Backlight.

X

Xanhood

Member
I am looking to purchase a backlight. What do most people use as a 3rd light source? Should I just rig up a stand, and extend a clip-on lamp? Or is there a pretty good priced package, that will do the trick?

Thanks.

Xan
 
I use a 650, 300 or 200 watt fresnell, depending on the key-fill-backlight ratio I want for the shot. If can get a fresnell, get one, you will get a million and one uses out of it for other shots.

If you can't afford a fresnell, a clamp lamp with a flood or spot light (I keep 2 of each in my kit) works well. Wrap a little blackwrap (or aluminum foil) to shape the light (and keep if off the lens...) also works well.

As for mounting, sometimes a c-stand armed or double armed out, sometimes a combo stand with a "menace arm" attached, sometimes I get lucky and I can clamp to a curtain rod or use a scissor clamp on the ceiling grid.

-J
 
j said:
I use a 650, 300 or 200 watt fresnell, depending on the key-fill-backlight ratio I want for the shot. If can get a fresnell, get one, you will get a million and one uses out of it for other shots.

If you can't afford a fresnell, a clamp lamp with a flood or spot light (I keep 2 of each in my kit) works well. Wrap a little blackwrap (or aluminum foil) to shape the light (and keep if off the lens...) also works well.

As for mounting, sometimes a c-stand armed or double armed out, sometimes a combo stand with a "menace arm" attached, sometimes I get lucky and I can clamp to a curtain rod or use a scissor clamp on the ceiling grid.

-J
Click to expand...
That pretty much gets it. Just mind those f-stop ratios and you should be in the clear. If you have the right angle on the back light, you can sometimes bounce it for your fill, if you are low on lights.
 
I've found it's not so much the model of light head for the backlight which makes a difference.

In my experience, the best thing to achieve a quality back light result is to have a dimmer hooked up to your backlight source.

The backlight, at times, can be one of the most misused sources of luminance. Especially for beginners who want people to KNOW they put up a backlight and end up with a too bright effect. Too me, a backlight is one of the more subtle elements in lighting.

Yes, there are exceptions of course. However a nice backlight edge does not have to be super obvious. It helps set the subject off from the background but should not take away from other elements in the frame which are more important.

Does that make sense?
 
Lensmith,

Thanks. Sounds like I will just rig something up, with a dimmer. Good word on the "trying to show the backlight." subtlety seems to be the key in good filmaking. no one should ever know...

all that hard work, to not be noticed.
 
My favorite light for backlight or kicker is the LTM Pepper light. They are small, powerfull and very controllable. They are very well made. The above posts are right, for good a good backlight, be very careful about the light level. Where it is standard in the "Classic" 3 point set-up to set your backlight a full stop or two over the key, that may not, in many instances, be needed for subtle seperation and modeling. Experiment and see what you like.
Be careful with dimmers. Some cheap incandescent lights might "sing" when dimmed down, which may be a problem for your sound and also be aware that dimming does vary the color temp of the lighting. Slight decreases in voltage will not matter, but the color temp will warm up with lots of dimming. If this is not what you want, consider scrims or the the very cheap, "inverse square rule".

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/HBASE/vision/isql.html
 
I typically use an Arri 150W Fresnel for a backlight. But, I'm fast becoming a huge fan of using soft sources for backlights and 3/4 kicks. Two-foot, two-bank KinoFlos or something similar.
 
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