Lighting for a "DeBeers shadows" type of look

FiddlerMD

FiddlerMD

Well-known member
I will soon be shooting a short feature and at one point i need that debeers diamonds commercial type of look on a shot. I've seen the thread about lighting for that 'ipod commercial' look but theres' a subtle difference. the debeers shadows seem to have almost a 3D feel to them. I was thinking of doing this mostly in post (as it seems to be done on those commercials). Any advice on how to achieve this look?
 
Actually the fact that you made me search for it made me realize the effect isn't as special as i thought :) this page http://www.slate.com/id/2096459/ has 2 of the spots in video. They're plain'ol shadows. I guess i remember that 3D effect cause of the way they composite the actual jewelry on top of the shadow.. which is an interesting technique but i dont think i'll need that for my shot - any tips on best ways to light those shadows to get those perfect silhouettes would be appreciated
 
My best guess:
1. They shoot the actors in front of a green screen.
2. When you do that you get a positive and negative image. Save the negative image (green area) with normal lighting and key it black. As for the the actors, reverse the matte and cut them out. Now you have a negative black out line.
3. I'm thinking that if you were to place the positive image (actors) in a layer under the black matte. The green screen on the positve image is no longer needed, so you can mess with the color correction all you want. Desaturate the positve image and use 3-way color corrector, image, and gamma control and you should be able to make the actors look all white with just a hint of shading.

You got me thinking. I need to find a greenscreen shot.
 
I'd say you can tell from the offset shadows e.g. on the picture frame and the parkbench (seconds 12-16) in the youtube video that it was done with lighting and not greenscreen.
 
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