Interesting Lighting

[Debaser]

[FONT=verdana,arial][SIZE=-1] Hi,

I've got 2 500watt home depot, worklights. And a chinese lantern with a 200watt bulb. and a cheap reflector, that dosen't seem to work well.

And i've got a 'dramatic' scene, an almost sad scene. focusing on a drug addict. Anyway.

When i turn the lights all on....or atleast two of them. i get enough light to get rid of the grain. But the whole scene, although not over-exposed is still really....boring.

And almost...flat.

I want more interesting lighting, with nice shadows and parts of the frame to be DARK.

Is something like this possible with worklights? and how would i go about it.

thankyou[/SIZE][/FONT]

 

[HorseFilms]

What kind of location is it? There are a lot of things you can do to break up the light, but it depends largely on where the scene takes place.

 

[HybridCreations]

Control will be the big thing if you want nice shadows and dark parts of the frame. You should get or make some flags/cookies and some blackwrap so you can direct the light and keep it from going where you don't want it. Not the easiest thing with worklights, but it can be done.
-Ryan

 

[j]

What's going to suck worse, bad grain or bad lighting? I've never had a problem with "grain" from a DVX. Neither has any director I've shot for.

I think what is important is know what lighting ratio you want, and then achievieng it. Setting up the key for whatever brightness you want, then litting the fill and shadows fall off. (til black if necessary)

It's also important to know how to read a waveform monitor, to know where you highlights and blacks are and where they should be.

 

[barant]

in my lighting for film books, the same question was raised. you have too much light spilling everywhere. What you want to do is bring up enough light in the dak areas so there is a tiny bit of detail and light the subject the brightest. you dont need to flood the whole place with light. like hybrid said here, "control, control, control."

 

[J.R. Hudson]

First, try and determine the source of your light and then accentuate this. Is it a single hanging bulb in a garage ? Is it a bank of floros in the cieling ? Is it a Tiffany Table desklamp? A hallway light pouring into the bedroom with birght moonlight coming into the windows ?


Your lighting should serve a purpose. First determine this.