Lighting A Pool

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francheezie

Active member
Hey guys,

We're filming a short film at this pool (night scene), and I'm wondering if anyone has ideas on how to light it. We want to have the pool nice and bright in the background. Unfortunately there are no underwater lights installed in the pool or we'd use those.

View The Setup

Maybe we can bounce a light into the pool to illuminate? The actors will be outside the pool standing next to it, not in it.

Thanks!
 
What is your budget? A large, bright source pointing into the pool would do nicely, and laying down white material on the bottom of the pool will cut back on the bluish light you would get, unless you wanted that. But ask yourself also WHY the pool would be bright, and you might end up needing a different kind of source.

Also, youre only really lighting the pool's surfaces, not the water, so keep that in mind. Some nice lighting along the edges and in those bushes will go a long way towards selling the image.

Underwater lights would certainly be best...
 
Light tends to diffuse really quickly as it hits the surface of water, I imagine you could point one or two big HMI's from either side of the pool about a quarter way through the length of the pool and have a great looking light illuminating the whole rectangle, if it is indeed a rectangle.
 
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I would go with HMIs myself. 2 6ks on either sides raised up out of frame would do nicely. If I had infinite budget I would do the HMIs for the pool alone and then get an inflatable soft box for the whole scenes ambience. Once you give us a budget we can help you out allot more.
 
Depending on how wide you want to shoot, I think you could easily get away with an open-face 2K bounced into the pool if you want to make it nice and bright. The light's strong enough to bounce out and cast rippling waves of light all over the talent and background.
 
Before you choose lights, wattage, etc. I would study where lights should be set up. Is the pool area lit a night night? If so, where are the lights located and where are they pointed. Try to duplicate the lighting (assuming that its dynamic) and use more powerful lights to bring up your foundation. Once you have that lit, then see what lights are necessary to illuminate your subjects.
Gary
 
the built into pools are only 500Watts, build some waterproof boxes out of Plexiglas and silicone, maybe with a wooden or metal frame for support put some small lights in them around the pool. You only need to submerge the box a couple of inches. Lighting from above will result in almost all of the light reflecting off the surface. Why waste the electricity? Light from underneath.

I know I am going to get heat from this but I have seen it done. I would probably never do it, but it is safe to run lights underwater as long as no connections are made when the metal contact points are wet at the time of being connected. Kinos work well for this. It is a good idea to wire in a ground wire or your own from the light housing. If there is a sudden surge or power the electricity is going to take the easiest way out which is either it's own wiring or that ground wire. It is a good idea to also put an inline switch outside of the pool water so you can turn the light off when done. Do not turn the light off until you are done for the night, since your hand would have to be on the light to turn it on and off you run the risk of shocking yourself.
 
Drew Ott said:
Depending on how wide you want to shoot, I think you could easily get away with an open-face 2K bounced into the pool if you want to make it nice and bright. The light's strong enough to bounce out and cast rippling waves of light all over the talent and background.
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That would be extreme luck. If you want that effect buy some of those emergency blankets the silver reflecting ones and line the bottom of the pool with them some how. And a 2k really wont be enough for that effect.
 
Thanks for all the great advice! It definitely sounds like we're going to need some more powerful lights than what we have (small Britek kit with 3 - 650 watt lights).

Regarding our budget it's only a couple hundred bucks for this scene, but we're in LA so I'm thinking we could get a 2K from somewhere like Indie Rentals or maybe an individual out here... we'll see though, I could be smoking crack...
 
If this helps, here's the look we're going for... without the Entourage budget of course :-(.

Picture3.jpg

Picture4.jpg
 
SeanEmer said:
Well in that case lets find a water housing for a maxi brute and stick 'er in the pool!
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Water housing would be sweet, but man, all you need is a whole heck of a lot of epoxy. Hah.

It just depends how much of the water you're going to see at the time. I feel like if you do just shoot a 2k in there, it's all going to reflect back. Kkeller is right on that one...
 
lairhair said:
That would be extreme luck. If you want that effect buy some of those emergency blankets the silver reflecting ones and line the bottom of the pool with them some how. And a 2k really wont be enough for that effect.
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Thanks bro but I've done it before.
 
Your welcome so have I and thats hard to do on average without reflectors. The pool must have had a white bottom and it must have been close shots.
 
watch the BTS on Garden State...i believe they discuss lighting...more foggy than your Entourage example, but one of my favorite nightime pool scenes. best of luck!
 
I don't think you can create the look of a pool with underwater lights without using underwater lights. Scripting to shoot with a bright blue pool bg is fine - except you don't have one.

Maybe some other bg that would impart a similar feel to the scene? If you got $$$$ you really don't have to be especially creative or flexible with the script. Vice versa also.
 
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