Negative Fill

N

ninjaleprechaun

Active member
I was reading an AC article with John Toll talking about his work on the Thin Red Line, and he referred several times to using "negative fill". I can't seem to find much info on this except for a discussion about bouncing light off black (?). Can anyone explain to me what negative fill is? Thanks much.
 
Bouncing off black? Sure that wasn't blocking the light (creating shadows)?

I've long thought lighting wasn't so much lputting light on the subject as it was making shadows elsewhere.
 
When filming under an overcast sky, you could make eg CU shots more contrasty by putting a large black flag on one side of the actor, this will absorb some of the diffuse light hence darkening that side...
I´m not an english native, but I would probably call this a negative fill...
 
GenJerDan said:
Bouncing off black? Sure that wasn't blocking the light (creating shadows)?

I've long thought lighting wasn't so much lputting light on the subject as it was making shadows elsewhere.
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It was on a thread on cinematography.net. A lot of people there called bouncing off black shennanigans as well.
 
"negative fill" is, yes, putting up a black card to suck up the light rays to keep them from bouncing onto your subject. "fill light" is adding light to the non-key side; "negative fill" is subtracting light from that non-key side. So you use a black card to block light from hitting the subject, and to absorb stray photons that might otherwise bounce onto your subject.
 
Barry said:
and to absorb stray photons that might otherwise bounce onto your subject
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Stray photons? HOLY F!!!! Shouldn't we use this all the time then just for safety?

Of course Barry is right. If you use a large white reflector right next to your subject, you are blocking the light from that side, but you are reflecting the light from the other side. If the "reflector" (flag) is black, you block the light but it doesnt reflect anything back. "Negative Fill" is also refered to as "Subtractive Lighting".

It's handy stuff when you are tight enough to use it. I have 2 4'x8' black Foamcores and about 10 2'x3' black foamcores (as well as the same in white). Very usefull, the black foamcore.

-GageFX
 
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