lighting question

A

araujofh

Veteran
Hello folks,

For some time I have been playing around with three-point lighting. Now, all the tutorials I find and all the instructional videos I have watched, always show three-point lighting in close ups.
Now, let's say we are shooting exteriors, how do you light when shooting wide shots? Are you going to light the same way as if you were going to shoot a close up?
Actually I was wondering the same for interior shots. Do you guys use the same technique for wide shots?

I'm sort of confused, because I was trying to light a set which was very tight, and I was actually getting a master shot that was covering almost all the room. I didn't really know how to light it.

What methods do you guys use?

Thanks in advance

Fidel.
 
I generally light the wide shot trying to establish my motivation ie: a window, etc. During the closeups/mediums i'll then finese that source with a film light. Often if you can't back the lights up enough due to small space I'll try to rig the lights outside frame to something or above on the celing if possible. Something like wall spreader can be handy if you're allowed to screw into the walls and can find the studs.
 
Thanks for asking it! It really got me thinking about how I approach wide shots/masters. I still don't think i fully articulated it properly but I'm glad it helped.
 
If you look closely in many feature films, and this is best done on DVD at home so you can rewind, you'll note that on many wide shots things like shadows under hats and such are much doarker in the wide shot than they appear in the following medium or closeup shots.
 
Barry Cheong wrote:
>generally light the wide shot trying to establish my motivation ie:
>a window, etc. During the closeups/mediums
>i'll then finese that source with a film light

That's it exactly, use your wide shot to set up the atmosphere and lighting motivation, but keep in mind what you want your close up to look like (film noir, rembrandt, rim light, spooky monster light...)

Then move in for your closeup and get what you need inspired by your wide shot, but you have some room to make adjustments to get the lighting the way you want. As long as you balance the two enough to make the cut, you can have the best of both worlds...

Hope this makes sense....

-j
 
Hello folks,

Thanks for your tips. It did help a great deal.
I always used to be confused with this kind of stuff. Now I guess it makes perfect sense.

Thanks!!!

Fidel.
 
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