2-3 minute talking head with lighting limitation

[nyvideo]

Tomorrow, I'm going to be shooting an attractive professional who will be seated speaking into the camera and plan to do a medium close up. I will be able to make the room nearly black. There will be a dark blue backdrop. (I may have another, lighter color available to me but that's unsure.)

What is certain is that I have three tungsten fixtures, all with barn doors: 200 watt and 300 watt fresnels and a 1000 watt open faced light (Mickey Mole). The only other item is a small umbrella for diffusion (from a Lowel Tota that I can either shoot through or use as a typical umbrella). I can also go with a 600 watt bulb for the Mickey as well as a few smaller bulbs for the fresnels.

I just want to do a simple straight forward three-point lighting on her, but I won't have a lot of time to experiment prior to the shoot.

Any suggestions, especially on which light should go where, would be appreciated.

One other question: with all the emphasis on never touching a lamp, is it OK to use latex/medical gloves for changing bulbs? Thank you.

 

[David W. Jones]

Well, without knowing the room size and other data, I'd likely re-lamp the 1K down to a 600w, (and yes med gloves should be fine, the point is to keep the natural oils in your skin from touching the lamp, as it could crack or explode) I'd shoot the 600w through diffusion like the umbrella, flag appropriately, and add side fill to the talent with a white board. I'd use the 200w as a hair light or kicker, and then take the 300w fresnel to shoot a pattern/streak/ controlled grad, or the like on the blue backdrop.

Good Luck!

Dave

 

[nyvideo]

Dave, hi. I wanted to give you an update. I didn't have a white board so I used the 200 Watt fresnel as the fill light and the 300 Watt as the hair light.

I tried illuminating the background with another light but eventually we decided that leaving the background dark was the way to go. (Time was a problem or I would have played with lighting the background more. I thought it had the potential for a more exciting shot.)

This was my first time doing three-point lighting and I was surprised at how much there was to do to get things right. Placing the lights, seemingly a simple task, is not that simple. At one point I loved the look until I realized that I had a mic stand shadow in the middle of the background. At another point I noticed a small shadow from the subject herself on the background.

It was a learning experience. Looking back I see things I could have done better. However, I'm satisfied with the outcome. Thank you for your help. (The medical gloves worked perfectly for replacing a couple of bulbs.)

Here are a rough sketch of my set-up and a still from the shoot.

 

[David W. Jones]

Good job of making due with what was available, and I'm glad things worked out.