Lightning Effect Question

L

LouisR

New member
Hello, Everyone I figured I'd start out with a question for my first post! I'll try not to break any rules here, I am just kidding! just kidding!

Ok, now that we have that resolved, on to the question. So I have a question about dramatic lighting. I am looking to create a an effect where a where a Character will be standing in the scene and I want their face to be lit up by a flash of thunder in front of them. Sort of like a revealing effect. How would I go about this?

I have tried a camera flash, however I have several problems with this, First it looks like someone just took a photo during the shoot. Second, Lightning usually causes a flickering effect not like the single flash of the camera. Third, Lightning has a blueish tint to it. I know this can be corrected in post but it might be hard to get right.

What Options do I have here. Can I do something like this in After Effects? Was thinking about a strobe but I don't think that's going to work either.

Thanks Ahead of time.
 
There are 2 ways you could go about doing this.
A) Dimmer + CTB. However, a dimmer raises the color temp of you light, almost nullifying the CTB, but color correction would solve this.
B) Light it as if the lightning was going off, then use cards or sheets and move them in front of the light quickly. Use smaller cards for the flickering reverb of the lightning.
 
MarkyMarkV said:
There are 2 ways you could go about doing this.
A) Dimmer + CTB. However, a dimmer raises the color temp of you light, almost nullifying the CTB, but color correction would solve this.
B) Light it as if the lightning was going off, then use cards or sheets and move them in front of the light quickly. Use smaller cards for the flickering reverb of the lightning.
Click to expand...

A dimmer lowers the color temperature of a light, but yes, it would somewhat nullify the blue-shift of the CTB.

The most controllable and professional option is to use something like a flicker box. I believe there are also boxes specifically designed to produce a random lightning effect. You can rent these from a rental house rather affordably. From just a cursory look at the rental houses around my area, they're about $30 - $75 a day.
 
I've done it with great success with multiple camera flashes.

We were on a shoot and it was an impromptu decision to have lightning so I asked for every camera everyone happened to have on set and we got about 8 together. On the count of three everyone triggered and with the randomness of each individual there was the stuttering flash effect that worked quite well.

This was on film, so it was a global shutter. If you are shooting with a CMOS sensor (DSLR or most of the newer cameras) then you will encounter a broken frame like effect, so a quick flash from a strobe will not work in that instance.

Dimmers are way too slow. Lightning "shutters" (louver blinds) work very well with HMI units, but both require rental houses.

I've seen positive results from putting multiple 100 watt tungsten bulbs (FU Congress for taking that away from us...) switched on and off from a common power strip. Larger tungsten bulbs have too slow warm up and cool down periods and don't look realistic. LED and fluo bulbs look to artificial with their instant on/off start up period. I find the 100 tungsten is in the sweet spot with a natural ramp up and cool down for each flash. The most important thing is an artistic touch with the flicker. It has to be organic in order to be believed.

It's a tricky effect even with professional equipment. Best of luck.
 
LouisR said:
Can I do something like this in After Effects? Was thinking about a strobe but I don't think that's going to work either.

Thanks Ahead of time.
Click to expand...

Yes. AE is A place you can do that. and no offense, since there are myriad ways to accomplish that in AE, just Google the effect and see what you find.
 
tom_wise said:
Yes. AE is A place you can do that. and no offense, since there are myriad ways to accomplish that in AE, just Google the effect and see what you find.
Click to expand...

Problem with AE is you're not "lighting" a 3D object. You can get close, but if you want lighting that seems to come from one direction and changes the modeling of the figure, you need "real light". Enhancing a DIY flash effect in AE could do wonders though.

I've always wondered if old-school flash bulbs would work - their duration is much slower than modern strobes. My Speedotron gear seems to be about 1/400 of a second. Longer cables from the pack to head can slow this down. But old-school "flashcubes" can be found on line (I think Holga users like them).

Another option would be some sort of "spring loaded" shutter over a bright light. Just moving a card will introduce motion to the "lightning" - rigging something with strong rubber bands or springs could look real, especially with multiple lights fired off slightly out of synch. And it would be easy to enhance any DIY effect, frame by frame, in AE.
 
The problem with camera flashes is that they flash instantly and consistently; they don't fluctuate. A natural lightning strike is variable, often/usually with, for lack of a better word, pulses of different intensity. The event may transpire in just a second or so, but we usually notice the flicker associated with lightning. The Magic Gadgets effects box I referenced can replicate this convincingly.
 
Sort of surprising that this effect is as hard as it is but it is. I love the multiple cameras idea and will use it some time.

What works for me is to use a small fixture, I love 250W Lowel Pro lights for this because they have small filaments with fast rise and fall times as mentioned. And yup, use CTB. I suggest placing the lamp as close to the subject as practical. And here's my no-flicker-box gag which makes this thing really work: use a stinger and plug the fixture power cable into it just enough so that it doesn't quite make contact. Then rock the plug in the stinger's socket in a random way. With a moment's practice you can get a great result. If you really want to see how good this is I think I can find something on Vimeo where we used it. Try it.
 
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