Peter James: Pre-Lighting

From American Cinematographer, The Pre-Light Payoff by Mary Hardesty (January 1998)

"A pre-light day always looks expensive up front, but in reality it's the cheapest money they'll ever spend, since having to pay the crew for just one hour of overtime during production would pay for it. Unfortunately, many producers hope that they can squeeze in the pre-lighting during the shoot so they won't have to pay for another day and make their budgets look bad. I say, 'Give us a half day to pre-light and we can save you four hours of overtime pay-- along with possibly thousands of dollars while you sit around waiting for some effect to be fixed in post that could have already been done, had we been given the prep day."

- Peter James, ASC, ACS, CSC