fight club similarities

M

mobiledeli

Well-known member
hey all, im shooting a project for my english class where we read a book and pick a few scenes from that book and make those into a short film. I chose SURVIVOR (same author as fight club) and it was awesome. I'm shooting some scenes that take place in a crappy kitchen in an apartment. how can i make it look like some of interiors from fight club? i figured ill shoot it in a similar way

i own:
three home depot work lights
2 kino flo's
1 china ball
and some other stuff

thanks a lottt
 
Slightly OT, but I think that if a screenwriter is ever able to adapt Survivor, it has the potential to be a FANTASTIC movie... even better than Fight Club in some respects. (However, the source material seems really difficult to adapt to screen.)

Best of luck with your shoot. I'd love to see some screengrabs from the final product, or some on the set candids.
 
i love survivor. def my favorite book (read it a good 5 times) and Ill def have BTS photos etc!

back to the scene though. i shot some tests with the m2 and it looks to bland.
original
1178066997.jpg


lighting wise, i had this:

a kino in front of fridge (left) pointed at table
worklight reflecting off wall to left

ive got another kino and china ball, but i couldnt figure out how to get em in the shot
 
I think you'll have a hard time creating any kind of "dark" atmosphere with Kinos. They're inherently a softer light source which creates a feeling of "peacefullness" in the scene. Same with the China Ball. Very soft and flattering. For the scene (as I remember it from the book), you're probably looking for a more harsh look.

Since you have an M2, you can play with the DoF a little, and just let the BG go darker than the subject. That can be very effective if done correctly.

Is it the scene where he tells the suicide hotline callers to just give up and kill themselves? If so, it might be an interesting juxtaposition if it was lit like a sunny, happy scene. Kinda an ironic thing. Although, it'd be hard to do as a night scene.
 
yeah couple of things. the kinos i know are soft, but i dont want it to be too bright and harsh like just point a home depot light. in the fight club article i read a few posts up, the dp said he used flourescents from the ceiling. i cant do that cause... its a ceiling, but maybe something similar.

NICE CALL on the suicide hotline! im doing the scene where trevor calls and he "kills" him, and the scene where fertility calls and tries to get off. cool stuff.

i like the idea with making the background dark, but how can i isolate just the character in light. it seems like the bg would inevitably be lit. i tweaked with some stuff and got this:

1178072962.jpg


little more punchy i guess?
 
its funny, becasue the set, other than the layout and walls, is almost totally changing for the actual shoot! coool
 
If you lit with the Kino Flos, you could just light the actor enough to get a base level of light to film with, then hit the BG with another Kino that's farther away so the light is dimmer. Since they're flourescent, the fall-off will be drastic, which is good for your situation.
 
I was thinking more like this:

1178076091.jpg


You'll probably have to cheat the table away from the wall a little, to get away with this set up. But, in a shallow DoP shot, it won't be noticable. With the character being lit fairly closley with the Kino (or China Ball), and the BG being also lit with another Kino. Just be careful not to accidently light any of the character with the BG light.

If you decided to light the character with the china ball, you could use other Kinos for the BG, which might work out better for light levels. Just make sure the BG light is kinda high up, pointing down. This'll make it seem like some kind of kitchen flourescent setup.
 
oooh kay, totally got you, thanks a lot.

think theres a different type of light i should buy? i dont really want to, but if it will help drastically i may just have to?
 
Depends on your budget. You can pick up a Lowel Pro-Light for $100 or so used. They can use 125-250 watt bulbs, and they're focusable. That might give you more options (it would certainly help you to rim-light) but I don't think you need any extra instruments. Half the fun of filmmaking is figuring out how to get the look you want with the tools at your disposal.
 
For starters, the look is supposed to be dreary and bland. The kitchen almost looks a little too clean and upbeat.

Reread the article. The main elements of the look for the interiors was playing off natural/practical sources. So, what are the practical sources in your scene. Figure that out. Use the practicals as motivation to do a back/half light. Faces could be underexposed a stop or two. Use a second light to rake across backgrounds to highlight the textures. If you can, find a way to get some toplight, even if you have to tape something to the cieling. The downward light will create the dreary recessed eye look. Try to find a location where you can better separate subject from background. Use barn doors to control the lights so you have more dramatic separation of elements and not just a big lit up look.
 
thans josh, the kitchen is going to be totally redecorated (well not totally but pretty much) so thats not a problem.

i like your suggestions about the top light and motivated light etc, ill keep them in mind when im shooting.
 
1178137442.jpg

1178137472.jpg

1178137486.jpg

1178137500.jpg

1178137514.jpg

1178137530.jpg

1178137541.jpg

1178137574.jpg

1178137588.jpg

i think also i want like in this movie the color of their white shirts isnt exactly white. its more of like a yellowish hue
 
Man that cinematographer article is fantastic. Everything you want answered is in there and you should be stoked, it mention almost every light that you have in your kit.
 
They also mentioned in the article little eyelights attached to the camera, since otherwise, everything was rather underexposed. And that's just it, you don't need a lot of light. It may be more about turning things off than turning them on. Keep it as dim as you can, add then just hit the actor with a a little light coming from the direction of where a pratical would be. It's not that you light with practicals, it's that you motivate with practicals. I like the exposed lights in those shots. If a regular light bulb isn't enough light for you, swap it out for a 200w bulb, and then augment that with some other lights just for the close ups. Don't be afraid to go dark.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top