I need help lighting a scene

L

LloydC

Veteran
I have a scene where there are two people sitting across from each other with a table in between. A small round table, maybe 4 feet in diameter.

There is also a box in the middle of the table.

what I want is to highlight the box, so that it stands out. But I want the actors faces to be silhouetted.

How would I go about doing the silhouette?
 
You got C-stands? I'd think you'd need to put a fresnel of some sort directly over the box, flagged off so it doesn't hit the actors faces. Then backlight them both so they kinda stick out. This sounds kinda tough cuz the box is gonna bounce some light onto their faces no matter what, but you may be able to fix that in post. I'm tryin' here.......
-Ryan
 
What is tricky about the set-up you are talking about is getting the background lit right. You said silhoutte, that means that the back ground is lit more than the people, balancing that with the light on the table will be tough. I woud suggest that you use a very dark table cloth on the table, to cut down on reflected light on the actors and make sure that you flag (or snoot) the downward light very carefully. I have done something similar and used a Pepperlight fresnel zoomed in real tight. They are great little lights.

Good luck.
 
I'd use a small fresnel on the box from up high, possibly with a snoot. I'd try to use a dark table to minimize bounce. Then light the background as little as possible, just to define the edges of the talent. Repeating- the background light is used not so much to light the background, but to define the edges of the talent. I'd use carefully controlled fresnels there as well. I'd also put a lot of black- probably black foamcore cards between the camera and the scene to keep any frontal bounce controlled. Keep the talent's wardrobe dark as possible. You'll need a large space- you want to keep the background lights as far away from the action as you can.

Have fun.

fn
 
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