Do film makers have shares in electricity companies?

[unifoxos]

I have been watching a number of box sets of police detective programmes recently and have noticed that, in almost all cases, when the scene is set indoors, EVERY possible light is turned on in daytime, even if there was nobody in the room. Ceiling lights, wall lights, table lamps, all on with broad sunshine outside. Now I accept that the scene has to be lighted, but this is normally done by lights not seen on the film, and is usually so bright that any lights in the room would have little effect on the lighting anyway.

I am not concerned about the electricity used in the film as such, but the idea that it gives the millions of viewers that it is OK to leave lights on in the house, even when there is nobody in the room, using valuable non-renewable fossil fuels, and adding to gas emissions and, ultimately, global warming. So - why do they do it?

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

The room lighting is insufficient, as you noted.
You would then have to have the artificial lighting come on at the same moment as the room lights did, when the character entered the room, for believability.
So you'd have to rewire the building somewhat to arrange this.
And studio lights often have warm-up times for both brightness and colour.
So, you leave all the lights on.
At least, that is what I have gleaned from my very basic experience of film lighting (RAF Video Producers Course, and about 10 years helping light school plays)

If it's any consolation, all the spy agency series have all the lights off, all the time, except some very expensive spot lighting on the protagonists, so it kinda balances out with the police series.

[unifoxos]

That's quite correct, but in daylight the lights shouldn't need to be switched on, unless the room is seriously under-windowed.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

If you don't have the room lights on, then all the artificial lights would have to cast the same shadows as the window light does, otherwise the eye of the viewer would immediately notice there was artificial lighting.
This isn't really practical, as all the artificial lighting would need to be outside.
This is sometimes done for night scenes, for example where the burglar breaks into the safe in the study by moonlight, but otherwise not.

[unifoxos]

I see that, but I was recently watching a film where a scene was set in a flashy apartment overlooking the Thames. The south wall of the very large lounge was completely glass. There was surely enough light there for anybody, certainly for my cheapo camcorder, but again all the lights in the place were on.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

We have reached the limit of my experience. I've never worked in glass-walled settings, only in places that definitely needed extra light.

[jimtherev]

We have reached the limit of my experience. I've never worked in glass-walled settings, only in places that definitely needed extra light.

That's certainly true of our main living room. Two lights (20W led each) go on first thing, off last thing at night. On t'other hand, this is because we have windows either end of a fairly long room, none either side, and the house is v. sheltered, so it's warmed by a small radiator only, and that's cold half the time. Haven't done the sums, but we must be quids in overall.

[Archer]

I see that, but I was recently watching a film where a scene was set in a flashy apartment overlooking the Thames. The south wall of the very large lounge was completely glass. There was surely enough light there for anybody, certainly for my cheapo camcorder, but again all the lights in the place were on.

With a south wall entirely of glass, you've got a lot of light coming in but it's also light that's of a different colour temperature than the lights and facing south, the sun will backlight whatever it is you're trying to show inside. Also, you don't want (or may not want) the dramatic shadows that pure sunlight without any other lighting can produce. Our eyes are very adaptable and will deal with the changes in brightness in a much more fluid way than film (or the digital equivalent) is able to. Sunlight is also very unpredictable. The scene may have been shot over a period of days or weeks, with different weather outside and therefore different lighting conditions. Film makers don't like that. In short, a lot of reasons and I haven't even mentioned the option of it being a particular creative choice of the director...

[Dushan]

This could be just me, but I cannot stand the look of an unlit light fixture. We have all the lights on, first thing in the morning and last thing off at night. The living room is also narrow and deep, but the primary reason is the look of the fixtures.

Maybe the film people have come to the same conclusion that unlit fixtures are ugly.