I present to you...the "how would you light it?" quiz, devised by iamWZA

iamWZA

iamWZA

Active member
There always seems to be differing opinions on lighting set ups, so the game is this: I start by posting a frame grab and others describe how they would light it to get the same look. Draw a diagram for extra nerd points. Feel free to add a frame grab at any point.

Let's see how this turns out.

I'll start with a shot from A Single Man.
 

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I'm guessing this is a daylight situation, so probably a 4k Par HMI camera right coming in from his backside. Maybe shoot it through a frame a 4x4 1/4 or 1/2 grid and back it off a bit. On the inside of the room I'd tape duvetyne to all the walls to cut down on spill. Only other thing I could think of is maybe just adding a little pizza box or something for just his face.
 
RyanT said:
I'm guessing this is a daylight situation, so probably a 4k Par HMI camera right coming in from his backside. Maybe shoot it through a frame a 4x4 1/4 or 1/2 grid and back it off a bit. On the inside of the room I'd tape duvetyne to all the walls to cut down on spill. Only other thing I could think of is maybe just adding a little pizza box or something for just his face.
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You win haha
 
I second the 4K, but shoot it backwards into a shiny board, then have it pass through a 4x4 single silk. Another shiny on the ceiling to his right and angled to edge the shoulders and top of arm. Hit that with a flagged off 2K, use a double net to squash it as needed, maybe a single.
 
Just curious, why would you shoot the 4k into a shiny board then into a diffusion? Are you looking for spill from the 4k to help light the window? Or are you thinking of shooting it into something softer like beadboard?

I was thinking that a seperate unit inside might be necessary to get that hard edge on the shoulder though. To me it feels like a 400 Joe-leko into showcard thats bunched up in the corner. That would probably require some grip to help clean things up a bit as well.

Usually when bouncing into a card or anything, I always like to use leko's, just because it's so easy to flag them off of everything except for the card, you can also get quite a bit of bunch out of them when you put on the narrower lenses.
 
I don't find it a particularly appealing shot either. Awfully flat for my taste.

Don't get me wrong, there are absolutely narrative reasons you'd do a very gray, flat, uninteresting shot like this. I'm sure there were, but it's certainly not "pretty".
 
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How about this one?

I loved watching Pride and Prejudice (2005), just for the lighting. It's as though the entire film was shot first thing in the morning, or at sun set. Unless it was at night, lit by candle and cool moonlight :)

I hope I'm not stepping on toes hopping in here with a grab! I'm new to the forum, and new to lighting for cinema (photographer).

2005_pride_and_prejudice_016.jpg
 
I would go for an open faced 2k with 1/4 Straw bounced off of a 4x beadboard. Then at least a 4x floppy sider to keep the spill off the background. One more unit right behind camera, probably a 1k with the same 1/4 or 1/8th Straw, this unit would probably be bounced off of 6x bleached muslin backed with a solid to cut down on light going through it and spilling into the rest of the room. Again more floppys to cut down on spill on the background and probably a duvatyne topper to get more light off the back wall. If you were really going for it, you'd probably end up with a 2x3 double close to the table to cut down on light hitting that dish in the foreground.

You could also put this unit on a dimmer to get a little flicker effect. Hard to see how far they went with that in this scene since it's a grab, but it doesn't look like they did very much in that department.
 
The light in the 2nd shot looks artificial and unnatural. I like the aesthetic of the first one better. I'm a natural light kinda guy I guess.
 
Here's my two offerings... both from "Anonymous"(2011).

Vanessa_Redgrave___2011733b.jpg


anonymous-still.jpg
 
Meh... I have that edition of AC lying around so it would be easy to just flick it up and give a pretty good guess. But from what I remember that was alot of candle light, big HMIs outside and a little haze. I still havent gotten to see that movie... But it looks damn impressive!
 
legrevedotcom said:
Meh... I have that edition of AC lying around so it would be easy to just flick it up and give a pretty good guess. But from what I remember that was alot of candle light, big HMIs outside and a little haze. I still havent gotten to see that movie... But it looks damn impressive!
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The reason why I posted the examples was not so much for the 'complexity' of the lighting, but for the simplicity to get a very 'natural' look. I also have the AC issue that talks of the BTS cinematography, but still, it is a 'look' I like and I'd attempt to emulate... and I think the candle light scene is a better example of motivated light, even if it includes some artificial lights to support the candle light.

One trick that I recently read was to carve out the back sides of the candles, and put small bulbs and some sort of silvery backing to point the light towards the subject. I don't know how 'small'... to get a bigger light output, and if too big or too hot, would be obvious... but it's an idea on getting the effect.

I'd think about that sort of solution for my GH-1, given that I only have the F/4-5.3 14-140 lens and would have to buy a Nikon 1.4/2.8 or something to get faster...

Maybe small LED's with heavy yellow filtration would give enough light... but aren't they 'hot'... in the sense of needing heat sinks... maybe holes int eh desk and mirrors...
 
Since I know very little, or rather nothing, about lighting I can only contribute frame grabs and marvel at your knowledge. Would love to know how someone would light these two shots from the quite remarkable Biutiful:
 

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The top image looks a lot like daylight to me... then filled up with foam core or similar. I think that must be a faint bounce reflection in HIS right eye, indicating that the bounce is camera left and below. Overall its quite flat, but suits the environment perfectly. Actually... after having read a lot of eye light threads, this is one shot where I think it's great that they didn't go to lengths to do it. I helps underline where he is in life... or lack of.

The bottom image looks like a single hard source straight through some cloth or? Lots of duva on camera left. Maybe a slight amount of bounce above and behind the hands to lift them a tiny bit .
 
iamWZA said:
What do you mean by filled up with foam core? I really think it's a stunning film, especially the cinematography. This is probably my favourite scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W54jTq4BrQg
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The 'day' appears to be overcast. The snow in the background is not blown out, so I believe the over cast is rather 'heavy'. What usually happens on overcast days, is that the subjects eyes are much more in 'shadow', and so one uses a white surface to bounce a bit of light into the eye area, so as to mitigate the shadows.

Since there's no catch light directly from the camera area, the bounce was angled such that it is coming from 'underneath' or perhaps further to the side of the camera.

And heck, perhaps this was one of those 'lucky' days where there was enough bounce from the snow and additional bounce was not needed.

You should also be aware that showing 'final' grabs from films often is misleading because of the amount of post processing many films have applied before they are presented. So, the snow could have been a much higher value, the face exposure a bit more flat, etc. and with post processing the snow toned down, and the face given a bit of contrast.
 
I wouldn't say misleading, since the goal of the DP is to light the scene in a way that will result in the intended final look, including post production processing.
 
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