Lighting with a single match

Greg_E said:
Since I don't know that camera, let's assume for a moment that one candle or one match is enough light... Could you frame such that a hard or grad half ND filter could be used to reduce the DR between flame and actor?
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A candle or match is definitely not enough light for the AX33. I will have to supplement it with a tightly focused spot.

Luckily, this particular scene will be shot in the winter. Early winter, not bitter cold winter. In summer at night, any kind of bright light will attract bugs which will flit around it, casting their own shadows.
 
David W. Richardson said:
A candle or match is definitely not enough light for the AX33. I will have to supplement it with a tightly focused spot.

Luckily, this particular scene will be shot in the winter. Early winter, not bitter cold winter. In summer at night, any kind of bright light will attract bugs which will flit around it, casting their own shadows.
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The shot won't be executed for over 6 months from now and you are already scheming on how to pull it off?

I mean, good on you, man. But wow. That's some advanced planning!
 
JPNola said:
The shot won't be executed for over 6 months from now and you are already scheming on how to pull it off?

I mean, good on you, man. But wow. That's some advanced planning!
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The thing is, I'm writing the final scenes of the script now. If I can't get that shot and get it clean -- the blacks free from video noise -- with the gear, budget and expertise I'll have available, then I'll have to come up with a different way to end the story.

So yeah, it's advanced planning. But maybe not quite what you thought. That being said, as a producer I always look for the potential problems and find solutions or workarounds before we get close to having to execute.
 
Greg_E said:
Could you do a mask with a soft edge around the subject and fill the background with near black from cg?
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I'm sure someone could. I'm not that someone. And it would have to blend perfectly so the audience would never even know that a mask was used. As long as the subject is stationary, that's not a big problem. But when she moves to take the match to light the candle, etc. -- well then it gets more complicated, I would guess.
 
It occurs to me that if I use a focused spot halogen to add light, then there's a problem. In reality, if a girl is holding a lit match in the dark, then all light that lights her face comes from the flame of that match. But if I add light from off-camera, then the shadows on her hand (with the match) and upper arm are not going to be consistent with a single light emanating from the match in her hand.

And the match, by itself, does not put out enough light for my camera to record the scene without a ton of video noise.

The only thing I can think of to get around that is to not show the match/candle flame and the girl's face in the same shot. Show a tight shot of her hand as the match is lit, then cut to a tight shot of her face lit with the simulated glow from the match that is supposedly in her hand, but off-camera. Then tight shots of lighting the candles. This means losing some very dramatic wider shots, but I just don't think I can get those with the gear I have available.
 
Actually, I think I've found the answer. The AX33 has a manual 'exposure' control, in addition to manual controls for iris and shutter speed. By cranking the 'exposure' down, I was able to get this shot. (Overlook the focus issues. I was concentrating on the exposure.) Note the absolute black and lack of video 'noise'.


That works for me!
 
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