Lighting advice for night shoot under street lights

R

rockfall

Member
Hi,

I'm shooting a scene in my film which takes place at night and am looking for some lighting advice.

The location we have has orange street lights and I'm not sure of the best way to deal with them or how to increase the light effectively to make sure the actors can be seen but so that it doesn't look false.

There will be 6 actors in the scene and a stabbing takes place so i would like to be able to see the colour of the blood.

Should I be gelling all lights with orange gels to match the streetlight and then changing the white balance in post? or is there a better way to do it.

I will be shooting on the following kit:

Canon 550d
Canon 50mm f1.8
Tamron 17-50mm f2.8
Tamron 90mm F2.5

Lighting available:

3x 800w redheads
3x 300w gullivers
3x 150w Dedos

The shots below are taken at 1/50th shutter f2.8 with the Tamron 17-50mm and at ISO 6400. I would like be able to shoot at a much lower ISO if possible to avoid the noise in video mode.

http://www.rockfallfilms.co.uk/images/lighting/IMG_4987.jpg

http://www.rockfallfilms.co.uk/images/lighting/IMG_4999.jpg

http://www.rockfallfilms.co.uk/images/lighting/IMG_5000.jpg

http://www.rockfallfilms.co.uk/images/lighting/IMG_5001.jpg

I'd be grateful for any advice anyone can give.

Regards

Tony
 
Let the street lights live where they are and subtly fill with what you have available. Possible use your redheads as a fill source.
 
I'd be worried about it still being too dark even with the street lamps. I just shot something similar and needed lots of light but those photos don't look bad. I also haven't shot on a 550d so I don't know how it handles low light from first hand experience. Having said that, I agree, use some fill! Those street lamps look great as is. You could match with the gels I posted below if need be but I'd do something like letting the street lamps hit the actors from behind to outline them and help separate them from blending into the dark and fill away. I'd consider some hard fill for a gritty night scene, perhaps cheating some more fill for the tighter shots of the blood to really make it pop.

http://www.filmtools.com/leeureffi.html

wishing you the best of luck!
 
You may want a location with more street and store lights. Simple solution.

I'm in the Local Union of Guerilla Cheapos.
 
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