discreet lighting setup for people walking down street at night?

Q

qwerty123

Well-known member
A lighting question:

I'm going to be shooting a scene of two people walking down a street at night with a gh2 on a light weight steadi-cam-ish setup. Something similar to a scene like the one in this video from say, 5:30-6:40 during the shots when the couple are walking down the street: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b-AE...eature=related

It looks like they used a single key light shinning down from above... Although I have access to fresnels & light stands, I want to remain relatively discreet and have little to no crew. So... I'm thinking of using maybe an on camera led light or something.

Does this seem to be the best way to go? If so, can someone recommend an affordable light(s) for this purpose. If not, alternatives? Thanks!
 
The youtube link didn't work for me, but...

Perhaps a hand held big source LED light leading the talent? Hold it up and off the side so there is some modeling.

I'd prefer that to a camera mounted light any day.
 
I'm a huge fan of test shoots. First I'd scout the location and find the area you'll use for the scene. Like your example, you can look for an area that provides good practical lights. Then try your on camera light diffused and how about a second fixture that is battery operated that you can have someone walk along with you and fill in where you need it. Are you shooting Black and white also?
 
Yeah, I'm planning on tests. But I don't have any lights currently to test with. I'm thinking of shooting in color (a la gh2), and then making it black and white in post. Any reason not to go that route?
 
Personal opinion -- so it's probably not worth much to you, but here goes.

Light the set, not the actors. If you want it to look "real" you can't have a moving light tracking the actors. Never happens in real life, and it will therefore be distracting to your viewers -- it will force them out of their "suspension of disbelief" that we all experience when we "get into" the flow of a movie.

Even if all you can do is light a spot and have the actors walk though it. Which is what happens all the time -- we have nearly all walked through the spots thrown by street lights at some time or other in our lives, so we all know what that's about.
 
I recall the BTS stuff from "Before Sunset" had a scene of the main characters walking through a courtyard, camera in front of them, same distance, as they walked through the set (IE camera op was moving backwards).

There was a big china on a boom pole overhead providing fill, being walked along by a grip.

The scene looked really natural - the china provided just enough fill to even things out, but light did definitely play on their faces. This kind of thing isn't unusual, but you have to be subtle with it. If you track reasonably well, it just reads as ambient light.

Hardest issue for any of these scenarios would be finding a battery-powered light with enough kick. You may not need much,

Also, keep in mind you have to pay attention to color temp, even if you're converting to B&W. TEST TEST TEST - a reddish-orange result (say a dimmed tungsten bulb with a daylight sensor setting) will look very different than a white or blue cast, especially on skin tones, blemishes & facial features. That's why B&W portrait guys back in the day used color filters. Green made lips darker, wrinkles deeper, skin imperfections pop (for, say, shooting a grizzled guy). A light rose evened things out.
 
Litepanels makes some nice, if overpriced, lights and I often wish I had a couple of their 1x1's. I haven't used that light you ask about. I have used one of their Micros and thought it was OK diffused if you are close with only one person. But there was a very noticable drop off from the bright center to the dim edges. Maybe this model fixes that. It would be nice if their website was more helpful but the product video is useless and the photometrics charts are botched for all of the minis - like this mess:

Litepanels MiniPlus™ Photmetrics Flood Mode
DISTANCE FOOTCANDLES LUX
2ft. / 0.6m 52fc 560 Lux
4ft. / 1.2m 26fc 560 Lux
2ft. / 1.8m 6.5fc 560 Lux

Spot Mode
DISTANCE FOOTCANDLES LUX
2ft. / 0.6m 52fc 560 Lux
4ft. / 1.2m 26fc 560 Lux
2ft. / 1.8m 6.5fc 560 Lux

If you're on a tight budget shop around as there are a lot of no name brands that can do a decent job for most people. I'm very happy with my Comer 1800 light which can be a lot brighter than the Litepanel if needed & is more versatile to the point that I just bought a second.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top