A tough one

[Lake Films]

Hey.
Shooting a scene on Sunday and here's the tough part. It takes place in an office and during a storm the power goes out, hence the lighting also. How do I light the room after the lighting goes out. I was thinking a lower wattage and gel it or do that in post with CC? Then there's the transition from the 'regular' lighting to the 'night lighting' Maybe have someone shut the lighting down and someone else turn the other on at the same time? Thanks for any help :laugh:

 

[tbanucci]

Yeah, I did the opposite where a guy turned on a light in a scene and we turned on our soft lights at the same time. It took some practice though, you will have to make a cue with your actors.

-or-

You can delay it being turned on and do a sound effect like a generator for the emergency lights are going on.

 

[GenJerDan]

Or light the lit scene with the unlit scene lights, too.

Then, when the lit lights go out, the unlit lights are still on. Makes it so there's only one switch to switch.

Saves on trying to coordinate the off/on process.

 

[Robert86]

Or light the lit scene with the unlit scene lights, too.

Good tip. You might want to use chinese lanters as the "night" light.

 

[Eric H]

Hey.
Shooting a scene on Sunday and here's the tough part. It takes place in an office and during a storm the power goes out, hence the lighting also. How do I light the room after the lighting goes out. I was thinking a lower wattage and gel it or do that in post with CC? Then there's the transition from the 'regular' lighting to the 'night lighting' Maybe have someone shut the lighting down and someone else turn the other on at the same time? Thanks for any help :laugh:

hi....more than the technical issues involved.....the script would be an important factor.......does the story support a light source from outside? it is storming outside so no natural moonlight, I suppose, but no one will question, within reason, about an unseen lamp post spilling light through a window into your interior. (whew...that was a run on sentence!). Or many times there is emergency lighting somewhere in a room. That can be activated at some point. use your imagination....maybe flashlights can be used by the actors as sort of a key light and then you can bury an unseen ambient source to bring up your overall exposure.
well......good luck!
Eric