Looking for a Portable source of Power

[J-Dude]

I'm working on getting the things I need to do a DBZ fan film, and I want to do some shooting out in Joshua Tree. I'm going to be using some colored lamps to help accentuate the Ki effects, but the obvious problem is, in the desert, there's not exactly a lot of power outlets available...namely...none. So obviously, I'm going to need some way of supplying power to the lights.

First thing that comes to mind is a car battery. I don't know why, but for some reason I have it in my head that you can hook them up in a way where normal typical socket-based appliances can run off of it.

My financial means don't allow me to make any more purchases yet, but I'm just trying to put together a game plan.

I'm sure there's a good, low budget way of doing this, I just need to figure out what. Anyone have any idea?

 

[Mastasurf]

What kind of lights are you talking about? If you're trying to power a lighting kit then I don't think a car battery is going to cut it.

You could always shoot near sunset during the golden hour and use reflectors. You should be able to create them fairly cheaply.

 

[Suh Dude]

Are you going to create the KI-Effects in After Effects?

 

[J-Dude]

No, I don't have that kind of cash, those kits are expensive. I'm just talking about makeshift stuff, lamps and things, and I'll likely only need to be using one at a time.

And no, no After Effects, never...ever...

I'm using 3DS Max 2009, and It's going to blow the pants off of anything quaint little After Effects can do. So many of those videos of DBZ effects with that program, and I've seen maybe two half-decent things, all else looking utterly pasted on. I can achieve infinitely better results, especially with plugins like Rayfire and Fumefx on my side to achieve marginally cinema-worthy object destruction, flames, smoke, dust and Ki effects.

 

[Mastasurf]

... but you're still going to have to use After FX to do the compositing :-D

You might be able to get away with using one of those inverters that plugs into the hole for the cigarette lighter. Potentially you could try to hack something together using a separate car battery and an inverter.

 

[J-Dude]

Mmm...

I'll look into these inverters, but bear in mind I'll likely be shooting in areas where my car won't be able to go.

Oh, and no, I'm not using After Effects to composite, I'm using Vegas for that and for the editing.