Zombie lighting
- Thread starter Azmyth
- Start date
Azmyth
Veteran
I honestly don't know.
This is all new to me.
I realize this can get really expensive, but I don't know what is available on either end of the spectrum to determine what I can actually afford.
Steve Laramie
Veteran
save 1,000-2,000 and just rent lights.
mdslammer
Well-known member
You don't need a ton of illumination, especially with the DVX100A/B, but you
will benefit from a small amount used in the right proporations/configurations.
If you can't borrow any lights from a friend, then as suggested, look to rent a small
3 banger kit. You'll be very surprised as to what can be accomplished with
it.
This will give you enough light for 3 point lighting (Key, Fill, Back Light). This isn't to
say that every shot needs to have 3 point lighting. You can achieve quite a bit
with just one light and your "source" light.
The best advice I can give you is either take a lighting class for video/film if there's
one available. If not, the next best thing is to read a book or two about lighting.
Here are a few I have in my collection with have served me well.
1. Lighting for Digital Video/Television: John Jackman
2. Film Lighting:Kris Malkiewicz
3. Placing Shadows (Light Techniques for Video Producitons): Chuck Gloman/Tom Letourneau
4. Painting With Light: John Alton
5. Light for Action: John Hart
*6. Matters Of Light & Depth: by Ross Lowell
(This was the text I had in my Video/Film Lighting class. Really a great book IMHO.
Another suggestion would be to check out SmartFlix: :thumbup: http://smartflix.com/store/category/109/Film
You can rent these instructional DVD's that cost little but yield a lot on info.
Good luck.
Mark Dalzell
Cool Lights
DVXuser Sponsor
If this is a horror film, I'm thinking you want mostly hard light for producing good shadows. Well defined shadows = drama. Thus, either cheap open faced tungsten type lights or fresnels would be what you need whether you rent or buy.
Finnegan
Well-known member
A lot. Sunlight produces roughly a 5600k color temperature, which casts blue. Indoor lighting (like the lights you will likely rent/purchase) are tungsten lights, which give off roughly a 3200k color temperature, which is more orange-ish. That means to light exteriors for daylight, you wouldn't generally use tungsten lights - you'd use HMIs or fluorescent lights to mimic sunlight. At night, well, it could be any number of things lighting you'd have to be more specific.
Michael Carter
Veteran
Dude - no disrespect, It's great you want to get rolling & learning...
But lighting is an art that the pros spend entire careers refining. The question isn't "Smith Victor vs. used fresnels vs. renting"... it's a much broader question involving color temperature, hard vs. soft, painting a scene to match the image in your head (or on your storyboards), mood, color, contrast. Highlights, shadows, mid tones. Lighting power vs. iso vs. existing light... and on and on and on...
If you're serious about shooting a feature with absolutely zero knowledge of how light affects film or a CCD chip, through a lens, on a set... I'd get my hands on every last book & DVD I could afford. There's a lot of "art of lighting" stuff, there's a lot of overall "Guerilla film maker" stuff. Look for used books, look for on-line tutorials.
THEN get some talent and a room and light ONE scene; a couple actors (friends will do), a wide shot and some closeups. Block it out, move the camera as needed. Edit it and learn what worked and what didn't. Learn what you still need to know.
THEN shoot a one or two location short with three or four scenes. Edit and find more questions.
The questions you'll come up with by then are the kind that are more appropriate for a forum such as this. "How does one light for a feature film" really isn't something that can be covered in a forum answer.
Plus you'll encounter editing questions, NLE questions, ingestion questions, color grading and effects and tripods and grip gear and effects and on and on....
Don't want to sound mean, but you've got a lot of ground to cover - and I do wish ya the best!
But lighting is an art that the pros spend entire careers refining. The question isn't "Smith Victor vs. used fresnels vs. renting"... it's a much broader question involving color temperature, hard vs. soft, painting a scene to match the image in your head (or on your storyboards), mood, color, contrast. Highlights, shadows, mid tones. Lighting power vs. iso vs. existing light... and on and on and on...
If you're serious about shooting a feature with absolutely zero knowledge of how light affects film or a CCD chip, through a lens, on a set... I'd get my hands on every last book & DVD I could afford. There's a lot of "art of lighting" stuff, there's a lot of overall "Guerilla film maker" stuff. Look for used books, look for on-line tutorials.
THEN get some talent and a room and light ONE scene; a couple actors (friends will do), a wide shot and some closeups. Block it out, move the camera as needed. Edit it and learn what worked and what didn't. Learn what you still need to know.
THEN shoot a one or two location short with three or four scenes. Edit and find more questions.
The questions you'll come up with by then are the kind that are more appropriate for a forum such as this. "How does one light for a feature film" really isn't something that can be covered in a forum answer.
Plus you'll encounter editing questions, NLE questions, ingestion questions, color grading and effects and tripods and grip gear and effects and on and on....
Don't want to sound mean, but you've got a lot of ground to cover - and I do wish ya the best!
Azmyth
Veteran
Oh, don't think that I have only been asking on forums for answers. I know that people like me are a dime a dozen. Wild dreams and all. But, I'm actually doing my research. What this did was give me things to google, books to find, and such. I know there is no easy answer, and I wasn't really looking for there to be. But, as with anything.. you have to start somewhere.