Eye light help...please

K

kellyboy

Well-known member
Hey all,

I'm inexperienced first of all.

I'm shooting a little film right now with my daughter and her friends.
Here is a link to a shot I have to re do:
http://www.kellfilmandvideo.com/eyelighthelp.html

The eyes are black and dead and it's killing me. We shot in the woods on a clear sunny day. I put up a silk to kill the contrasty light screaming through the trees. We had no power for lights.
How can I add catch lights to her eyes without bouncing a bunch of light into the face that will overpower any intentional shadows? How do you guys do it?

Thanks.

Joe Kell
 
Hey Joe-
While I've never encountered the situation where I've actually needed to use the technique, I've heard a few people on these boards (DVXuser and Cinematography.com) say that a MagLite can be used, so long as it is scrimmed/ND'd not to overpower and of the real light in the shot. All a eyelight is really is the reflection of a light source, so you just want the flashlight in close enough to "catch" (hence, catch-light) but not to illuminate the subject.
Peace,

-Harry
 
I would use a 4x4 or 2x4 shiny board, or aluminized (hard) reflector from about 10-20' back. It will ad some light, but it will give spark in the eye. The placement is similar to shooting pool, imagine what angle you would need to bounce off the eyeball to go into the lens, and thats where the shinyboard should go. Assuming there is light there...

-j
 
they main thing to remember when your doing this...don't point lights or shine boards directly at her....you want the hots spot to be pointed over the top of her head...thats how you create the sparkle...

PEACE
- Brad
 
Another technique is to take a mirror, you pick the size, depending on your scene, and you can wipe down certain areas so they are less reflective to achieve a "dappled" lighting look. This should match the look of lighting coming through trees. You can also take a piece of mirror and crack it in certain places to achieve the same look. Kurosawa did this almost exclusively in "Rashomon" during the scenes in the woods.
 
I think using the ND'd maglite would work well. I've used it before at night and it worked really well to add just a bit of spakle to the heroine's eyes.
But it was on a really terrible horror movie I worked on a while back.

Good luck man.
 
You want to put diffusion on it instead of ND You are just after the reflection and doing it this way you dont run the risk of the beam hitting her head. Also try 3 of them of different sizes tied around a can or something to separate them, then you get the anime' type sparkle.
 
Joe;
dodguy is correct. I have seen it done with a mag light. I is not needed for light, Just the effect.

I seen Goi use one in the film " The Hunt".

Tahl
 
Aram Bauman said:
You want to put diffusion on it instead of ND You are just after the reflection and doing it this way you dont run the risk of the beam hitting her head. Also try 3 of them of different sizes tied around a can or something to separate them, then you get the anime' type sparkle.
Click to expand...


WOW! This is something I will do! You do mean mini mag lites taped or secured around a coffee can, correct?
 
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