Dra-Dramatic lighting

MalcolmOng

MalcolmOng

Veteran
Hi guys, I'm helping to film a school trailer tomorrow for a play, but we're trying to make it look more like a movie than a play...Anyway the bulk of the shooting would be in an auditorium on the stage - that means harsh lighting almost directly down from the ceiling. My friends and I have 1 1k light...thats it. But I'll be getting my hands on some reflectors - i hope. Any suggestions on how to achieve a really really dramatic look given the resources?

Thanks
 
I guess it really depends on the dramatic content of the play - is it a comedy, serious drama, etc? The term "dramatic look" can mean a lot of different things to different people. Location is equally important in establishing a "look" for a piece and making it look like a movie when it's a stage play might be difficult depending on your production/set design. It might be better just to establish it as a trailer for a stage show and let the performance of the actors and the pace of the editing do it's thing insted of fighting the grain.
 
Well its primarily a tragedy, so I'm gunning for the most traditional meaning of dramatic - really really serious, like those interrogation room scenes you see in movies. At the stage the actors are at, the play really looks like a load of crap right now to be truthful, so we're trying to fake it, and just make it look more like a movie than a play. Here is where we're looking to achieve the cliche action trailer 'format' replete with don la fontaine voice and lots of drama.
 
You probably have plenty of light already... How about casting shadows, instead? Use some scrims and such to block some of it.
 
If you can get your hands on a 4'x8' ft piece of foam core, or even plywood...if nothing else... Cut several odd shaped holes, with soft edges, into this board and make a giant "cookie" or "cuculoris" a light pattern .. if you will. Hold it anywhere from 2'ft to 6'ft in front of your light. You can position it, to have actors faces hit by pools of light.
Just a thought....Depends on the action,direction and mood. You may also try bouncing the light into several broken pieces of a mirror, or into aluminum pans of water, you can place this 4'ft x 8'ft reflector on the floor, and angle it up toward faces, and bounce light into that. A cool lighting technique I like to use on close-up, table top type assignments, is to use several builders/ architects glass blocks( the kind you see in some bathrooms). I make a wall of them, and put hot lights from behind them all the time.
You might be able to buy them, and then return them for credit or your money back. For your stage play, I'd use about 30- 50.... I realize this seems like a lot of work, but I'm just offering suggestions. Shower curtains liners, the soft milky kind, make a great softbox. You could also cut several holes in this as well for some "Hot Spots" of light .
A cheaper, and maybe easier way to get the glass block look, is to use the frosted or stippled glass from a shower door, and shoot your light through that, and cover the glass with black cloth or black tape, the areas where you don't want light to go thru.
Jus' ramblin.. good luck
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top