On a recent shoot for the electoral commission I encountered an unusual problem. As a gaffer it’s often worthwhile having access to speciality lighting tools that can help in unusual situations, some of most useful of these are my Aladdin LED eye lights. These battery powered bi-colour miniature led lights have a surprising output and a decent CRI in both tungsten and daylight colour. The problem I had deal with was how to boost the light levels inside a running and functional microwave. After carefully dismantling the extortion casing it became possible to mount the LEDs lighting through the original lighting and ventilation grills. In this case we had to keep the microwave turntable functioning. There are more items I would love to add to my personal kit such as the Aladdin Flexi lights and possibly the California Sunbounce hand held reflectors. When as a gaffer you can solve these unusual problems using experience and equipment, production companies and DOPs will remember you for future business.
With the addition of my LEDs to the inside of the microwave, the contents can be seen clearly and the microwave was still usable
Attaching the LEDs to the inside of the microwave behind the grills on either side protected them and added ample light for the shot