How To Light Outside The Box – From The Inside

A couple of years ago, cinematographer Eduardo Fierro shot a commercial spot that made the semi-finals for Doritos’ annual “Crash the Super Bowl” contest. Fierro’s greatest challenge in shooting the ad was figuring out how to effectively light the bags of chips from inside the tight confines of a vending machine.  The soft, even glow produced by Rosco’s LitePad provided him the perfect solution.

 

Behind The Scenes: A 12"x12" LitePad illuminates a bunch of Doritos

 

For their clever ad, the filmmakers envisioned an Amish family infatuated by the potential of eating Doritos that came out of a magical vending machine.   This meant that the Doritos inside the machine were the stars of the ad, and needed to be lit accordingly.  Eduardo Fierro chose Rosco’s LitePad as the solution because he could place the lights inside the machine, which eliminated any glare off the glass that other fixtures placed on the outside of the machine would have created.

 

A 6”x12” LitePad fit perfectly in the drop-tray of the machine to up-light the bags

 

Fierro embodies the Everywhere Lighting mantra of LitePad.  Throughout his career, he has used them as fill-light in tight spaces like cars and bathrooms, as catch-lights on-camera, and as accent lights in bars and street-scenes. Thanks to his familiarity with LitePad’s soft, even glow, Eduardo knew that they were the perfect solution to properly light and showcase the bags of Doritos in this ad.

 

Another 6”x12” LitePad is mounted on the side of the machine for side/fill light

 

Watch the commercial to see how Eduardo Fierro used the LitePads to make the bags of Doritos pop in the ad, and you'll see why the spot made it all the way to the semi-finals of the “Crash The Super Bowl” contest.

Previously a cinematography instructor at Full Sail in Florida, Eduardo Fierro is now an LA-based cinematographer whose work includes, commercials, music videos and feature-length films.  We first became aware of him in 2013, when Eduardo was an honoree of the International Cinematographers Guild's  Emerging Cinematographer Award. To learn more about Eduardo's work, visit his website or follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.

Be sure to visit the new Rosco LitePad HO90 page to learn more about this unique LED lighting fixture, and see all of the new HO90 upgrades we've implemented for superior color rendering and better energy efficiency for longer battery-life.

 

Joel Svendsen February 04, 2016 Questions?

About Joel Svendsen

Marketing Director: Joel's Rosco career began in Rosco's Hollywood office in 1999 – first in sales covering the Western US and the Los Angeles Film & Television market, and then as Product Manager for Rosco's Film & Television Products. Joel's knowledge about Rosco's products and how they're used in each of our different marketplaces makes him well suited for bringing the stories in Spectrum to life.