Between The Worlds - Lighting / 7D

A

Alan Uran

Member
Hello,

I'd like to share a bit of my recent work. It is the first project shot almost completely with 7D. I will write more info about this project soon. It's live action + vfx, so I will post a lot of cool BTS stuff too. The footage shown here is almost entirely lit with artificial light (very low budget though). Hope you like this light tests.




For more stuff You may also like to visit my blog page: http://alanuran.blogspot.com
 
Some really nice shots in there, especially liked the blue tinted close ups and the workshop shots. In all honesty I wasn't a fan of the shot with the sphere, but I could see where you were going with it.

Out of interest what sorts of lighting were you using in this? Redhead/Blonde?
 
Thanks,

I mainly used 3-4 dedolights but they were way too weak to use any diffuser, so I wasnt quite pleased with the shadows. One 200w HMI for overall fill, and then any lightsource I could get: small bulbs, industrial halogens, led tubes etc. I will share more BTS photos soon with the light setup too, but they are really very guerilla style!

May I ask what you did not like in those scenes you mentioned ? Was it the composition ? Light ? To be honest when I came at the location I was really fed up because I couldn't find a good spot, the colours were not as I remembered and overall impression was very different from what I had in mind but decided to shoot anyway.
 
First off I just want to say I didn't dislike anything in it, I thought it was all stylishly lit and looked polished, however I thought it didn't really fit in with the rest of the footage. It was a very classic sort of look, 60's and 70's ish. The background was a little too lit, especially on the wide shot that is the video's thumbnail, there is a little too much clutter and contrast which distracts from the main image of the man on the sofa, and he sort of blends in with his surroundings because of the very similar tones in the wall, the sofa and his skin.

As you say, lighting can render differently "on film" to how you perceive it in real life. Especially when practical lighting is used.

How much of the colour is done in post and how much on set? Some of the shots I'm sure you must've used gels, but it's to very good effect!
 
Those are just tests so I put them quite randomly, but I won't shoot actual footage in all of those places. The scene you are referring to was quite horrible because of those pink walls which made everything look reddish. Blue gels didn't help much. Somehow i forgot that this room had pink walls when I visited it first time, and when I arrived for test it was a big surprise. I agree with your comment and I am glad to read it. I really apreciate it and always like to hear others opinions to improve myself.

I guess you noticed that workshop scenes were using most gels from all of them, I wanted a bit of surreal, diverse light. I will explain why soon when some things will be ready to post. Almost every time some king of gel was used, only the clock shot was pure one dedo at low temp. The colour correction wasn't strong. Just a bit balance and shadows recovery but you can't do much with low light h264 source (and that's a pity for me because I love cc!).
 
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Definitely agree with the comment on grading in low light, if you push too hard you start bringing up lots of unwanted noise from the ISO.

Look forward to seeing more of your stuff, been perusing your site and it seems you're quite a busy guy! Best of luck for the new year :)
 
Thanks,
I will post here to keep you updated. I'm a bit busy but that's Ok :) (normally I work at Vfx studio and do a bit different stuff, so this is done in my free time more as a hobby). Best of luck to You too!
 
To be honest, I think that your lighting work paid off extremely, there's no too-bright highlights, the colors are to die for, it truly must be some of the most officially-cinematic looking footage I've seen in a very long time, and what's better is that it even fits the character and mood perfectly - simply put, I feel like many people here would kill to have your lighting direction on one of their films. Who knows what kind of things an expert could pick at, but I think you've honestly accomplished a look of perfection. These shots really look atom for atom like something you'd see at the cinema, possibly even better and more unique, I absolutely love the way the skin looks and the ways the lights shine upon it (I can't say enough how beautiful yet extraordinarily realistic it looks!), I like how the important objects are lit and that even though the mood is dark, things are illuminated in all the right places to give you a focus and something to draw your eyes to.

Now, about those ball shots, there's the first ball shot during the middle, and I'd say that that shot looks 'flat' - just less cinematic tones on the man's skin, and the interest seems low. But with the ball shot at the very end, that got remedied completely, I love the ball shot at the end just as much as all of them, and it proved how interesting the difference is between a flatter look and the more dedicated look. Great job, really!
 
Thanks a lot! It's nice to see someone could see so much in those pictures. I was a bit worried about lighting a movie with gear I have available (no more than 2k watts in total) but I tried to use it best I could. I will try to improve the lighting for final shots, especially when it comes to shadows, and composition. Honestly I don't know if I like that scene with the sphere and fire or hate it :) it was completely not as I imagined it, with those pink walls lighting everything red. Well, at the end it's all about learning and having fun while doing it.
 
I really loved everything about this. The overall feel was fantastic. Like you already mentioned about that last shot being too red, I completely agree. The pink walls have to go.
 
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