Lighting inside a car

J

jthabel

Well-known member
Simple scenario: I want to sit in the passenger seat of a moving car and film someone driving/talking. In the past I've done this with mixed results. Usually have to set the f-stop for the person in the car (who is shadowed by the interior of the car), which of course overexposes everything outside. Or I set it for the outside, which underexposes the subject in the car. So the question is, what type of lighting apparatus should I use to light the subject while *inside" the moving car. It'll probably have to be something battery (or cigarette lighter) operated for my purposes.
 
Put ND film (Mylar) on the side windows to reduce the light from the side window. Easy to apply. Comes in different densities from your local car window tinting shop. I'm assuming you are not shooting out the windshield, which should be kept as-is to let light in.

[edit] Here is an example where they put ND film on one window, but not the others.
 
Yup, the contrast is always the problem, especially on a sunny day (the problem still exists but is much less on a cloudy day). Paul F's suggestion of ND film is good - the only possible downside is using such a heavy density that the driver can't see out the side windows properly, which can get the local traffic police very upset (unless of course the driving is fake, e.g. the car is actually on a trailer or whatever). Otherwise, a battery-powered LED light (with a colour temperature as close as possible to daylight) is probably the simplest way to light up the interior.
 
We have done something like this in our short film I showed here a while ago. I was on the passengers seat, and we put ND filters on the drivers' window and a bit on the windshield. We had a small LED light on batteries to put some light on the actor's face. We drove in the direction so the sun was pointed frontal at the actor for the most shots. Looked pretty good if I may say so myself. If interested, here is the result. (the first 40 secs only)

https://vimeo.com/59543338

Good luck.
 
Maybe you could try using the smaller battery powered LED lights to boost the amount of light coming in. These lights can prove useful for situations like this where there is little to no room for a light and you don't have access to power. They run off batteries and produce a nice character of light with a CRI similar to daylight. Here is a link to the ones I'm talking about. http://dedotec.com/dedolight/default.php?la=0&pg=000004OO&id=TP_Fillini&mode=search&section=0

You could mount a couple of those to the dashboard or foot-well of the car to increase the amount of light.

Another option is to try throwing a white sheet over the drivers lap. The sheet should act as a bounce and throw up a little bit more light onto the face helping with the contrast that you may get when directly facing the sun with the car.

And while NDing the windows is a good idea, I would be cautious about the relative safety issues associated with doing such a thing. In some places it is illegal to obstruct the view of the driver by placing anything on the windshield or side windows. So maybe try alternative ways before resorting to NDing windows in an attempt to balance the contrast between interiors and exteriors.
 
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