Hi indy,

Yes: you can use gels to change the colour temp of the light. You just have to use the right gel with the right light.

For example, if you want to change the temp of a basic tungsten light fixture, you can't throw any old theatrical blue gel on there and get what you want. You have to use the proper Colour Temperature Blue (CTB) in whatever gradation you need / want to achieve the desired effect.

If you have more questions like that throw 'em down, I'm a set lighting technician by trade.
Hal

hey thanks alot man!
you really helped me.

i have couple more questions:
1)are correction gels expensive?
2)can you get them in any size?
for example: if i want to gel a window, can i get one that is big enough for a regular window?

thanks.

Where do you live? If you live in a place with a production community of any size-- as in they do professional work there like commercials, movies, TV, even corporate videos-- then you ought to be able to track down some used gels somewhere. Film equipment rental places might have them lying around, or a film school program.

They ARE in fact expensive. It costs about 150 CDN to buy a full roll of gel, and the dimensions are 4' by something or other-- maybe 40' or so?

You can also buy them in sheets-- but only from a specialty store.

My advice is to ask around other people that you know that are in the business and see if you can get some used scraps together. If that fails, you can probably order them online, though I've never done it that way. Go to the Rosco website or the Lee website-- those are the two high brand-names for gels. I think there's one called Cal Color too.

And yes, it's common practice to correct windows with gel. The best technique, if you're actually going to be shooting through the window, is to wet the glass with a squeegee, apply the gel, and then run a damp squeegee over the gel. Sticks like magic! You can shoot right through it and never know it's there...