Cheap and safe way to make moonlight

[mattsdni]

I would like to hear your opinion on this set up for moonlight. Lets say for one reason or another my light has to stay on the ground. Could I point it up in the sky to a reflector on a c stand and have it bounce back down to create a soft moonlight? Any idea how much light loss there would be? (Assuming the reflector is about 15' high)

 

[sonofaresiii]

Seems to me unless you've got a very bright, hard light and some very good light control, it's going to be really hard to get it at a place where it looks good shining onto a reflector without it spilling from the source onto the subjects.
make sure you get a big reflector.
actually, if you've got the resources, i think a big white sheet strung across two c-stands rather than one reflector, with giant boards to keep the light from spilling at the source, would be your best bet.


but this is a tough lighting situation any way you look at it.

 

[starcentral]

What are you lighting, a room, people on a bed, etc... ?

Try putting a soft light source slightly above eye level and flag the sides so you get some an edge/shadow on the wall in the scene. Light it for proper exposure, or 1 stop less, then do the rest in post. You can remove the red and green channel slightly, and boost the blue. This will produce a very believable looking moon light shot.

The limitation of course is the size of the room, where the subjects are placed, and the power of your softlight source.

 

[Michael Carter]

If this is outdoors, and you need a decent sized setting that is lit... and ya got no money...

I'd certainly do some tests with white fabric, going for something like a 8' x 15' strip, roped up to trees and angled 45 degrees down, 10 or 15 feet up;

I'd get as many lights as you can, get them on stands that reach to the bottom of this reflector, positioned "out" from the fabric at about the midpoint of the angle, and aim them at the center of the sheet; you'll want some black cards, foamcore, flags, etc to flag the fixtures off if they interfere with the shot.

If you're going to go shop lights, see what the max lamp you can put in them is - shop light bulbs (the long, skinny kind) are available up to about 750 watts (the hardware store lights usually are lamped with 100-200 watts). Myself, when I was a reckless kid... I'd lamp 'em with big watts, pull the glass shields off (if equipped) and have them switched from the ground - maybe keep one 200 watt one going for blocking and work light, kick in the big guys just for a take. This is, of course, reckless behavior, as the lights could melt, burn, short out, etc. So I'm not advising that, just saying I might have taken such a route in my younger days but would not let my kids do it!

Keep in mind the amps you will pull and the fact that extension cords of great length will increase resistance. But to make this work, you'll likely need several lights blasting away at the reflector. Know anyone with a generator?

If you can get hold of any theatrical or video fresnels or open faced lights, those would be preferable of course. Most cities have things like lowell totas for rent much cheaper than HMIs. You can pop the lens from a fresnel when you need a more open-faced bounce.

If you don't have the $$ for a lot of light, go tungsten and white balance with a warmer card (or hold a straw gel over your white card) to get a very cool light - this can, of course, introduce some noise - but that may be a better tradeoff than gelling and losing a stop or more. Or perhaps gel with half CTB on the fixtures and do the same white balance trick, which would require less gain in the blue channel. Gels are pricey if you're on a zero budget.

Finally, I'd try to get my hands on a 650 fresnel or two, and try it as rim or backlighting, maybe gel it even bluer.