Here at Valuelights we all knew LED lighting was awesome but we didn’t realise how much they had been snapped up in the media, hitting the big screens of Hollywood for their chance to shine with the stars. We’ve compiled the top 10 moments LED has gained its 15 minutes of fame, and schmoozed with the rich and famous.

A scene from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. (All Photo Credits of Valuelights)

1)      The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Digital effects team behind the Hobbit were Weta Digital who used LED lighting for tracker markers within the making of An Unexpected Journey.  LED lights were used for night time shots or scenes with deep focus, since LED remains slightly bloomed out as a point of light that can be tracked. The actors would rehearse the scene first, and then be given eyelines via small LED lights. So LED lights actually led the way for our favourite characters from Hobbiton.

LEDs can be found in Iron Man's suit in Iron Man 3.

2)      Iron Man 3

Iron Man's, Arc Reactor (shiny light in his chest) was made using LED lighting. Hollywood prop director Russell Bobbitt built a three-volt battery modelled after cell phone batteries in order to get the Reactor just right for the movie. LED lighting literally lights up the likes of Robert Downey JR!

3)      Gravity

A LED light box was used  in Gravity to ensure actors faces and CG would run smoothly.

 To make sure the light on the actors' faces matched the virtual light that already had been programmed into the CG shots, the actors were filmed using an Arri Alexa camera in a specially designed "light box": a 20-by-10-foot cube lined with 196 2-by-2-foot panels fitted with 4,096 lights. "The LED lights were all separately controllable," says Webber, "and they would project light on the actors' faces and give them the idea of the environment they were in."

4)      Tron: Legacy

The movie Tron is another example of incorporating LED lights in  costumes.

 The skin tight suits worn by the actors were reminiscent of the outfits worn by the actors in the original film. There were over 140 background costumes designed for the making of Tron.  On the back of the suit was an illuminated disc, which consisted of 134 LED lights. It was attached to the suit via a magnet, and was radio-controlled.  All the costumes had to be sewn in such a way that the stitches did not appear, as the design team figured that in a virtual environment the clothes would just materialize, with no need for buttons, zippers or enclosures. The development of the costumes came from trying to develop the form language which came from within the film.

5)      Transformers: Age of Extinction

Transformers come equipped with LEDs in Age of Extinction.

 LED lighting made an action packed appearance in “Transformers: Age of Extinction” with Rigid Industries lighting up the likes of Megatron, Decepticons, Local Motors and Escalade. Proving LED can help save the world from darkness, danger and evil.

6)      Avatar

This watch worn by Avatar character Norm Spellman uses LEDs.

 This 1259 B LED watch was used in Avatar by character Norm Spellman (Joel David Moore) who is attempting to save planet Pandora from the destruction of the human race. The famous LED watch has also been used in the likes of Iron Man 2 and Tekken also. Telling the time never looked so cool.

7)      Guardians of the Galaxy

LED light-up masks make an appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy.

 In the Marvel Studios film, Guardians of the Galaxy, featured a newly developed and interchangeable LED light-up masked helmet worn by Chris Pratt (Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy). The helmet allows him to breathe and locate his enemies throughout the galaxy! Pretty neat.

8)      Deck the Halls

Traditional Christmas lights in Deck the Halls were all LED.

 DeVito's house used LED lights to provide remarkable displays not possible with traditional Christmas lights. Otherwise, the lighting could only be done by special effect computers. The lights formed a "digital skin" around DeVito's house, acting like pixels on a TV screen. At one point, the roof of DeVito's house turned into a live video display of DeVito's face. At maximum intensity, the 14,300 LED nodes used just 7,150 watts of energy, the equivalent of four average hair dryers. Wrapping the house with conventional exterior string lights would have used approximately 100,100 watts, 14 times more than the LED installation, and without the capability for programmable effects. The entire LED installation used a total of 126 amps, about as much as 1.3 average households. Conventional exterior string lights would have used 812 amps, the equivalent of 8 houses' worth of power.

9)      Captain America: The First Avenger

Not missing out on the action, LED lights were used to shoot Captain America.

Mole Richardson provided LED lights for Captain America that were balanced for shooting scenes in 3200K tungsten and 5600K daylight. They were designed for use in mixed lighting environments, helped the actors feel comfortable, and produce a creative environment, not a technical one.

10)   Maleficent

LEDs also were used in Maleficent to make the seamless transition between CG computer animation and live action.

Maleficent" is a mix of two film types, live action and animation, which created some unique challenges for the visual effects artists. Traditionally in animated films, the CG computer generated characters often resemble the actor or actress that provides the voice of the character but the performer is never seen in the film. In Maleficent, viewers see both CG fairies and the actresses portraying them on the screen.

To create the best digital 3-D models of each actress, they developed the Light Stage system. The system surrounds actors in a sphere of computer-controlled LED lights and cameras in order to scan high-resolution 3-D models of faces. Actresses sat in the Light Stage and were asked to go through a whole range of facial expressions (neutral, happy, sad, surprised) and visemes, which are the shapes the mouth makes uttering different consonants and vowels.

And if that doesn't make you think LED lights are pretty much awesome why not check out our LED MiniSun range and see for yourself?

http://www.valuelights.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=LED