Night Car shot and Motel (Lighting)

Brett

Brett

Well-known member
most of my movie is being shot in a car and a motel, I have one particular shot that is in the car at night, what lights should I use and how should I use them? along with the motel, I know having lighting is always important but I am not a pro and have not ventured into the whole lighting aspect of things. I don't want to make a mistake and have anything overlit. thanks
 
We need more details about the shot. If you could answer these questions it would help
1. Where is the car
2. Where is the camera in the car
3. Where is the subject in relation to the camera
4. Is the car suppose to be moving or still.
 
Hey Silver, well the car is on the road moving. the night shot has a little conversation so I would like to change angles around, their are two subjects one in the drivers seat and one in passenger. They have a chat and then they pull into the hotel. like I said a have done alot of short films and movies for fun with crappy cameras, but I just ordered my dvx and alot of other supplies and really wanting to start getting serious with this and to understand every aspect of things I didn't venture into before, especially lighting.. because I am a total newbie in that area, I don't know the first thing about it.
 
When I worked on a feature they used a car in front of a green screen backing. Then used a lot of heavy lighting and flags and toppers, to shape the light so only the passengers are lit and everything else is shadowed out. Then in post they added the background to simulate movement of the car.

http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/vacancy/
 
What I did was, I went to Target and purchase one of those portable double A battery operated florescent lights... it works wonders on a limited budget, u may have to do some color corection in post, but it works.
 
Just finished a similar sequence. We placed th car on a car trailer being pulled behind a pickup. I rode beside the car, shooting across both passengers.
I placed a china ball directly on the windshield (taped to the glass). It gave a nice consistent glow while allowing us to drive through a streetlit area to reveal the movement. Worked quite nicely.
 
The best fixtures for use in a car will be the portable battery operated flo like one mentioned or an LED instrument with batteries of some sort. Other than that, you would generally need an inverter to run other types of fixtures in there and of course size always comes into play in a car. Small and easy to hide is best. One common trick is to put a light on the dashboard shining up at the driver's face.
 
When using one of those batter operated flos inside the vehicle, how should you compensate for the color difference between the 3200 temp lights on the outside of the vehicle and green flo interior lighting?
 
Why would you ?

Wouldnt it be cooler to simulate the light from the dashboard ?

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If preferring to keep the color temp the same, then use one balanced for 3200K or CC it in post as previously stated
 
Gel The Flo's To Match.
-just Tape Color Correction Around Your Light (s). Or If You Go With A Kino Sized, 2ft Or 4 Ft Tube, You Can Buy/rent In Both Daylight And Tungsten Light Temps.
 
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