Am I Over-lighting/Dimmable Kino's?

[steve]

I'm lighting a space thats approximately 18 x 15 ft. 4 actors, very littlle time to set-up and almost no place to hide anything with cielings that are just 94 inches high.

Here's what I'm thinking - quick and dirty: 2 x DIVA400's for the 3 actors all sitting in a row behind a console facing camera from about 5 feet away; 2 x 600's bounced off white ceiling to get room exposure up. I can't experiment in the space because I won't have access to it except a very short time before shooting so I have to bring with me what I think I'll need with no budget to speak of. I can't get too fancy here, but at the same time I have to make this look as good as I can because this is a narrative film.

Will 1 DIVA400 be enough as a Key for 3 people seated fairly close together and a 2nd DIVA (either dimmed or with fewer bulbs) as a fill for those same 3 people? Does dimming Kino flo's change color temp much? Will the 600's be too much for the rest of the room given the Key/fill ratio? I'm hoping that by stopping down, even if I am a little overlit, I can crunch everything down enough for an even look.

I fully realize this is a rather broad question and that my set up is not very 'feature-like'. Just trying to see what everyone thinks.

 

[Rush]

Will 1 DIVA400 be enough as a Key for 3 people seated fairly close together and a 2nd DIVA (either dimmed or with fewer bulbs) as a fill for those same 3 people? Does dimming Kino flo's change color temp much? Will the 600's be too much for the rest of the room given the Key/fill ratio? I'm hoping that by stopping down, even if I am a little overlit, I can crunch everything down enough for an even look

1 Diva 400 can be enough for 3 people depending on camera iris setting. A diva 400 can light an entire warehouse if you take a 25 second exposure with a film camera. It's all relative.

I would not use a second diva for fill on a feature, because it is the same size and type as the key, even if dimmed. You want a large reflector or 4x4' matte finish card, then bounce the diva 400 at full intensity into it. Dimming anything will change color temp, but kino's don't change much, especially on video, which is not as sens to color temp as film.

I would keep doubles and singles on standby for the 600's. You will have to change the intensity based on the kinos, since you will have those setup already, and it will be quicker to work on one ambient light than 2 kino's. Start with one 600, then bring in the second only if you need it. The less instruments in a small room the better, especially hot tungstens. If you have a pepper or an inkie dink, throw it on the floor bounced off a 12x12" card to create a gradient on the back wall. That will do wonders for the image dynamic, when you don't have backlights going.:thumbsup:

Stopping down won't help you with uneven lighting. If the background is 1 stop hotter than the actors' faces, nothinig can fix that. When you push the faces back up in post, the bkgrd gets ridiculous. Better to do it right at first, keep your eye on the dvx lcd, and drop in scrim until it looks right. If you have a lightmeter, all the better. Then bring down overall exposure in-cam a 1/4 - 1/2 stop to keep control of the highlights.

Best of luck, and have fun!

 

[steve]

I would not use a second diva for fill on a feature, because it is the same size and type as the key, even if dimmed. You want a large reflector or 4x4' matte finish card, then bounce the diva 400 at full intensity into it. Dimming anything will change color temp, but kino's don't change much, especially on video, which is not as sens to color temp as film.

I would keep doubles and singles on standby for the 600's. You will have to change the intensity based on the kinos, since you will have those setup already, and it will be quicker to work on one ambient light than 2 kino's. Start with one 600, then bring in the second only if you need it. The less instruments in a small room the better, especially hot tungstens. If you have a pepper or an inkie dink, throw it on the floor bounced off a 12x12" card to create a gradient on the back wall. That will do wonders for the image dynamic, when you don't have backlights going.

So a dimmed or smaller diva would would not work as well as a fill as bouncing a full Diva? Also, unfortunately I'm a novice but what exactly are "singles" and "doubles" - are these diffusion thicknesses for the 600's?

Thanks for your assistance.

 

[bcheong]

Singles and doubles normally refer to nets or scrims. Singles bring down the amount of light by 1/2 stop and doubles bring it down a Full stop.