China Ball On A Battery

4th April 2007

Has anybody put a china ball with up to 500 w bulb on a battery before at the end of a boom arm or something similar for mobile situations? If so can they shed light on how they did it.

Thanks

Matthew Woolf
NYC DP

Matthew Woolf wrote :

>>Has anybody put a china ball with up to 500 w bulb on a battery >>before at the end of a boom arm or something similar for mobile >>situations?

Talk to James at www.Jemlighting.com he is the Jem ball man and has done most everything.

Ed Barger
BARGER-BAGLITE

What batteries are you pulling 500 w out of for any time, and still maintaining mobility?

I did this for some steadicam shots with battery powered kinos on the end of a boom but they don't draw the wattage you are talking about.

Mark Smith
Oh Seven Films
143 Grand St
Jersey City, NJ 07302
201 200 0273
917 406 6157

For About a Girl I used a K5600 400W Joker in a China Ball running off a Lightning Strikes battery on a trolley, assistants just dragged the trolley along.

It's in use on 90%+ of the shots.

/aag-qt.htm

Cheers

Geoff Boyle FBKS
Director of Photography
EU Based
www.cinematography.net

A 400 watt Joker/Bug on a Jem Ball with the Liberty Lithium Battery Belts will burn for about two hours!

Mike Ambrose
Gaffer
LA Based

>> Re: china ball on a battery

Matthew,

For the film 'Monster' we put a china-ball on the end of a poll on the dolly during the skating rink scene. We used a 4D size battery (very large boat or truck battery) and an inverter with a paper lantern and a 500w globe (probably an ECT). If you need to hand-hold the paper lantern, such as in a 'walk and talk' situation, and can't have any cable to the light, I find it best to use a Jem-Ball with a 200watt or 400watt Joker-Bug, slimverter, and battery belt, all slid into a backpack. The Joker-Bug usually has a CTO glass if you need to be tungsten balanced, and bobinette is usually good if it's too bright. Hope that helps.

A note about the battery: Any large auto-type battery will work, but the best is some sort of sealed gel-cell, as auto or marine batteries can be dangerous - flammable hydrogen fumes and spillable battery acid among them.

Ted Hayash
CLT
Los Angeles, CA or anywhere else I'm invited
888-346-9757

>>What batteries are you pulling 500 w out of for any time, and still >>maintaining mobility?

I've run up to 1.2k HMI on batteries and inverters on trolleys.

Dan Bronks
DP
UK