer what are you currently working on?
I am currently working on commercials, while my company is supplying equipment, generators and trucks to a few of the top TV dramas currently in production in South Africa.
Do you prefer lighting on location shoots or studio shoots and why?
I prefer lighting on location shoots. I enjoy the initial concept, design and execution of studio shoots, but once they are up and running, the challenge is over for me. On location shoots you are faced with different problems every day. I'm a problem solver and work well under pressure, that's what's exciting for me, I suppose I also get bored quite quickly.
What is your current favourite piece of equipment to use? Why?
The Arri Sky Panel range of lights is my favourite piece of equipment to use at the moment. I love the versatility of the lights; they are a real game changer. I am amazed by the amount of light they emit, as well as their built-in effects menus and their ability to dial in any of the Rosco or Lee effects, colour correction or cosmetic gels.
I have recently ordered two of the Arri Sky Panel S360C, these are coming out with Arri's wireless remote system, meaning you can control all aspects of the unit while rigged in a lighting gantry or off a crane wirelessly. Pretty cool!
It's no secret that most South African productions run on a tight budget, how does this affect your department and how do you overcome this?
Well it's horses for courses' - you will get what you pay for! Having a smaller budget for lighting is two-fold, one being there isn't enough money to hire the lights you want and two being there isn't enough time in the day to put up all the lights and craft your images the way you would like to.
As in all departments you roll with the punches, you allocate your time accordingly, in other words you don't sweat the small stuff, one needs to understand the nature of the shoot, the amount of content you need to film in the day and make it happen within your given parameters. Experience helps a lot here, it's important to focus on the essentials and then go after the nice to haves'.
What has been your biggest challenge on a shoot been to date?
Lighting night exterior scenes for Paul Cameron ASC for the Infiniti Q50 Use Your Instincts' car commercial. He wanted to expose his cameras for the building explosions at 100 frames a second! I learnt a lot those few nights!
What has been the highlight of your career in lighting to date?
Working with Paul Cameron.
What are the primary current trends of the studio lighting industry and where do you see it heading?
Current trends are the move away from high heat, high power consumption incandescent lights, and the move to greener LED lighting technology.
Where do you draw inspiration from?
I draw inspiration from my fellow technicians, from fellow gaffers and crew members. I also draw inspiration from the ever-changing technology in the film industry, it's fascinating.
If there's almost no budget for lighting on a production, what can you NOT do without?
C-Stands, reflector boards, lighting clamps and sandbags.
What's one piece of advice, practical or otherwise, that you would give to a newbie in the industry?
Pay attention, concentrate, learn, learn, learn. Never give up, work very hard, and don't take too much crap from someone, you are important too!
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