Good lighting set up to fight the sun?

PabloOzzy

Active member
Hi Just after some feedback on how to light a scene to achieve a similar lighting effect to this?

sample.jpg

This is a still from crushcrushcrush by Paramore, filmed on the outskirts of LA (I think) back in 2007

I'm assuming expose for the sun and background using ND's then relight the musicians with one or more HMI's through a big silk?

If correct what kind of power are we talking here for the HMI's to fight the backlit sun through said diffusion?

Appreciate your thoughts.
 
Interesting...I thought that originally but then wasn't sure. Actually doing it that way would probably make the project coming up more feasible. Client wants a similar look with an empty desert stretching to the horizon but in Sydney, there isnt anything like that unless you want to drive for about 8 hours or more. So find a dirt patch, throw up a green screen, tracking markers, HMI over the top to simulate the sun then light from the front and now you dont need as much power?
 
Ha ha, cheers for that. I think I searched for everything other than 'making of' - well that is a **** load of lighting they had there. Now I can at least show this video to the client so they get an idea of cost and scale for a project like this.
 
OK just following up, obviously that is a major production but what would be a minimal lighting set up to achieve a roughly similar look to fight the sunlight coming from behind? Assuming there isnt a budget for a bunch of 18k HMI's and generator trucks etc

Could you wait till later in the afternoon and get away with a few 2k HMI's running off a 6000w honda generator? Or is amount of ND you would need still going to be the issue?
 
Never heard of a 2k HMI...but if you're looking to cut costs the first thing I would try for would be to do it all with shiny boards and rags. This requires very careful planning since as the sun moves you have to refocus shiny boards, but for lighting up a small area like a person's face, they can do great things.
 
93 million miles away and still no way to generate that kind of light level! Seriously, though - reflectors are going to be critical. A few low power HMIs are just not going to cut it - as Star Trek said, Ye canna break the laws of physics Jim!
 
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