Lighting setup suggestions for backlit scene

[Nicolas U Hepburn]

Hi everyone,

I chose this location after scouting several different ones. I was thinking of adding white sheers to the window and blast a 300D through that window which would backlight my actress with some haze to lift up the room a bit and create nice shadows thanks to all the objects in the room. The main subject of this frame is the canvas and the tools she is using. I don't know how much light will bounce back into her face/body so I need to make sure I have a plan to light that area either with practicals or with other suggestions you give me. For context, there is the main entrance door and a window behind the camera which I could black out if needed.

I personally own an Aputure 120d, 2 MCs, and I'll rent a 300D for the artificial sun.

The first attachment is the room I chose, while the second is the sort of look I want to achieve, only a bit moodier. The rooms are very different as the one I would be filming in is narrow and the framing is different as the window light would come from another direction which could wash out the image.  Reference image

What are your suggestions? I'm also open to any tips you have regarding the placement of the 300D outside.

Thank you all in advance!

[Nicolas U Hepburn]

I tested at home with the 120d coming from outside. I brought down the exposure and blew out the window in post and this is the result which I think needs a lot of work. Any ideas?

[David Mullen ASC]

Sheers are always the worst-case scenario for putting a hard sunlight effect through, they clip so quickly. But if you exposed for the sheers, you can probably apply a window to the area to hold a bit more texture while still playing it near the clip point.

As for the interior, it's fine if you want that moody semi-silhouette look.  I'd nitpick over a few things:

(1) The light is coming too straight in -- if that's the sun, it's the setting sun, so it would be very warm at that point. Otherwise it should be higher so that the pattern slants down a bit.

(2) Maybe it's intentional but there is an overall greenish cast.

(3) It's my own pet peeve about composition: you're neither straight on to the window wall or angled enough to create more diagonal lines. If you moved the camera more to the right, panned left, the window might be on the right third side of the screen -- and if this were a static shot, then an ND grad set vertical on the right side would help with some of the balance. If you were more straight on to the window wall, then you couldn't use a grad but you could frame him against the brightness and play him in silhouette.

[Nicolas U Hepburn]

18 hours ago, David Mullen ASC said:

e light is coming too straight in -- if that's the sun, it's the setting sun, so it would be very warm at that point. Otherwise it should be higher so that the pattern slants down a bit.

Thank you so much for the suggestions! This wide-angle would be a dolly-in and will cut with a medium close-up of her face and a close-up of the tools she's using. Total silhouette is not what I'm looking for and I also think that the window is too small and off-centered to make it look anything nice. I do want it a bit moody though. Maybe if I opened the wooden door on the left and put a fixture there to use as a key light it could look more interesting. The small window also has Venetian blinds attached. The composition would be more like you suggested. I just didn't have enough space when testing to move the furniture out of the way but I get the point that you're supposed to test lighting with the same camera angle you would shoot. I feel like I'm digging myself a hole by stubbornly trying to make this  narrow room work and not shoot somewhere else. (I do have a backup location for this shot).

[Nicolas U Hepburn]

I went and tested a bit more and got this. I waited until there was less light outside so that I wasn't clipping the sky in the trees that you can see in the back but the window beam is casting a shadow which shows that outside is darker so maybe I will have to do it with a bit more day light , expose for the sky and use the more powerful 300D to compensate for stopping down. This screenshot is a bit compressed and the actual color-grade has a bit more detail in the shadows. 

What are your impressions? Do you think if shoot with more light, ND and then bump up with the 300D I could make it believable? I think I'm going to film in this location instead of that one because there is more space outside and I can just move stuff around and place other objects. Probably a bit of light on the table and coat rack on the left of the screen just so that it doesn't too underexposed and give it an extra pocket of light.

[David Mullen ASC]

I had a late afternoon / sunset scene on stage last year. Basically you want to create a very soft ambient fill to reduce the contrast from the hard sunlight effect coming in. In both shots here, there was a soft light coming from the left side but I also (in the bedroom) let the light be hotter on the bottom of the window in order for it to bounce off of the floor a little. I also parted the sheers so that the whole window would not be blown-out. Sometimes when I've done that in the past, I also then go outside the window and either add a strip of ND gel on the window right behind the strip of hot sheers to knock them down, or use a open-ended net flag on the sunlight on the vertical edge to feather down the hot strip.

[Nicolas U Hepburn]

This is very useful I really appreciate you posting these frames. Do you think one light behind big diffusion could do the trick for fill?  Thanks again.

Edited October 19, 2023 by Nicolas U Hepburn

[David Mullen ASC]

A very soft side bounce or ceiling or floor bounce would help… but a frontal soft fill can get flat-looking unless really minimal.

[Nicolas U Hepburn]

I'll be careful not to create any shadows in frame. Regarding the time of day and that pocket of shadow created by the window beam, do you think I should just shoot with a bit more sun light that hits the trees?

Edited October 20, 2023 by Nicolas U Hepburn