How to achieve THIS look?

gumonstro

gumonstro

Well-known member
I'm making KIND OF a video for a band. In fact it's like a 7 minutes promo with 3 minutes of interviews and one song half shot in a studio and half shot in a gig (this gig part is done).

The studio part I want to look like this pearl jam video.

The studio where we'll probably shoot is this

OK, we're comparing a beautiful vintage-look studio with a medium-size square room with white walls, but I'm pretty sure I can simulate something near to that.

My idea is a basic 500w-1000w light on the ceiling covered with blackwrap to make a spot over 2 members of the band's head, as backlight. For the other members I'll use smaller lamps that I'll put over the amps.

My questions are:

1- How to light the drum kit? Backlight coming from the ceiling or a very spot light coming from the other side of the room?

2- In the pearl jam video, there's beautiful soft light coming from the ground, to compensate the hardness of the spot light from the ceiling. What is the best way to achieve this? We don't have chinese balls here, so it's not an option.

Thanks!
 
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Single Video Theory is a beautiful video.

As good as you light it, the white walls will make it look boring. The more time you spend dressing that space up (get some art on the walls, some rugs or something, some paint, anything), it will pay you back tenfold in the look of the video. Here's a sexist comment: Get some females working on this... they know how to decorate.

As for the lighting, it would be interesting to have little hard spotlight/backlights on everyone. For soft light from the middle, cover the middle floor in white boards and bounce light down into them, and that will bounce back soft light into the room. Make sure to get plenty of candles around for atmospehere.
 
i've always thought white is boring as well, until i saw SIMILO. Everything in the room is white, yet it looks amazing... how do they do this?
 
I haven't been able to get ahold of similo, but I'd like to check it out. It takes a lot of work to get whites right. Obviously, something like THX-1138 did a great job with white and shades of gray, but there were also more colorful and grittier parts as well. I suppose with a great story, lighting, impeccable taste, and great audio, you can spice up white walls.
 
"there's beautiful soft light coming from the ground"

OK - i'm sorry, i viewed this video 3 times -- and i just don't see beautiful soft or any other kind of beautiful lighting in this video ...
YEA, it may be pearl jam but so -so lighting is so-so lighting ...

i think you can get the same kind/type "lighting" that is hitting the pearl jam players but with white walls you will NEVER capture the "mood" of the peral jam piece ....
 
PaPa said:
i've always thought white is boring as well, until i saw SIMILO. Everything in the room is white, yet it looks amazing... how do they do this?
Click to expand...

By pressing the "infinite white" setting on your camcorder :thumbup:

But if you don't have that setting like mine does, then with an inifinte white backdrop and plenty of lighting of course:

http://www.wildwestmedia.com/white-cyc.jpg

http://images.tabulas.com/338/m/sstage2.jpg


Light it all evenly and go for a bit of a blown out effect from the background which helps it disappear and become the "infinite white look."
 
Why don't you have China Balls? They are $25 including a few of thse flourecent fixtures and three Y adapters from home depot? or bounce on the floor... it might need to be augmented with extra lights for your wides... but it should work nicely.
 
jonnyh1968 said:
Why don't you have China Balls? They are $25 including a few of thse flourecent fixtures and three Y adapters from home depot? or bounce on the floor... it might need to be augmented with extra lights for your wides... but it should work nicely.
Click to expand...

Maybe he's saying they're not available in his country which he lists as Brazil.
 
Yeah, china balls are hard to find in the area of Brazil I live in, which is very distant from the main cities, like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

Sorry for the late response and THANKS a lot for your help. I'll print this page and carefully read it and consider all the issues.
 
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