Creative lighting with Sun Dragon

Alexandru Don is renowned for his expertise in cinematic lighting, offering valuable tips and tutorials on his YouTube channel. Having transitioned from creating television commercials in Romania to producing content for YouTube and Instagram, Alexandru is now making his mark in the film industry as a Director of Photography, shooting for Netflix.

Keen to explore the capabilities of the Atomos Sun Dragon, the world’s first flexible production light, Alexandru commented: “I’ve worked with a lot of lights before, but I haven’t encountered one like this,” he says. “I was very excited and curious to see how it performs.”

The Sun Dragon is a powerful 2000 lumen, 5-meter versatile rope light. It comes with an 8-meter connector cable, a power unit, and an active DMX controller with a large display for adjusting brightness, color, hue, and RGB channels. It also features a v-mount plate on the back for remote usage. “There are numerous ways to use and mount the Sun Dragon,” Alexandru adds. “It seems to me that it could be ideal for lighting tight spaces, for example the interior of a car, or for creative placement in performance art.”

Alexandru put the Sun Dragon through a series of tests to evaluate its versatility and durability. In one test, he positioned the Sun Dragon under a car while a skateboarder and dancer performed. The light’s robust design and resilience were highlighted as the skateboarder executed stunts over and around it, resulting in a dramatic nighttime scene. “I was very surprised that this light still works,” he says. “We really put it through its paces, and I’m very impressed with how durable it is.”

The Sun Dragon is fully dustproof and waterproof up to 1 meter, which enabled Alexandru to film an illuminated shower scene. “Normally, it would be incredibly challenging to mount lights in such a confined space,” he explains. With the Sun Dragon, he could position the light flexibly down the back of the wall and around the base of the cubicle to effectively highlight the water droplets.

“You can get incredibly creative with the Sun Dragon and capture some truly epic shots.”