Balloon lights (also called lighting balloons) are a specialized type of luminaire used primarily for lighting in the

motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

industry, night highway construction, incident management, and public security applications such as police checkpoints. These luminaires typically consist of one or more high-intensity lamps surrounded by a translucent fabric balloon. The balloon acts as a diffuser to soften and disperse the light. The upper portion of the balloon sometimes has a reflective inner coating to direct more of the light downward. Some commercial products use a blower to expand the balloon, while others have an umbrella-like internal wire frame. The device is essentially an industrial version of a Japanese paper lantern. The lighting balloon was first patented in Germany on October 26, 1924 (patent #427894). Until the 1990s, several patents were issued, although the application was utilized very little in Western countries. The lighting balloon industry has been greatly modernized by the company Airstar.

History

In 1994, Pierre Chabert and Benoit Beylier, founder of Airstar, a French company based in Grenoble (

Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.helium-inflated balloon. It is ideal for interiors or exteriors where rigging is a problem. One of the first movies ever lit with this kind of system, was '' Mission: Impossible '', directed by Brian De Palma, Director of Photography - Stephen H. Burum, Gaffer - Laurie Shane. It was developed for the ‘embassy’ interior, which was shot at Národní Muzeum, Natural History Museum, Václavské námestí 68 in '' Prague''. Then one of the next big movies was '' Titanic'', directed by

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...

. Later they were used in the Opening Ceremony of the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, the lighting set for

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, '' Rang De Basanti'',Lights, camera, attraction
''

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''. '' Sivaji'', '' Avatar'', Singapore Grand Prix and the Vancouver Olympics.

Balloon shapes

* Spherical and near-spherical is the most common variety. The shape of the units demonstrate wind resistance *

Cubic Cubic may refer to: Science and mathematics * Cube (algebra), "cubic" measurement * Cube, a three-dimensional solid object bounded by six square faces, facets or sides, with three meeting at each vertex ** Cubic crystal system, a crystal system w ...

- cuboid balloons with rigging points at the corners, "Diamond series by Airstar", "Ceilair by Airstar", useful for cutting the light with reflector panels. *

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- cylindrical shape, with a more "directed" light. Airstar. * Cloud - Grip balloon, low profile tuboid. Intended to semi-block the sun. Used by

grips The , or GRIPS, is an elite, highly selective research graduate school located in Minato, Tokyo. Funded by the Japanese Government, it has the status of List of national universities in Japan, national university. It is also one of Asia's leading ...

. *Blimp - Elongated shape provides a more steady platform for lighting. Arizona Balloons.

Alternative lighting sources

Light types

* Tungsten *

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* Metal halide *

Mercury vapor A mercury-vapor lamp is a gas-discharge lamp that uses an electric arc through vaporized mercury to produce light. The arc discharge is generally confined to a small fused quartz arc tube mounted within a larger soda lime or borosilicate glas ...

Sodium vapor A sodium-vapor lamp is a gas-discharge lamp that uses sodium in an excited state to produce light at a characteristic wavelength near 589 nm. Two varieties of such lamps exist: low pressure and high pressure. Low-pressure sodium lamps are ...

* Light Emitting Diodes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balloon Light Types of lamp