Need help with specific lighting look

T

ToTheBack

Active member
For a music video I'm gonna be directing pretty soon, we're filming with an HVX and I wanna get a big setup where the people on screen are lit up but all that's behind them is black, a dark void. Similar to the beginning of the Bohemian Rhapsody video or at 3:13 of this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEERy9e4Wqs

I'm planning to do some performance shots and various setups, but don't know what I need to achieve the look on a low budget
 
Just shoot as far away as possible from a black curtain. Light from the side and above, flagging the lights off so that absolutely no spill falls on the backdrop. Use a lot of light so that when you expose for the skin tones, the background becomes black. Crush the blacks in post.
 
You know it's OK to practice a lighting setup before you get on the job. Reduce the size of your plan by starting with a completely dark room and place your talent. Take your first light, move it around to get the effect that you want. Add any additional lights to compensate for any problems caused by the first light. It's not a perfect method but it sure beats winging it on set and realizing that your screwed. Even though playing with lighting without a job/shoot seems like a waste of time, you can really learn about the lights that you have and the different things they can do. Especially when you start to mix and match.
Gary
 
Gary said:
You know it's OK to practice a lighting setup before you get on the job. Reduce the size of your plan by starting with a completely dark room and place your talent. Take your first light, move it around to get the effect that you want. Add any additional lights to compensate for any problems caused by the first light. It's not a perfect method but it sure beats winging it on set and realizing that your screwed. Even though playing with lighting without a job/shoot seems like a waste of time, you can really learn about the lights that you have and the different things they can do. Especially when you start to mix and match.
Gary
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Great advice, and something that so many 'non-pro's' don't heed. Anytime we do a big / new lighting set-up there is a pre-light day where we can work it out. Saves a lot of headache later on.
 
If I owned my own lights and such, I would definitely be out there experimenting with it right now. As such, we usually don't get the luxury of light days as my DP's are usually all over the place.

Are there any specific types of lights that would work for this set up or are the Kino/Fresnel lights generally acceptable? I don't know the terminology that well as I'm a bit retarded on learning lighting
 
I don't mean to beat a dead horse here, but looking for "types of light" before you know how to create the lighting effect is like buying a work vehicle before you know what you need it for.
Can you at least evaluate lighting effects that others have created (what you are looking for) and try to evaluate how they did it? Please understand that planning causes professionalism and winging it causes mediocrity.
Gary
 
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