Ten Lighting Setups

Thanks Bro. A little advice, stop watching internet videos during work, noone puts a rating on vimeo and youtube videos. And I really dont find anything in the video "mature" except for maybe the word "****" which is allowed to be used in a PG-13 film. Does the Gov't not allow profanity?
 
Um, actually, DVXuser policy asks you to label things like this as NSFW, so he's got a legitimate point . . .
 
The "F" word is used at least 3 times in the video. Right about the time the "Zebra" sneaks up on the unsuspecting person in front of the camera.

The thing is, it was a lovely example of lighting setups, with humor, and wit. The use of profanity was totally contrary to the feel of the piece, and the video went from something I was going to recommend some of my friends watch, to something which I really don't feel comfortable sending them to.

Clearly, you are free to do what you want , and make any kind of art you like. But a cool piece like this just limits the audioece immediately because of the use of the strongest profanity.

As for being able to play videos at work, I do what i like, and it's part of my job. However, not everyone has those kinds of freedoms at their workplace. If someone sends a link to me and it's on Youtube or TMZ, or somewhere else that might have questionable content, I take that into consideration. A posting on a video forum about lighting setups is not somewhere I'd expect to have to screen profane language... And others might not either.

You get what I'm saying?
 
Yes, I do get what you are saying, and I did not have a clue that posting NSFW was a required thing on DVX user. I have obviously only posted like 10 times on this site maybe, so I will now know to do that in the future. I at the same time feel like profanity is something that is very less considered bad in this day and age, and my proffesor who is much much older than me absolutely loved the video, and didn't menton a thing about the profanity. I showed him and my whole class before uploading it to Vimeo, so the thought never crossed my mind. I hope you can still show your friends the video dispite the few curse words, and thank you for your critisism.
 
johnnote said:
I at the same time feel like profanity is something that is very less considered bad in this day and age, and my proffesor who is much much older than me absolutely loved the video, and didn't menton a thing about the profanity.
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It's an issue of context. Your professor is in an educational setting and his day to day interaction is with a bunch of kids your age. When I am with that kind of group, I am a lot more relaxed as well. However, my peer group at work is a bunch of attorneys and people with young or teenaged kids.

Imagine if I sat you down with your parents, your relatives, their friends, the minister, your girlfriend's parents, etc., and played that video. And that was the first impression people had of you.


johnnote said:
I showed him and my whole class before uploading it to Vimeo, so the thought never crossed my mind. I hope you can still show your friends the video dispite the few curse words, and thank you for your critisism.
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I will be able to show it to some friends. Others I will not be able to show it to because honestly, they'd find it offensive. I don't, but they would.

As a fellow filmmaker, I would say be true to your art. If I am making a movie about kids going to the zoo, I don't expect the dialog to contain topics of sex or profanity. If I am making a documentary about prison life, then it's another matter.

It takes an amazing amount of talent and skill to tell a story that is true, while still being able to appeal to a broad audience. I am still constantly awed by the work of John Huston, DeMille, Hitchcock, John Ford, etc. They were able to tell powerful and enduring stories and not a cross word was ever uttered in their films. Look at the power in movies like Shawshank and compare that with the dialog.

Then ask yourself, does a "movie" about how to place lighting for setting moods in movies need profanity. What is it serving? Who or what is the potential audience and what will their reaction be to my film. It is not your professors job to censor your art. It is your job to choose how you engage your audience.
 
PerroneFord said:
It's an issue of context. Your professor is in an educational setting and his day to day interaction is with a bunch of kids your age. When I am with that kind of group, I am a lot more relaxed as well. However, my peer group at work is a bunch of attorneys and people with young or teenaged kids.

Imagine if I sat you down with your parents, your relatives, their friends, the minister, your girlfriend's parents, etc., and played that video. And that was the first impression people had of you.




I will be able to show it to some friends. Others I will not be able to show it to because honestly, they'd find it offensive. I don't, but they would.

As a fellow filmmaker, I would say be true to your art. If I am making a movie about kids going to the zoo, I don't expect the dialog to contain topics of sex or profanity. If I am making a documentary about prison life, then it's another matter.

It takes an amazing amount of talent and skill to tell a story that is true, while still being able to appeal to a broad audience. I am still constantly awed by the work of John Huston, DeMille, Hitchcock, John Ford, etc. They were able to tell powerful and enduring stories and not a cross word was ever uttered in their films. Look at the power in movies like Shawshank and compare that with the dialog.

Then ask yourself, does a "movie" about how to place lighting for setting moods in movies need profanity. What is it serving? Who or what is the potential audience and what will their reaction be to my film. It is not your professors job to censor your art. It is your job to choose how you engage your audience.
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In the end though, its just a school assignment. I totally get what you are saying, Every shot in the whole video was just run and gun, no script or pre planning, so I just told them to say as they please. If i were writing a script, i would deffinately take those precautions into action, or if i were ever to do an actual in depth lighting tutorial haha.
 
Derrick_SA said:
very good looking lighting,

it would be awesome if you would draw up some lighting diagrams and post them!!!!

- Derrick
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I will try to do so! I wanted to film the lighting setups, but couldnt get ahold of a 16mm lens to get super wide shots in my narrow narrow basement, and small row home rooms haha.
 
johnnote said:
In the end though, its just a school assignment. I totally get what you are saying, Every shot in the whole video was just run and gun, no script or pre planning, so I just told them to say as they please. If i were writing a script, i would deffinately take those precautions into action, or if i were ever to do an actual in depth lighting tutorial haha.
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Ok, fair enough... I did really like the piece. :)
 
i liked it a lot and would also appreciate it if you got round to putting up diagrams of it. i'd like to double check though, what do you white balance to for moonlight blue? the light without ctb and then add ctb? and if you were to expose the shot without a person in frame, what would you expose it to? when i was testing out a moonlight lighting set up i found that it looked better if i closed the iris another fstop or two JUST after eliminating the last little zebra on the hottest spot in the frame... am i missing something?

i know you've posted for feedback/criticism but i liked it enough to ask for your advice... and whoever else who has some insight for a little brother from down under :D cheers
 
siraj said:
i liked it a lot and would also appreciate it if you got round to putting up diagrams of it. i'd like to double check though, what do you white balance to for moonlight blue? the light without ctb and then add ctb? and if you were to expose the shot without a person in frame, what would you expose it to? when i was testing out a moonlight lighting set up i found that it looked better if i closed the iris another fstop or two JUST after eliminating the last little zebra on the hottest spot in the frame... am i missing something?

i know you've posted for feedback/criticism but i liked it enough to ask for your advice... and whoever else who has some insight for a little brother from down under :D cheers
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Hey siraj

For the shot, since I am shooting on video, I white balanced off of 1/4 cto in front of the light source, it adds the perfect amount of blue without over-saturating. If you were to use gels, i would say to white balance off of a white card in front of your light source, then add 1/4 ctb to your lights. Anything more in a low light situation will be too blue. If you are shooting for a more lit shot, i would say maybe try 1/2. For this particular shot, it was only one light, and I just flagged some of the top light so it only hit certain parts of his body. I would say try not to under-expose after getting rid of the zebras, and work with the light until you have some dominant whites and blacks in the shot in certain locations, instead of having a completely lit shot, it makes it way more believable, and pleasing to the eye. Flag, cookie, etc... If there isnt a person in the actual shot, its hard to say what to do, unless knowing the situation, but If it was a bed, I would say flag or barndoor the light, giving it some sort of window look, and just mess with the light until its not too dark, not too bright. scrims could do the trick, and a nice cookie can always make the shot look believeable. In general, if you are shooting for night, accents in the shot make it way more believeable, as well as 3/4 back keys if a person isnt facing a window. You might have known some of this, but i thought I would share.

John.

John
 
thanks heaps john, the set will be lit through a window so it will have that look... what i did when i was practicing was white balance to a card in front of my light source then putting 1/2 ctb. i dont have cto lol.

basically what the shot is, is moonlight spilling onto the floor through a window and a persons feet walking past... there are other shots of course that are with the persons face but there are a few that don't show the face... so thats where i get stuck with what to expose it to... what do you mean by having dominant blacks and whites? and there may be a barrier between our terminology but 3/4 back keys? is a back key a back light? (halo, hair light, etc.)?

thanks for your help, i really appreciate it. and i just got dejavu haha
 
siraj said:
thanks heaps john, the set will be lit through a window so it will have that look... what i did when i was practicing was white balance to a card in front of my light source then putting 1/2 ctb. i dont have cto lol.

basically what the shot is, is moonlight spilling onto the floor through a window and a persons feet walking past... there are other shots of course that are with the persons face but there are a few that don't show the face... so thats where i get stuck with what to expose it to... what do you mean by having dominant blacks and whites? and there may be a barrier between our terminology but 3/4 back keys? is a back key a back light? (halo, hair light, etc.)?

thanks for your help, i really appreciate it. and i just got dejavu haha
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What i mean by dominant blacks and whites, is if you look at the moonlight shot i did, the black is completely black, and the highlights on his skin are close to white looking, with not too much other color besides the blues.

I would say expose it to the person, and try to make the light your using a stop or two brighter than normal, so that when you expose for the person, or feet, everything else is a little darker.

3/4 back key is somewhat like a back light, but it would be wrapping around the side of your face a little more, and be treated like a 3/4 front key, only behind the person haha, so you would expose for the back key, fill would be the front of the person, in this case it would be fairly dark, and you could even have a backlight on the opposite side of him.

I have another lighting for night assignment, interior and exterior, that I am shooting this saturday, so I should have it up a few days later.
 
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