so, Three guys are walking down the street in the middle of the night..

[iams3b]

Just a precursor, I'm a cinematographer in between 'youtube movies with friends' and 'trying to win an award in all these festivals.' I guess you can say "Working on my demo reel" ... So when I say I'm working 'low budget' I mean I'm taking money out of my own minimum-wage paychecks to shoot this film.

So basically, I'm planning on shooting this short film.. I'm gonna be spending a lot of time making the interior shots look nice, but I have this one short scene with three guys walking from a bus stop to a party and exchanging a couple of lines. I want to make it look as decent as possible (probably not going to make the top-shots list) without bumping up my gain to a ridiculous number...


What I have planned so far is using an extremely long extension chord from the house and just pointing my 500w bulb at them ( highest bulb I have ). But one of my concerns is, if I expose for them, my background will look total black and they'll look like they're walking in space.

Anybody have some tips on how to light this basically? or better suggestions?

And would I place my light to replicate that of a street light, or do I move it slowly back with them to keep a nice key exposure onto their faces? Should I grab another 500 and place it a little further back (streetlight-lengths) so you can see a little more street?


Just some simple questions, looking for some basic advice or tips. I'm thinking of trying a practice shot replicating this one, but I haven't had the chance to outside and do it yet. I want to know what the people of dvxuser have to say about it first

 

[jax_rox]

I'd use a high powered light placed to replicate a street lamp, then I'd fill with a second soft light from the front - maybe a ring light attached to the camera if the camera is moving, or a kino placed in a position where the camera op won't block the light, but it will still illuminate their faces. Maybe illuminate the background with a third light if necessary

 

[maranfilms]

This is where yor location will make all the difference, I would look for a location that has some decent lighting to start with, if you find something with backlight, it will get you out of that black backround your worried about. Maybe look for a cityblock that also has streetlamps to. Then you can add your own lighting, which I would try to getit as high up as you can.

You can even incorporate some passing cars to give even more light. If you have the cars pass from behind this will also help with backlight and bring the actors out of the abyss.

 

[Crafters of Light]

You could shoot it at dusk/dawn where it is dark enough that you have lights on but you still have some daylight to keep your gain down. Then darken as needed in post.

 

[vision_filmz]

This is where yor location will make all the difference, I would look for a location that has some decent lighting to start with, if you find something with backlight, it will get you out of that black backround your worried about. Maybe look for a cityblock that also has streetlamps to. Then you can add your own lighting, which I would try to getit as high up as you can.

You can even incorporate some passing cars to give even more light. If you have the cars pass from behind this will also help with backlight and bring the actors out of the abyss.

Exactly..... Shoot in a area that has any kind of back light, such as a downtown, passing cars, traffic lights, etc. Secondly you can shoot at Magic Hour with the sun setting or rite before it gets totally dark and in post you can make it brighter/darker.


Finally this is truly an area where Dslrs with fast lenses shine (Low-Light) :thumbup:

 

[Paul Hudson]

A small Chinese lantern on a boom pole works well for this.

 

[Bruce Watson]

You could shoot it at dusk/dawn where it is dark enough that you have lights on but you still have some daylight to keep your gain down. Then darken as needed in post.

+1.

 

[nejuicer]

J What I have planned so far is using an extremely long extension chord from the house and just pointing my 500w bulb at them ( highest bulb I have ).

I would be concerned about voltage drop over an "extremely long extension chord." Low voltage because of "line loss" can cause problems such as reduced efficiency and excessive heat in equipment, unnecessary additional load on the circuit, and a dramatic shift in the color temperature and in the output of lights. For example, the effect of line loss on tungsten lights can be dramatic because their output falls off geometrically as the voltage decreases. For example a 1k lamp operating at 90% rated voltage (108V) produces about 68% of its normal light output - iams3b 's 500W lamp is now a 325W lamp. But, that is not all, as the light intensity decreases, so does the Kelvin color temperature of the emitted light. In the case of fluorescents, HMIs, and LEDs, because their power supplies are typically of a “constant power” type, they will draw more current as the line voltage decreases in order to maintain constant power to the lamp. In the case of generator output, voltage loss translates into an exponential loss in power. That is because, if you double the ampere load on the cable, the voltage drop also doubles, but the power loss increases fourfold. What this means is that when a distribution system has a large voltage drop, the performance of the generator (its maximum effective load) is reduced. For these reasons it is worthwhile understanding the dynamics of line loss and how to mitigate it.

For more detailed information on line loss, I would suggest you read an article I wrote on the use of portable generators in motion picture production. The article is available at www.screenlightandgrip.com/html/emailnewsletter_generators.html.

Guy Holt, Gaffer, SceenLight & Grip, Lighting and Grip Rental & Sales in Boston