Lighting Principles with limited lighting control- run n' gun

[MikeKozlenko]

So I'm shooting a run n' gun little spot for a chain of gyms. Not going for super high-key and corporate-looking but also not super dark & moody. Naturalistic. Around a 3:1 contrast ratio. Super guerrilla style with not much crew. Attached some photos of what I'm dealing with. I can turn off the overhead fluorescents if I want to but it might make the gym too dark, which I probably won't be able to get away with for every scene. I want to get 2-3 very slight variations in looks. 1 for general gym-look with overheads on, 1 for warm morning sunlight streaming in, and maybe something all natural light by a window with overheads off.




Some of the fixtures I have available:

2 Quasar-fitted Kino Fixtures (6 q tubes each)
8 Quasar T-8 tubes
1 Dracast Fresnel 2000 (2k equivalent)
1 Aputure 300d with fresnel attachment or softbox attachment(close to 2k equivalent)
A few smaller LED & tungsten sources
Various floppies & diffusions


I'm wondering what you guys think I can do to make the most of this shooting scenario. Just trying to maximize perceived production value in an environment that might not be inherently super cinematic. I'll be trying to limit wide shots and try to have at most 2-3 people in frame. Realistically I'll probably have to end up shooting 1-2 s*%tty-lighting wide shots at like a 28mm. Here are a couple of thoughts I have:

-Have a raw, energetic handheld camera, staying around 50mm. Try to have interesting interesting compositions, shooting thru things, having objects pretty dirty in frame. Fluorescent lights out of focus in background as much as possible for some bokeh. Trying to shoot at ISO 800 , f2.8. Some 48fps unless flicker becomes too problematic.

-For general shooting around the space, which will be 50% of the shoot, I feel like my go-to will be driving around a Kino or Softbox on a roller with a 1/4 plus green or whatever I need to get close to the color temp of the fluorescent lighting, very dim, just to get some light into the eyes and create a little bit of shape on the far side. Add 1-2 floppies on the near side as well

-For a slightly different look, turning off fluorescent lights and placing talent by window, and then splashing a background wall with a slash of hard light OR taping a couple quasars to the wall to act as practicals in the background

-For another scene, placing a fresnel with Full CTS as a strong backlight, add a bit of haze, 4x4 beadboard from the front, and try to create the look of morning sunlight streaming in thru a window. Shooting very tight shots since there's such limited lighting power

Any other principles you guys think I can apply to make this look as intentional as possible and less like a s*%tty-looking doc? Thanks in advance!

 

[rob norton]

I hate the gym spots with nothing but flare and careless backlight. I'd have the 300d on hand for a thoughtful edge to bring out details i.e. muscles, sweat etc.

The overheads look pretty cool. I think the biggest thing you can do is control the natural light bleeding in. I'm assuming it's a huge roller door?

Can you sell them on a more dramatic scene then use all of your lights and shoot something at night?

Also, instead of 100% following the action, why not have designated areas that have a more dedicated lighting set up. This could be guided by the type of exercise being done. E.g. quick and dirty following running, pushing sled etc. but more attention to lighting for hitting boxing pads or other activities that don't cover much distance.

For reference I've attached two stills from something I shot. Soft light from camera left is M18 through 8x8 diffusion, edge light is 575w HMI Fresnel.

 

[MikeKozlenko]

Yeah there's a couple huge roller doors but if you look at the 3rd picture, behind camera there's a whole line of windows. I sorta have my hands tied behind my back since there's no way they'll do a night scene.
I like your idea of having designated areas for a particular lighting setup.

 

[Chris Santucci]

Back light, use intentional flare, shoot mostly tight with long lens, use large front soft fill behind camera. Avoid a lot of extraneous hardware with setups. I'd have maybe 3 fixtures on stands and move them around as needed and I'd attempt shutting off all the overheads in that cave. You can always wash a section of distant wall with your own light.