Lighting for epic

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David Evans

Well-known member
Hi,
I wanted to ask something that has to do with lighting, but also has a strong make up component, I believe. I'm talking about those close ups that can show a face very nicely lit, but also kind of makes the skin shine, like in the old tecnicolor movies. How can we make our actors face shine like that? See example below.

indiana_jones_380.jpg


It gives that epic feel to the image.

Thanks
David
 
A good makeup artist will know how to achieve that skin sheen. I was once in a diner with some friends, one of which is a makeup stylist, and we noticed our waitress had a nice sheen on her face, so my stylist friend asked her what she used to achieve that subtle sheen and she said it was Jergens Natural Glow moisturizer.

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uh, just stick your actors in front of some hot lights and they will have that lovely sheen in no time!

That image shows classic 3 point lighting technique.

back and fill lights are to his right and the fill is the "sheen" you see on his left cheek.
 
Correct! The sheen you see is from the fill light. The sheen is not due to the type of light used as mentioned earlier... that may have to do with the color temperature, if anything.

The sheen will be added to the face by either natural sweat or by the make up artist... and the sheen is caused by the lighting. Many times on set, trying to get this effect will result in the sheen being more of a spot, giving away the position and shape of the light. To successfully get a sheen down the entire side of the face, as pictured above, I would say your fill light should be a strong light shot through a large butterfly silk. Perhaps a 6x6, 12x12, or 20x20... depending how far away. By broadening the source of the light, the sheen will appear much larger, even, and beautiful.

My .02$ anyhow.


As for your example, that nice even sheen is what I am describing. My guess for that particular image is that the "fill" light is nothing more then a giant bounce card in an exterior. I would be wrong, and it could be a light diffused. If it were a bare Arc I would be surprised that we didn't see a very spotty reflection in the sheen.
 
Type of light very much affects the look. Tungsten penetrate the skin better and give a warm glow, while HMIs reflect off the surface of the skin more, giving a silver sheen.
 
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