Canadian cinematographer Peter Warren CSC has decades of experience in finding the best answer in a pinch. Inventor of the LB2 Location Baby Bracket, Warren was presented with an opportunity to exercise his lighting ingenuity during a televised end-of-the-year Global News interview with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau. Faced with no pre-rig and a four-hour window to light, Warren turned to his LB2s to make the most of the practical location.
The shoot was scheduled to take place on the second floor of a popular Ottawa restaurant. “Everything had to be approved by his staff and Secret Service,” Warren explained. It was a five-camera shoot, which presented the additional complexity of keeping lighting fixtures out of sight. The traditional approach, given no time to pre-rig, might have been to boom the lights into place, however with the multiple lines-of-sight to work around, that would be more trouble than it was worth. The challenge was how best to attach and hide lights and support without damaging the location interior.
Warren was not deterred. “The first thing I noticed when I did the site survey for this job was that there were a multitude of beams and posts exposed,” he said. It was a nearly textbook setup for the LB2. “I was able to hang all the fixtures that would typically have required two large booms up in the ceiling.” Using the Location Baby Brackets, Warren mounted two FalconEyes Flex for key lights, an Aputure Amaran with lantern for fill, two Fiilex P3 Color K300 hair lights and an Aputure LS C300d II to mimic background daylight from the window. The small crew was able to efficiently set up before arrival of the Prime Minister.
Warren had designed the LB2 to streamline mounting light fixtures in tight spaces. “It’s a new way to solve a common problem,” he said. He brought his invention to Matthews Studio Equipment, in North Hollywood and MSE turned a simple tool, crafted from a block of wood, into a stamped metal base with three holes along the sides to attach via nails or magnets if needed. Its raised center features a pair of cut-outs on each side that accept a strap to attach to existing architecture without leaving a mark. Hard rubber pads provide extra gripping power while protecting walls and exposed air ducts from damage. Light fixtures readily attach to the built-in knurled Baby Pin.
The West Block host, Mercedes Stephenson, led the interview with Trudeau under even lighting with a graceful falloff. “We were extremely happy with the results,” Warren added. “We had a small footprint and a clean teardown. That’s why I pack at least two LB2s to make the most of any situation.”
