Client wants a Hype Williams lighting style. How do you achieve this?

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dtjohns1

Well-known member
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vwNcNOTVzY&ob=av2e http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh8mRjO1nhg&ob=av3n It seems like a pretty simple setup. Put a solid color background up and shine a bright spotlight in the middle. But I would like to know exactly how this style is acheieved because I have been fooled by lighting in the past especially trying to figure out how the talent is lit (i.e. is the artist lit separately?). I would also like to know if this can be done at a local video production studio?
 
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Coloured background or rose washed white cyc. The burnt out centre could simply be a real hotspot created by the wash lights - possibly from the side because it's oval - moving head washlights often do this by accident because the beam brightness isn't that even - the centre is the same colour, but so bright by comparison to the edges, that it bleaches out. If the background is a red backing, then a couple of smaller Fresnels coming in from the sides will produce this effect. The subject needs quite a bit of distance from the background and is clearly lit interestingly from the front with a fairly hard key - notice the shadow to the side of his nose, which gives a clue where the key actually is. The shadows on the lapels and shoulder shows a source coming in fromthe side and below horizontal - whoch creates the shadow on the subject's left shoulder, where the arm seam joins the jacket. The shirt front sticking out on his left breast doesn't cast a shadow from this side light, so must be filled from the key too. Interestingly, the key is also quite low - he has shadows above his eye brow line, and above his cheekbones, and there is another on the breast pocket and lapels. I'm not sure there is any backlight from a dedicated source - the backlight present could simply be bounce from the background hotspot. Quite nicely done, and a little unusual, placement wise, but it works quite well, I think.
 
Funny this topic came up because I posted something recently pretty much asking the same thing. I love the lighting in all of Hype Williams videos. I wish there was a behind the scenes video or articles on what his team uses or lighting concepts they come up with because I am interested in knowing what they do as well.
 
All is easy until the talent puts on the sunglasses and then you see a complicated rig to give interesting lights reflections in the glasses.
 
Very true. I often can see an elaborate set ups with Floro's or a large softbox or LEDs being reflected in their glasses. Speaking of softboxes, I have a 320watt Alien Bees Strobe with a modeling light that I use with a 36" Octobox for photoshoots that I do. Is that strong enough to be used in video applications or should I go with a higher wattage light if I want to use the octobox?
 
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