Light reflecting in Eye and other problems

[triton5]

Hi Everyone

I recently shot an interview with natural light coming through the window plus 2 lights for fill and lighting the background wall.

During the shoot I noticed one of the subjects eye's was catching the light from the Arri and reflecting quite brightly back to the camera. I added more diffusion by adding a scrim then heightened the Arri but still was reflecting. What could I do to cut down on this reflection? Also the client noticed the lamp in the corner was casting too much yellow light behind the subject. Could I add a daylight bulb or one of those new eco bulbs in the lamp or try to line the inside of the shade with CTB? What would any of you suggest for this kind of setup?

I posted a lighting diagram and frame grab of the interview as reference.
Thanks in advance

 

[KKeller]

Eye lights usually look very pretty, it just looks like you had that 1k hitting her at a bad angle though. Try raising the light more or moving it in closer and moving it lamp left. I personally like the tungsten from the floor lamp because that is the color of house lighting and it warms up your picture. If the client doesn't want it you can wrap the bulb in CTB, I would probably only put a 1/4 or 1/2 on it to keep the light a little warm. You can also use a daylight balanced bulb in the lamp.

Scrims do not diffuse light, they only cut down the output.

 

[slondon]

Yes to the above, and what follows is a matter of taste.

You can see from the nose shadow (nose carat) that your key (I see the Arri as the principal illumination) is low. Raise it so that the shadow it casts is lower than the nose, but doesn't touch the lip.

I like the color of the background lamp, but you can do as suggested above.

Try a cookie in front of the background light to break up that boring wall and I'd like it if it were noticeably darker.

Your key and the window as fill are pretty even in intensity. This subject has mature skin with plenty of wrinkles that you might want to diminish, but in general, a little less fill, maybe a stop, would help with modeling and giving three-dimensional shape to the face. Can you move her away from the window or set a net?

I'd also position her so that she is not facing or looking at the camera, rather she is turned a bit to her right and looking at an interviewer who is at camera left. You should see more of the fill side of the face and less of the key side.

A small hairlight from high and behind the subject can give her hair a little glow that will help separate her from the background.

It's interesting to note that people sometimes go to a fair amount of trouble to supply an eyelight that creates those sparkling catchlights in the eyes, but not the bright reflection in this subject's one eye but not the other. Eyelights are small lights near the axis of the subject/camera that are strong enough to supply a noticeable reflection without being strong enough to light the face and destroy the contrast you have established between key and fill.

DVDs on lighting interviews are available from Doug Jensen, whose product is very polished and professional, and from Walter Graff, whose stuff is a little rough but very useful too. I own and like them both. And, my opinion, buy, don't borrow or lend these discs, a few sales will keep them producing, we can hope.

It's funny, I've written a bunch of stuff here, but I don't really think you're off a lot. Hope you take it in that vein.

 

[10s]

MY 2 cents:

Eyelights are good. You have one that's a little too big for me. Lower the light intensity causing the large eye light glint on our left, but keep a little eye light sparkle. Lower the BG intensity a touch so the skin tone and wall tone are different. Also, Without an eyelight twinkle the subject will appear worn out, lifeless, eyelights add soul and depth to a face.

With the back ground footcandles reduced so the wall and her skin tone contrast better I would use a backlight/rim light from low or high behind aiming forward hitting her hair causing a nice slight sliver of light helping seperate her from the BG. You might consider adding another color to the scene, maybe a cobalt blue vase near the plant, or something to break up the BG tone.

 

[thome]

Have her face the right side of the camera..towards the window!

 

[jambredz]

1. use a cookie on the BG
2. get a hair light to separate her from the BG
3.I'd say Use the window as key and reflector as fill...250 as hairlight and 1k to light the background.
However if the lighting from the window isnt good then scrap that.

make the hairlight a little warmer...will llok nice on the silver/grey hair (IMO)

 

[j]

That's crazy. I've never seen an eye light that's a problem. Most people struggle to get a decent eye light. It's even more unheard of for oldsters.

BTW, all the prior advice is valid and should help improve the overall lighting as well as probably making your "problem" go away.

 

[slondon]

That's crazy. I've never seen an eye light that's a problem. Most people struggle to get a decent eye light. It's even more unheard of for oldsters.

BTW, all the prior advice is valid and should help improve the overall lighting as well as probably making your "problem" go away.

Right. Isn't the problem that the Arri is too low and (angle of reflectance = angle of incidence) therefore reflecting into the camera? By raising it it will push it's reflection down and out of view.

And yes, anyone who has struggled to get a nice eyelight without screwing up the face lighting knows it can be an effort to find just the right little fast falloff patch.

What do you like for creating eyelights?