Lighting on a NO BUDGET film with a "seamlessly endless room".

G

GregPorter

Active member
I'm making a next to no budget film where 80% of the film is based in an endless white room.

What are some cheap ways of creating the effect.. I am thinking of buying a lot of pure white sheets and letting them curve off the wall so there are no hard lines but It' cant look like a bunch of sheets.. it has to look like [hard white [[ACTOR]] hard white]

As if there is no end to the room.

Tips?
 
I would assume you're going for the look seen in THX1138 and the construct scenes in The Matrix when they are loading the environment.

First of all, soft light comes to mind. So I'd suggest soft boxes or flourescent banks. Of course, an added benefit is that the sheets will also become big reflectors as well. The only problem I see is that this could be a potential fire hazard if the lights are really hot and how close they need to be to the sheeted background.

I think the white sheet idea could work. You should take two white sheets and see if you can get it to work with a quick test shoot. If it works in the test then just buy a bunch of sheets. Shouldn't be too much cost unless the room needs to be the size of a warehouse. You might want to get some thick sheets though so that whatever is behind them doesn't show through.

In that case, shoot it as wide as you can afford. In post just shrink down the shot against a white background.

Good news is that once you get this worked out you got 80% of your locations worked out for pretty cheap. Plus, white balancing should be a piece of cake. Just be careful not to get the lights too close and whenever you can, turn the lights off between takes so that the sheets can cool down. In fact, you should probably plan for cool down times between takes or set ups.

Another idea is to get some large smooth surface wood panels, and then some thinner, flexible wood panels to make the curved bottom area of your background wall. Then just paint the whole thing matte white. You could probably get all this from Menard's or Home Depot for pretty cheap. Sure it might not be as easy as the sheet method, but it would most likely be safer since I don't see this being a fire hazard.
 
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Thank you Nektonic. I was actually just thinking about the heat problems and as well as conserving energy in generaly I will keep the lights off inbetween takes/set-ups and such like.

Quick question.. Would I be better off with Four cheap 500Watt TUNGSTEN lights with no stands or should I go for Two 150Watt HALOGEN lights that actually come with pretty sturdy stands.

Either option comes out to a price I can afford but I'm not sure which would produce a better effect.
 
I'm not sure if tungsten or other hard light sources is a good idea since you're going to get hotspots. For something like this a soft source is really key, either softboxes or flourescent.
 
If you have your heart set on using home depot lights, maybe you can light the sheets from behind. The brighter you get the sheets, the more forgiving they will be, especially in seams and wrinkles. Hotspots don't have to be a problem if you can get ALL the bg to expose at 100% or higher.

I wouldn't dare try to light what you're describing with two 150w lights. I don't know if I'd try with 4 500w lights either.

You might want to consider going green.... buying green screen sheets isn't too expensive and more usable later.
 
green screen. key the green out and make it white....

make a white pristine floor, and make the remaining 3 walls green screen.
 
We do this all the time at my studio... but then we have a Hard Cyc built in ( "Cyc" for Cyclorama ). The sheet idea is called a "Soft Cyc", but it's really hard to do... the sheets have wrinkles, they drape wrong and you can see the folds, etc... and yup, a fire hazard. Building a Hard Cyc is expensive and time consuming. But you do get a bit of perspective since the white actually has some tonal differences (hot spots and dark spots)
The quickest solution: TimurCivan's Green Screen suggestion. However, you'll have to deal with a whole bunch of new challenges. Chromakey is part technology and part VooDoo...especially in a DV format. You'll get tearing, green splash back if the background is too close, etc....But all in all, might be the best bet. Good Luck
 
Yep, green screen is another way to go. I didn't mention it earlier because I feel it is always best to get everything done in-camera whenever possible. But if you have the software and can pull it off, buying a green screen setup might be worth it since you can use it later for other projects.

Since you said 80% of your film will be in this "white room", I still say that trying out tests of two to three different methods is the first thing you should do. Maybe shoot a small test scene or even just a medium and close up shot with each method to find out what works best for you and your film.
 
I'd love the greenscreen at some point but right now I don't have the will to do it. I'm diving into this film (no experience) so I don't want to complicate it more with green screen.

The film in general is going to be over-exposed a few steps and be a little contrasty so compensating in post won't be too much of an issue because it's a desired effect.


I'll do some screen tests first I guess and see what flows better for me.


(Also, it is being filmed on a single, Standard-def, 16:9 mini DV camera)
 
Eric Franks (who incidentally does a series of videos for DigitalJuice.com) has a great Vimeo tutorial on lighting for infinite white on the cheap. This video will help you get perspective on how to do it well and cheaply...

http://www.vimeo.com/789519
 
dpFilms said:
Eric Franks (who incidentally does a series of videos for DigitalJuice.com) has a great Vimeo tutorial on lighting for infinite white on the cheap. This video will help you get perspective on how to do it well and cheaply...

http://www.vimeo.com/789519
Click to expand...

Excellent find. This seems the best way to do it on the cheap. You don't have to worry about keying in post this way. And in theory, if you need to have a larger white space you can always just use the same method but with a wider wall. It will only add a bit to the cost with extra paint and the siding material he used for the curved piece connecting the floor to the wall.

Plus, if you ever need a green screen you can always drape it over the white background later on as well.

And if you've already got some soft boxes or fluorescent banks, you only really need the background.
 
The beauty of infinite white is that--if you light it well (read: evenly)--you always have the option to key it out in post... replace it with pure white, or any other color or background you might want.

You'll find that Eric Franks keys his backgrounds which is how he accomplishes the shifting around of the talent (i.e. himself) in his tutorial.

If you key out in the end, you can also correct any framing errors you made when filming/taping. Infinite white is a great way to go if you can manage it.
 
Hi Greg

I currently work on an educational thingy and am in progress of setting up something similar. Mind you that a lot of super bright white bg can be hard on the eyes of the viewers in some cases if prolonged over time (at least I've read about people complaining it "hurt"). On the other hand the "endless room" has some great possibilities. Now, from all I read so far I would also recommend white screen over green screen. Keying can be challenging depending what you shoot (hairdo and things), but a well lit white screen will give you no such pain and super nice shadows, if you care for them.

For the background:
check out paper in this form, if you can get it somewhere close (shipping is expensive)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/45468-REG/Savage_1_12_107_x_12yds_Background.html

I opted for a white vinyl BG (a little bit more expensive), because it is more sturdy, easier to clean, but it does essentially the same.

For lighting I use CFL bulbs - they conserve energy, are low heat and give a good even light
I did a DIY "CFL-Blaster" (putting 6 CFL 20 watt bulbs - equivalent to 600 W - into a box with an aluminium reflector [cost a total of about 50 USD over here in expensive Europe]) that works well lighting the background (though I have more light..).

For good results make sure you light the bg and talent independently!

Here is another tutorial, that goes through the setup (though geared at photography)
http://www.zarias.com/?p=71

Greetings,
Fr. Johannes
 
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