Arri 650 Light Kit Review For Video Production

So many light kits for video production to choose from. We chose an Arri 650 light kit to make our videos look awesome. Video professionals around the world know exactly what an Arri light is.  For people not in the video production industry, it may seem like “just another light” with a funny name.  Arri lights are the world’s leading manufacturer of film and motion picture lights.  The name comes from the German founders Arnold & Richter Cine Technik.  WeMakeVideos recently purchased a few Arri lights to add to it’s arsenal of video equipment and thought it would be great to write a review on just on one of the lights, the Arri 650.  The 650  literally puts out 650 watts of light.  Compare that to your standard home light that you might put in your bedside table, 60 watts, and you can see why this thing is an extreme powerhouse.  When shooting video, even with the best of the best of cameras, you need light.  A TON of light.  Many people do not know it, but when shooting a bedroom scene at night, the room is actually well it.  Then later in post production the editor decides how dark to make the room look.  The camera needs to be able to see all the detail in the shot and the only war to do that is to have a ton of light in the room.

Back to the Arri 650 Light Kit

This thing is BRIGHT!  So bright, that we almost never use it at full power.  We went out and bought a speed controller for an inline fan and put it in between the wall outlet and the light so we could dial-down the amount of power the light was getting.  We had to use a heavy duty fan controller, because the amount of wattage that is being pulled from the wall to power this light will literally burn up a normal light dimmer… yes, I mean FIRE.  This light pulls so much energy it will literally start a fire if not used properly.  The light gets so hot after being on for just a couple minutes that it will raise the temperature in any room several degrees quickly.  Also, when the shoot is over we have a mandatory 10 minute cool down rule that no one can touch the lights so they can cool off a bit.

There are infinite ways in which a light this strong can be used in a video production.  You can fill an entire room with light, direct it to light just one person and leave the rest of the room dark, dial it down and throw on a gel to put just a little color in the room.  Really, how you use the light is just limited by your imagination and time.  Lighting is one of those things that can’t be learned in a classroom.  You have to go out and practice mixing different colors and wattages and diffusions, etc until you get the right feel for that specific scene.

In order to show you just how many uses this one light has, check out the video below.  For the average person it may be a bit dry because it looks like the light is just turning off and on.  For the video production pro though, you will be amazed at the versatility that comes from one light.  We are happy to add the Arri light collection to our arsenal and can’t wait to see some of the creative ideas we can employ to make our video production better.

Video Production – Arri 650 Light Test

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• Question about this article? Call Amy or Nick any time at 615-852-5869 for more info.