How to approach these shots?

[Saikat Chattopadhyay]

Please let me know if this is the right section to post this. 

I was trying to learn to light these type of shot(s):

1. Wide Angle Night Interior (mostly living rooms) : I honestly don't have any specific references hence I am looking for usual approaches from different DOPs who prefers naturalism. What type of lighting you would prefer if you need to place the fixtures far away and get a nice fall off at the same time. From sets where I worked as AC I saw multiple fixtures with 8* flags ,which doesn't light up faces as expected. It would be nice if someone can help with examples from Films/narratives.

 

[Adrian Sierkowski]

If i'm doing a wide living room, I would want to get practicals in the scene to motivate the lighting. Then, generally, I would put lights overhead of those practicals (possible litemats with 40 degree snap grids) pushing the light to where it needs to be for the wide. Or maybe, we are doing an "overhead" light and It'll be a jemball with muzz and skirted off the walls. or a light from another room which could be anything, really, going through a frame (6x or 8x generally) using a doorway as flags and letting it fall off. It really depends on what you're doing with the shot. Sometimes it might just be best to have 2 lamps next to a couch giving off just enough light to make it right and cheating with something to hit talent just off of frame on either side. 

I think the approach you choose really comes down to your budget in time and money as well as the overall look you're going for. For some reason I always first think of Gregory Crewdson photographs for night int living rooms, but want to make it way more natural feeling.

Basically take something like this:

And tone it down to be more natural (which in my mind would be dimmer, on the whole, warmer in color, and less directional in lighting, softer perhaps is the right word). But in this type of photo, for me at least, I can sort of hyper see what the lighting is doing, and then work it to something that suits my personal taste.