Can a newbie lighter get some help??

S

sideshowlettuce

Active member
i need a good opiniion, or suggestion as to how to shoot some scenes, im in school now learning basic lighting, and have an arrilite 1k w/ barndoors scrims and gels, a 1k worklight(2x 500w heads), and a new smaller 500w worklight, a bescor 50/100 on camera light, and a bescor 20/40 on camera light. Im going to be filming alot at night now that winters here and the days get shorter, and due to the nature of what im shooting, its alot of moving shots, and i have yet to learn complex lighting tips and strategys in class, so im hoping you guys can give some advise, and critique these still honestly, i have no problem hearing it looks like garbage hah. So please take a look and tell me what i could have done better.
I plan on using this an a huge advantage to making my footage look better.

Thank you
btw, ive noticed its extremely hard to light a scene with a fisheye lens, i dont want the lights in the shot, any tips for that???

feevb.jpg

dewlowyellowrailfeeble.jpg

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romanwallridewideangle.jpg

romanwallridefisheyeroof.jpg

joeyboosthtown.jpg

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You need a backlight to give the object of attention life with a rim - though this can be difficult with motion.

At night you can have the lights in the cameras view without them showing by simply flagging them off with black flags or black wrap. otherwise you have to have all lighting behind the camera's pov

distant practicals like street lamps would help with depth
 
What are you shooting this for? What look are you going for? I would say if you are trying to shoot a doc you might be on the right track with the lighting here. If you are just looking to light the scene and not going for something dramatic then you might want to just keep doing what you're doing, at least for these wide and medium action shots.

Rob
 
Lighting is not just throwing some light on an object by some sort of formula. You have enough light on your subject for exposure, but what are you trying to say with your pictures. Make your lighting set the mood for the scene, is this in your face throw down action, is it renegade, is it just having some fun, is it danger is some one after these guys. Think what your trying to say, the mood, then set your lighting to create that mood.
 
if you're shooting BMX which it looks like you are.. then my opinion is just make sure we can see what is going on. the approach with most of these xreme videos is just so you can see what the action is... the objective is for the bmx rider or the skater to project and control the theme / mood of the movie through their moves and style - take a much more blunt approach: blanket the area with light and let the subject do the rest, even if one of your lights is in the shot - i wouldnt let that bother me
BTW i think what you shot looks GREAT... your demographic will see that the rider is doing a wallride (or whatever it is), not that he has shadows around him
 
have you learned about the 3 point lighting technique using a keylight, backlight and flood light...

i believe for these types of video you don't really want fast falloff...meaning hard shadows...so u should try to get ahold of some lights that diffuse, take away the hard shadows and add one to the left side of the camera then use a strong fresnel keylight on the right of the camera...and possibly a background light for some depth.
 
ProfessorChaos said:
have you learned about the 3 point lighting technique using a keylight, backlight and flood light...

i believe for these types of video you don't really want fast falloff...meaning hard shadows...so u should try to get ahold of some lights that diffuse, take away the hard shadows and add one to the left side of the camera then use a strong fresnel keylight on the right of the camera...and possibly a background light for some depth.
Click to expand...


Yea, im learning about 3 point lighting now, recently ive learnd about soft lights and diffusion. i went to b&h and got myself a pack of bogen assorted gels for my 1k arrilite. I set my light up at home, and tested some of the colored gels, and diffusion papers out. It made a noticable difference. I suppose if i were to get more lighting, my best choice would be to stick with open face lights instead of fresnels? The reason I think this is because open-faced lights are for more on-location set-ups... and with a diffusion, a open-face can work similar to fresnel? Another question I have is with different color temperatures... like spotlights outside buildings, im unsure of what gels i could possibly use to help correct that. like.. if the "practical" is giving off a red tint with a light that is set for 3200k, should I whitebalance where the practical is and add a red gel to my lights once i establish a shot? I need to get a good generator too.. any suggestions?
 
you've learned about colour temperature matching i suppose? in daylight i'm pretty sure on an outdoor shoot, you should match your lighting to the natural sunlight which is 5600k...but placement of your lighting is much more important...so when on location fiddle around with the placement of your lighting.

personally, i dont really like using fresnels for outdoor shoots, i just use a diffused light if it's pretty bright or use a big reflector. At my school, we're using various lowel's

I haven't shot a night shot before so I don't know how to light those properly...so I'll have to find out a technique.
 
yea, i understand mixed color temps. but still dont understand what i can do to correct it. im lookin at these britek lights that dvx users get discounts on, they look super nice for the money.. does anyone know about those? also, for the stuff im filming, would a softbox come in handy at any time, i understand that theyre usually used close to the subject.
 
and for filming at night...you really shouldn't be filming when its dark..the video noise is bad and colours are washed...but when the sun is setting and there is still enough light outside. you can use some directional lighting like a key and then colour correct the footage after to dark...and key or rotoscope the sky out if you want but that's the best time for the best results on outdoor "night" shoots...i believe that's why hollywood movies are done like that aswell..i.e. LOTR:Two Towers...the helms deep fight if u have the extended edition dvd's were all shot in the afternoon with lots of blue screens.
 
Sorry to correct you professorChaos, helms deep was filmed at many different times, quite a bit at night, go back and watch the DVD's again. As for the original thread here, you are trying to light BMX stuff, it seems to me there is not going to be much finesse here. Try using one of those 18v flashlights that you can buy at home depot. Single spot source, develop your own style, with this type of shooting almost anything goes, good luck.
 
damn... i hoped id get some elegant answers hah.. i wanna make it fancy-schmancy.. if you have any tips tell me... i just wanna make the most out of every shot.
 
Hello
First I think you have done well to not just ask but to post pictures so we know where you are as far as lighting goes .
1) I like what you have shown . The shadows due to placement of your lights have given me some ideas .I happen to like background shadows as they fluctuate and give more kinetic energy to the scene .
2) You title yourself a "lighter" that is ok ..The old terms are director of photography, in Britain that person was called the lighting cameraman ,.Some gaffers actually will do the lighting based on an understanding with the dp .
3) I suggest that whatever you have in your kit- double up -
GET BACK UP BULBS for all your appliances .
4) I agree withthe comment by ICARUS2005. He has a good eye and sees that you can get separation with backlight and he did well to mention how to do that .
5) I love the idea for the 18v flashlights and I am going to try that .
6) My suggestion is that you take your kit and shot short interviews with all the sportsman you are using .
During that event explore all you can about using your arri light 1 k as the key and bounce the light from the 500watt utility off a bounce card or white poster board .
Use the last utility light up high and out of frame (to the rear of the subject ) with some black foil to create a
back light and then
if you have it , take a flashlight and put a low angle light onto the jawline and side of the face of the subject interviewed(that is called a kicker)
.Any other light can splash illumination on the background where sepertation(between subject and background is needed .

This excersise in head shot lighting will translate into every other scene you shoot at any time of day .Check out some sites on dv lighting some even have a dvd on head shot lighting.It might help.
7) I dont know enough about DV shoting (yet ),Night and dark noise with night scenes to support or dissent on the issue of night shoting .
I just know that if I had the lights and the subject and the oportunity
I wouldent NOT SHot or STOP shoting because it was dark .
Hope this helps and GOOD LUCK
CHEERS
BRUCE
 
thank you bruce for the suggestions, where can i get black wrap, and a bounce card.... is it something i can get at a local store, or do i need to go to a camera/lighting related store?
 
sideshowlettuce said:
thank you bruce for the suggestions, where can i get black wrap, and a bounce card.... is it something i can get at a local store, or do i need to go to a camera/lighting related store?
Click to expand...
Before you invest in black wrap go with heavy duty tin foil and just know youll get some crazy specular bounce off the silver .
Then go to a large copy store and ask for discarded poster board .
Bounce cards can have silvering and can be expensive get a large roll of regular tin foil and tape it to the card board or poster board .
However if you start making bucks through a client get some good looking collapable reflectors .
I am still getting used to the fact that if you are on a paid basis you must consider the image you project as a professional ...but the consideation is worth it .
Good Luck
Bruce
 
sideshowlettuce said:
thank you bruce for the suggestions, where can i get black wrap, and a bounce card.... is it something i can get at a local store, or do i need to go to a camera/lighting related store?
Click to expand...
:thumbsup: :shocked:
I forgot to answer your real primary question .
Any production house in your local dealing with EXPENDABLES . OR PRODUCTION GEAR .
BOUNCE CARD TO BUY ART STORES LIKE MICHAELS , KINKOS?,ETC
BLACK WRAP I AM SURE IS OBTAINABLE THROUGH ONLINE AUCTIONS AND
SINCE I LIKE THE FRIENDLY ATTIDUE OF THE EVS FOLKS ... RUSH !!!ARE YOU OUT THERE
LISTENING TO THIS ?

THIS YOUNG FILMMAKER NEEDS BLACK WRAP .
ANY ADVICE ?
CHEERS
BRUCE
 
Something else to consider is using a different lens. If every shot is a fisheye...it can really get boring. Let's see some XCU of faces, hands, spokes, elbows, etc. How you gonna' edit if every shot is a Wide?

Closeups can give you some added lighting flexibility.

Nice work.
 
yoooo, went to b&h and got some cinefoil black wrap, a chimera soft box, and speed ring... shits awsome... cinefoil works real well, tested all my stuff right when i got home
 
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