Lighting a White Backdrop

deronbauman

deronbauman

Active member
I will begin filming a documentary in the next month and have been playing with the idea of using a white backdrop, a la Errol Morris. I have the impression that lighting white is difficult in general, and especially when shooting video. Does anyone have any pointers? Anyone want to talk me out of it? Give me things to watch for? Solutions? I'd appreciate any and all comments. (Well, most of them anyway.:))
 
Re: Lighting a White Backdrop

Normally i might suggest a wavefrom monitor but if not then set your camera zebras to 100. That way you'll know when the white truly is white. Of course you may want the blown out Apple commercial type of white which you can get. Basically I say light your talent first and then see what you need to illuminate the white evenly. A monitor or your camera LCD is key to seeing if you got what you want. I say a monitor if you have one outside of the LCD as it will be more accurate to look at. No real secrets for my end, just light it for what it is, white, and white simply needs less light to look white than does green.
 
Re: Lighting a White Backdrop

Thank you. Excellent advice. Just out of curiosity, how would I get the blown out white effect?
 
Re: Lighting a White Backdrop

Do not be afraid of white.... it is everywhere.

Look at your picture and consider what you want as black , what as white and what as grey. - consider tonal range only ignoring colour. (Turn off color in monitor if necessary to help you see this)

"Blown out white" - set camera Zebras to 105% and make sure plenty of them show on the white bg. or do it in post in the grade (this is safest, easiest and offers most control). To do it in post shoot with 95% or 100% zebras. This will provide slight info in the white area. In the grade...use the wavefrom monitor and drop the blacks to 0v ( or 7.5 NTSC)...lift wites to over 1v (* clipping will show) use gamma to set up all the mid range. (Then and only then play with colour controls).

After establishing white consider how your mid range shows and you may need to light up or down to achieve the mid range subject. ie. place the mid tone in the tonal range.

Beware when monitoring white on field monitors ( without waveforms). Bright white often clamps down on the picture signal and affects the whole picture. What you see is not what you get in this case.
 
Re: Lighting a White Backdrop

Make sure your subject isn't wearing white!
And don't forget to white balance :D
 
Re: Lighting a White Backdrop

You don't and probably shouldn't push your video above 100 to get blown out shots. Remember 100 is white and above that is still white and probably gonna get you in trouble.  Easier way we do it in broadcast -filters. a Promist (varying densities) will give you a blown out look with your whites at 90 units as will many others such as FX enhancers, etc.  I've shot and produced many main title show themes, shot both on film and video where we have shot blown-out stuff and even in film I have used filters more than incredibly bright whites. Although the quality is bad in the following clip, here is one that won an Emmy for best main title theme a while back. http://www.bluesky-web.com/Ricki.mov and here is a behind the scenes of that shoot to see what I used in the background http://www.bluesky-web.com/ricki.jpg
 
Re: Lighting a White Backdrop

When lighting white background make sure you use good lens shading. If your shot is static and you don't have a really good lens shade/mat box make flags from foam core. You don't want any backdrop exposed to the lens that isn't in the shot. Use black panels on the sides of your subjects. This will draw a black line around your subjects and if done well you can shoot a white dress on a white black drop and have it look good. All lenses will flare when shooting a white background but good masking and not over lighting can keep it to a minimum.

Michael Smith
 
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