Shooting in the forest at night

S

Steven2885

Member
I have an upcoming feature that I'll be shooting next year. One sequence takes place in the forest at night. I have the DVVX-100A. Does anybody havve any tips on how to light for something like this?

Thanks
Steve
 
Re: Shooting in the forest at night

Steve, why don't you post this in the Lighting section, you'll probably get more responses.

I'd also suggest you outline the scenes you intend to shoot. Scenes like this can be lit a million different ways but providing context will probably yield more appropriate answers for you.

Also, mention your budget before someone ends up suggesting a huge hollywood blockbuster setup :D
 
Re: Shooting in the forest at night

This is just a shot at the dark, creatively thinking aloud, my brain farting on this forum:

You could get a 500watt photoflood bulb at 5600K color temperature then connect it to a porcelain socket. The standard ones will blow if you use them. The porcelain acts as a resistor and can handle the 1000 watts of energy. Next you would wire the lightbulb through a chinaball. Make sure the bulb is hanging independently without touching the sides. Probably'll need a 35 cm ball or something. Then rig the wiring to a boom pole and now you have a soft light source and at 4-5ft from the subject, it'll act as a nice wrap around key light for one, possibly two actors.

Next I would get some scoops (metal cover to help mold the light that can be screwed over the porcelain sockets). Take the scoop, a socket and this time a 250watt 5600K photoflood bulb and have it buried low out of frame blasting light upwards in marked points to shape the forrest for correct exposure. Angling up will throw the shadows away so as not to give away the arificial light source.

You can even completely cover the front of the scoops with blackwrap and using c47s to clip it. Then taking a knife you can cut slithers in the blackwrap where you want light to spill out. Experiment. If you want it to look darker, you can add CTB gels (color temperature bluee gel) to simulate more blue moonlight.

This is my suggestion for low budget film making. I made these porcelain sockets and tested it out. Hey it made me happy. Each light cost about 25 USD total for 500watts. Try that on for size. Hard light and soft. Sure you don't have a hard carrying case and mounting plates that say lowell. And I'm sure they don't compete with Arris (these fresnell lights are my personal favorite) but it does what it does for its price.

Good luck! Night exteriors are hard enough without having to worry about it being so isolated finding power might be a problem.
 
Re: Shooting in the forest at night

[quote author=enterdcable link=board=news;num=1098062902;start=0#4 date=10/30/04 at 22:14:38]You don't like my idea?[/quote]
Hey man, I liked your idea. Good thinking. I've actually done that before!
 
Re: Shooting in the forest at night

Hey, I just finished shooting a 35mm film that was 2/3 at night in the forest. The question I ran into was how to make a night forest scene look natural and still get exposure? Well what I did (and was happy) was take a 6x Griff or Bounce card and raise it as high as possible (preferably at least 20 feet) angle it and blast your largest source into it. This while raise your ambient enough for minimal exposure. Then go in and light the subjects from the same direction with smaller sources. shaping the light with flags and nets to give an air of realism. Remember to back light the subject and also blast some light into the back ground so that there is not a quick drop off. Also you will need to create shadows so that it reinforces the idea that it is night. Unfortunately lighing the forest at night takes a lot of gear. I understand that it is digital and not film, but if you want it to look high quality then I would not light an Forest night exterior with a couple of tweenies and a 2k light. Night Ext require shaping of light, which can require alot of gear.
I am wondering about the post that mention lighting from the ground up. While these are movies, do you ever see light coming from below while in the forest??? If anything bounce some light from below.
 
Re: Shooting in the forest at night

A friend of mine lit one of the great horror films with little to no equipment. It's called "Evil Dead" and takes place in a cabin in the woods. I would suggest you see how he did it with a very low budget.
 
Re: Shooting in the forest at night

Evil Dead is a brilliant film that should be required viewing/research for anyone doing indie film.
 
Re: Shooting in the forest at night

Word. And Bjump, that sounds like a very beautiful set up. High production value, though no?
 
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