Shooting INT, with bright windows..

NOMADIC

NOMADIC

Major Contributor
So I'm getting towards securing a location for a music video I'm shooting. But I just thought about something that is probably going give me trouble.

The location is a high rise loft with an amazing view of the city background, thats the reason I took that location, the prpblem is its going to be REALLY bright outside i assume, and then the loft will have lighting, but I'm having the feeling what ever lighting I do get in there won't be able to compete with the brightness of the outdoors. The windows are basically in a 180 degrees of the loft.

How to I get the 2 balanced, the indoors, and the outdoors..


..my other idea is to shoot during the "magic hour", but then I think I might run into some serious glare issues with the lights indoors and the large windows of the loft.

IDEAS? ANYONE? ANYONE?


thanks

-Nomadic
 
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ND - you need to cover the windows in sheets of ND - .9 might do it - or you might have to double it up to get within range depending on how much light you have indoors. There is a knack to it so if you can get a grip who has experience with it - do that.

It will cost some money - rolls of ND can cost 150. Also - many NDs add a small pink tint (although by definition they shouldnt) so you will have to balance that out with WB or live with it. This tint is intensified with more ND layers or brighter sunlight

let me know if you need more info on this
 
My approach is to leave interiors dark. Expose to your exteriors, and leave the interior dark. Then light each of the elements you want to appear, instruments, band members, nice props or decoration. Then mind your fill. Sure, you won't have a lot of room to play, the dark portions of the screen will still be dark, but a little fill can take it off the "grain" region...

Now, Question is: If you are going to expose to your background, you're going to need some powerful light sources, right?

Well, yes, but mainly because you'd have to use full blue in all your lamps. It's not like you will absolutely need those "really powerful - oh my lord almighty - guns" but a 650W will start to seem a little weak. For most shots, you'll probably make do with a modest interview kit, but that Master shot with all the band might give you some trouble. So whatever you do, make sure you can pull off in the master.
 
Slimothy said:
What kind of lighting kit do you have to work with?
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not sure yet, I am renting equp. so i can get whatever will fix within a 300 dollar price range. i rather mess with more lights than to mess around with nd sheets on the windows all day long... i thought about the nd sheets, but seems like it would be a HUGEE pain.

as for the the bounce fill idea from the first post, i dont see how that will work becasue from the outdoor light, back to the indoor, im losing at least 2 stops of light, i think my subjects would come out sillohette..

thanks yall for the advice, keep it comin'
 
Sorry to break the news but you wont likely be able to do it without ND - you will need to black out the windows otherwise.

If it is a bright sunny day you could easily require 2-3000 watts of light to balance it - you cant have that on talent for very long - not to mention the power requirements - 2000 watts will blow a standard circuit - will you be tying in?
 
smelni said:
Sorry to break the news but you wont likely be able to do it without ND - you will need to black out the windows otherwise.
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That's quite an overstatement. There are thousands of nets out there that can knock down the light from 1/4 to a full stop, and on video/film, become invisible. A cheap way to try it out is to get some black Organza from the local fabric store. If you hide your tacks or tape carefully, the viewer won't even know it's there. If you want the real deal, then you are going to have to browse B&H or somewhere.
 
sorry - my bad - you are correct - that will work as well.

I meant to say - its not likely to be possible without cutting the light from the windows using some type of material - ND, nets, whatever - you need to compress the dynamic range of the scene
 
Have you seen this million dollar view at night ???? Won't take much to light the interiors to match the view of the city after hours. Plus you can use tungsten lights. If you must shoot during the day, you need to match daylight, you might be able to rent a 1200 daylight par HMI and a 400 watt joker (Smaller HMI) for 3 hundred. They will probably have to be uncomfortably close to your subjects.. You could use reflectors or shiny boards for bouncing around some of the available daylight from the windows and/or catch some of the spill off your lights. Exchange bulbs in the apts practical light sources with daylight balanced bulbs from the hardware store. Use 1k tungsten lights with 1/2 ctb for fill...Just my .02 cents.Good luck
 
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