JetBlue Airlines recognizes the value of compelling video content and has its own in-house team of filmmakers dedicated to producing videos for internal and external distribution. Videographer Zack Caplan is a member of that team, and he has been putting Rosco’s LED solutions to work shooting a multitude of different projects in a variety of situations and locations for the airline.
Rosco Silk 210 LED soft lights illuminating interviews with JetBlue executives
One project Zack shot was a public service video that included shots both outside on an airport runway with the CEO of JetBlue, and inside the cockpit of one of JetBlue’s planes with a pilot. His lighting package included a Silk 210® LED soft light and the compact LitePad™ Vector CCT LED soft light – both equipped with V-Mount batteries, plus a RoscoLED® Tape Gaffer Kit.
Robin Hayes, President, and CEO of JetBlue, getting prepped and lit on the runway
“I turned on the Silk 210 and was truly impressed by its output,” said Zack. “We were shooting the CEO of JetBlue in the shade of a plane with a bright sunny day in the background, and the Silk 210 provided more than enough light to balance the background exposure.”
Rosco's Silk 210 LED Soft Light
Working for an airline and shooting in locations that range from the runway, to the cargo hold of a plane, to tourism destinations around the world, Zack makes excellent use of the Silk 210 when power outlets aren’t easy to come by. He commented on how well it is designed to easily swap power sources from AC power to the V-Mount Battery packs.
A member of Zack’s crew rigging a battery-operated Silk 210 inside a cockpit
“I’ve become very comfortable with the Silk 210 and use it at least twice a week now in many different situations,” noted Zack. “There’s a sense of reassurance I get from knowing that the Silk will provide an even source of balanced light – no matter if I’m in the cockpit with a pilot or shooting an office interview with an executive.”
Lighting JetBlue Pilot Jill Heinrich with a LitePad Vector and a 24” strip of RoscoLED Tape
When it came time to capture the scenes of the pilot in the cockpit, Zack needed compact light fixtures he could arrange in the confined cockpit space to balance the glaring daylight coming through the cockpit windows. He ended up squeezing a LitePad Vector in as the key light and stuck a 24” strip of Daylight RoscoLED Tape to the ceiling as a hairlight. Again, noting the lack of power sources in the cockpit, Zack appreciated that he could use V-mount batteries to run the LitePad Vector, and AA batteries to power the RoscoLED Tape strip.
The LitePad Vectors that Zack uses come out of the 2-Head LitePad Vector Backpack Kit, which includes two fixtures inside a durable backpack for on-the-go filmmaking. “The Vector Backpack Kit offers a huge advantage when it comes to airline travel,” said Zack. “Take it from someone who flies all the time for jobs – this kit offers an array of lighting options in a compact and airline-compliant size.”
Rosco's 2-Head LitePad Vector Backpack Kit
About a quarter of the videos Zack shoots are in partnership with the JetBlue Marketing team. They recently worked in tandem on a stop-motion video debuting a new line of cookies the airline is offering as an in-flight snack choice.
To illuminate the shot, Zack wanted to create very flat, shadow-free lighting. He turned to both the Silk 210 because its diffused output generated less-noticeable shadows, and the unit’s on-board controls made it easy to dim the output of the fixture to the proper level. He also set up both LitePad Vectors, which also feature soft light output, to fill in additional background shadows.
Zack Caplan’s use of Rosco's LED solutions in his work for JetBlue is a perfect example how we want to work with all filmmakers to create something brilliant together. To watch more of JetBlue’s latest videos, visit their YouTube channel. For more information about the Rosco products Zack uses, visit the product pages for the Silk 210 LED soft light, the RoscoLED Tape Gaffer Kit and the 2-Head LitePad Vector Backpack Kit.
Sara Leeper November 02, 2017 Questions?
Sara Leeper is founder & owner of Walk the Moon Media, where she serves as storytelling consultant, writer, producer and video strategist. Sara transitioned into video production after more than a decade in Public Relations working both in-house and on the agency side with a focus on content development. Her career portfolio includes strategizing for companies including Red Bull, Disney Store and Nestle Crunch. Most recently, she was a communications manager at General Motors and oversaw media relations, social media and events for the western US.