Tips to get a commercial look?
- Thread starter xha8
- Start date
AwakenedFilms
Veteran
In production: Maybe a rim light or kicker to separate the subjects from the background.
In post: Primary and secondary color correction as well as color grading could help you dial in the look you are after. Contrast is a little low for my taste and the blacks look slightly high. Also, the cyan seems to have bled into the skin tones. Reminds me of a D200 photo shot at 1000 ISO, slightly underexposed.
"not the modern look I prefer" is a very subjective comment. Can you explain more what you were hoping to achieve (possibly giving sample photos or video would help too).
Jason - www.awakenedfilms.com
In post: Primary and secondary color correction as well as color grading could help you dial in the look you are after. Contrast is a little low for my taste and the blacks look slightly high. Also, the cyan seems to have bled into the skin tones. Reminds me of a D200 photo shot at 1000 ISO, slightly underexposed.
"not the modern look I prefer" is a very subjective comment. Can you explain more what you were hoping to achieve (possibly giving sample photos or video would help too).
Jason - www.awakenedfilms.com
Paul Hudson
Vacuum Tube Member
It is really more about art direction, composition and casting. You can color correct but you need vibrant bright colors to work with.
Here is an example of a spot using this formula I did for Tony Roma's: http://vimeo.com/1669439
Here is an example of a spot using this formula I did for Tony Roma's: http://vimeo.com/1669439
fraustosound
Member
You didn't use any light, eh?
The overexposed upper left corner looks bad. The faces of the two folks on the left look dark.
ND filter to darken the background along with more light on your subjects would help a lot.
In the end it's all about the lighting and proper exposure...better to underexpose and adjust in post, clipped highlights look like crap when shooting digital. Grading in post helps too.
Here's an image that is similar to yours, what do you think? Compare the skin tones and the composition to your image.
The overexposed upper left corner looks bad. The faces of the two folks on the left look dark.
ND filter to darken the background along with more light on your subjects would help a lot.
In the end it's all about the lighting and proper exposure...better to underexpose and adjust in post, clipped highlights look like crap when shooting digital. Grading in post helps too.
Here's an image that is similar to yours, what do you think? Compare the skin tones and the composition to your image.
Jason - Thanks for your suggestion. For the modern look I mean, like the one that fraustosound posted.
Paul - Great advice! I'll look into that!
fraustosound - There is no room to light the scene since it was a guerrilla shoot but I agreed on your comments. That helps a lot!
Thank you guys!
Paul - Great advice! I'll look into that!
fraustosound - There is no room to light the scene since it was a guerrilla shoot but I agreed on your comments. That helps a lot!
Thank you guys!
Homunculus
Carbonite Member
presumably that's amanda seyfried in that last pic. just curious how you guys think that lighting setup was done? I see a kicker/rim on her hair presumably coming from the back left somewhere and cut/flagged not to affect the background people so that she 'pops' more. to give her hair that golden sheen I assume also another daylight balanced soft light above her, subtlely beaming down and then just a strong natural light source from the window either intensified via reflection or HMI's blasting and helping the sun.
anyone agree?
anyone agree?
bruce southerland
Active member
The first thing that I noticed is that everything in your shot has flat lighting and is "on key", which means everything is properly
exposed. Look at the photo in fraustosounds post. The subjects hair has highlights on both sides, the exterior is over exposed,
the "sun" hitting the table is very over exposed. However, the light hitting the girls face has been controlled to be soft and
directional-the overexposed "sun" has been blocked from hitting her hair & face (I believe she is actually lit from the light
bouncing off the table, & a soft source from outside the window.) All of this creates contrast & more visual interest.
exposed. Look at the photo in fraustosounds post. The subjects hair has highlights on both sides, the exterior is over exposed,
the "sun" hitting the table is very over exposed. However, the light hitting the girls face has been controlled to be soft and
directional-the overexposed "sun" has been blocked from hitting her hair & face (I believe she is actually lit from the light
bouncing off the table, & a soft source from outside the window.) All of this creates contrast & more visual interest.
bruce southerland
Active member
There is no room to light the scene since it was a guerrilla shoot but I agreed on your comments. That helps a lot!
Don't know anything about what was required to be in the frame for the shot-but if you're in a situation with no lights,
you may want to alter the direction you are shooting in(if you can). I think your shot might have worked better if you had
shot in a direction where the background would have been lighter. However, without lights or reflectors to add some light
to the subjects, the lighter background may have been washed out. If you can't use lights, try to reflect sunlight with a silver
reflector. If that's too much/too hard, you can reflect the sun from the silver reflector into a white board near the subject- you just need
the people to hold them (if you don't have stands). You'd be surprised what you can do with direct sun and reflectors-it's just a matter
of controlling the light & putting it where you want it.
Don't know anything about what was required to be in the frame for the shot-but if you're in a situation with no lights,
you may want to alter the direction you are shooting in(if you can). I think your shot might have worked better if you had
shot in a direction where the background would have been lighter. However, without lights or reflectors to add some light
to the subjects, the lighter background may have been washed out. If you can't use lights, try to reflect sunlight with a silver
reflector. If that's too much/too hard, you can reflect the sun from the silver reflector into a white board near the subject- you just need
the people to hold them (if you don't have stands). You'd be surprised what you can do with direct sun and reflectors-it's just a matter
of controlling the light & putting it where you want it.