Greig Fraser ACS ASC, cinematographer of features including Lion, Zero Dark Thirty, Foxcatcher, Snow White And The Huntsman and Mary Magdalene (currently in post-production), used Creamsource Sky, the water-resistant, five-colour 1200W LED light system from Outsight, for Lucasfilm’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Fraser first discovered Outsight LED lighting many years ago in Sydney, whilst shooting a US television commercial for Old Navy, during the very early days of LED lighting. “My gaffer brought in an original 2×1 Creamsource, and we were amazed by how much power it had,” said Fraser. “We were so impressed that we both bought one head each. Fast forward to more jobs and I saw the technology evolve to portable battery power, making lights faster and more powerful, and lights I could gel.
“I now have four 2×1 and two 1×1 Creamsource lights in my kit that have just been upgraded to the fourth generation with new LED boards for better colour, more output and higher CRI. Being able to buy these lights as a younger DP meant that I could own and have control of my lighting, without relying on whatever a rental house could provide.”
For Rogue One, Fraser relied on the Sky’s ability to be used in all weather conditions, and found it especially useful for the raining stage shots depicting Eadu, a storm-stricken world and Imperial terraforming operations in the Outer Rim Territories. “We had the Skys rigged in the ceiling for weeks while it was ‘raining’. It’s just amazing that we can do that,” said Fraser.
In addition to his film work, Fraser recently completed a commercial for Budweiser and is scheduled to shoot a Ford spot, using his own Outsight kit for both.
What really impresses Fraser is the amount of freedom and flexibility he gets with Outsight LEDs. “They allow you to decide on the cover seconds before shooting, which is fantastic if you can’t pre-light. You save time and money, going quickly from creative to a stage full of hung lights, knowing how much colour and correction you need. With Tungsten, if you dim it, you need to know exactly what stops for the colour you want to capture. On big films, you can do testing and pre-light a week in advance. With Outsight LEDs, I can pre-light in an hour with flexibility and control of all parameters – plus do instant trial-and-error for warmth. You just can’t do that with Tungsten, it takes days and weeks. Now it’s just flicking a switch, and it’s game changing.”
In addition, Creamsource Sky delivers high power output with full creative control and repeatable, calibrated colour that helps users craft emotion.
“Creamsource Sky is just so flexible and renders colours amazingly,” said Fraser. “I am obsessed with the technical, and Creamsource Sky produces really great skintones. That can be a benefit and a curse when having to mix Sky with lights from other manufacturers, so I use a single brand of lighting for each source – one for skylight, one for a window, and another for facial lighting.”
Award-winning cinematographer Pete Rowe also trusted Outsight Creamsource Sky, to light the 2016 TV series Zapped. The fantasy-comedy stars UK actor James Buckley as Brian, who is transported to a parallel world of wizards and warriors. The first season aired on UKTV’s channel Dave and is available on their catch-up service UKTV Play.
Pinewood MBS, the exclusive provider of lighting and grip equipment at Pinewood Studios provided Rowe with ten Creamsource Sky from Outsight. Rowe, who has worked across a broad range of productions including Yonderland, The Bad Education Movie, Friday Night Dinner and The Wrong Door, said, “We had a modest TV production budget and timeframe for Zapped, which often meant the team did not have the luxury of resetting the lighting between set-ups. Creamsource Sky was extremely flexible; therefore, we were able to make quick adjustments to the lighting quickly and easily for each shot during production.”
Tama Berkeljon, managing director at Outsight, said, “As a pioneer in film and television lighting, we’ve designed our LED lights to be both beautiful and tough. DPs around the world are discovering that our Creamsource lights are built for the creativity that is needed on set or on location, with repeatable results.”
