Is Rosco’s DMG Dash Pocket LED Light, the right tool for your project?
The new Rosco DMG Dash with the Dome Diffuser.
I’ve recently been chatting with Writer/Director, Louis Lagayette about his upcoming feature film project Columba. Louis is both a good friend and long time collaborator and since university we have been sharing creative ideas, pushing each other (often to the brink) and for a few years we worked alongside each other in a studio space in Hackney, East London. It was there that we worked on his debut feature film Trendy amongst other projects.
Columba sees Louis taking a new route with his filmmaking, in part due to current Covid restrictions and also a desire to experiment with new creative and technical approaches. For the first time he will be acting as both cinematographer and director on his film, working with a small cast and crew around his home town in Corsica.
Columba is a modern story of revenge that sees the protagonist Orso return to his childhood home on the island of Corsica, following his father’s tragic and accidental death. Upon his return his sister Columba grows suspicious that their father’s death was in fact not an accident but intentionally committed by a rival family. Columba attempts to persuade Orso to investigate the matter further and seek revenge…
In the video below, Louis and I discuss his approach to making Columba and how the Rosco DMG Dash could be a possible option when he is selecting a lighting kit to work with. The timings are below the video with links to specific sections.
0:00 | Introduction
0:24 | Louis introduces Columba
3:20 | Feature filmmaking methodology discussion
05:59 | Introduction to Rosco DMG Dash, Dot, Quad Kit & Accessories
20:57 | Possible uses for the Dash
25:34 | Scene breakdowns for Columba | Scene 1 Night EXT.
37:34 | Scene 2 Night INT. lighting plan breakdown
46:38 | Final thoughts on Rosco DMG Dash
49:31 | Wrap Up
00:00 - Intro
When Louis first ran me through the project and sent over the script to feedback on, I imagined what challenges he would face in this situation, as he is essentially acting as a one man band filmmaker. I’ve worked on many projects where I have had to both light and operate the camera whilst remaining creative and I’m no stranger to juggling multiple on set roles at once. Louis wanted to see if I could possibly assist him with gear suggestions for both camera and lighting.
He wants to remain nimble with a very small lighting package that he can manage with few assistants but also wants to still have creative options that are fast to set up and don’t distract him from his job as a director. We also discussed the need to approach this style of filmmaking with a different lighting philosophy to that of a cinematographer who has all of the resources and crew that you would usually find on a drama. Perhaps the approach of a documentary filmmaker or corporate/content filmmaker in some instances would be more fitting to how Louis approaches his film.
By coincidence, at the same time as Louis and I chatting about Columba, Rosco sent me a pre-release version of their new and incredibly versatile DMG Dash Pocket LED Light. It comes with broad spectrum white light, from 1700K to 10,000K and has colour, gel, source match and effects modes. Its battery powered and colour accurate with 130+ True Rosco Colour gels and has DMG’s impressive Mix technology built in. It’s also powerful considering it’s modest size, producing 500 lumens of output with a 14W power draw. It comes as a single unit or in a quad kit that can be fixed together and synced using the My Mix App.
The Dash can be controlled via the menu on the back of the unit or by linking it via bluetooth to the My Mix App. It comes with a variety of accessories including diffusion options and modifiers that attach via handy magnets and there will also be an exciting new optional accessory - the Dot. This is a half dome diffuser made out of silicon that can be attached to the DASH quickly for an innovative way of modifying the light. Everything can be easily packed down for travel and both the Dash and the Dot come with cases. Although at the time of writing the Dash has not yet been released it is set to be released soon and with a very impressive price tag.
With all of that in mind I felt that the Dash and its accessories would be a great fit for Louis and his new feature filmmaking challenge and that it would compliment his lighting kit perfectly. I decided to jump on a call with Louis to understand Columba further and to show him the Dash kit. We ran through how the light works, the accessories and its potential uses. Louis then talked me through two scenes in Columba, including the blocking and ideas for lighting and we discussed where we could imagine using the Dash . I found chatting to Louis about his filmmaking approach very interesting and informative and I always love to imagine and discuss how we can be creative within difficult limitations. I’m sure that anyone that is considering making a feature film with minimal resources or working on a small filmmaking project with a small team would benefit from hearing how Louis plans to approach Columba.
For more information about the Rosco DMG Dash Pocket LED Kit and to find out when it will be released, head over to the website -
If you have any questions or have any more thoughts on the Dash or its potential uses then please leave a comment below. Also you check out my new podcast, Vision & Graft - A creative’s career & mental wellbeing companion here - visiongraft.com
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