exterior lighting for music video

[F Bulgarelli]

Hello everyone,

I will be shooting a music video that deals mainly with exteriors, I will probably be using and overhead silk along with HMI's and difussion frames in order to have more control and avoid harsh sunlight hitting the talent.

Does anyone have any suggestions and/or experience doing this kind of set up. I know it could get expensive but it seems to me it's the only alternative for what we are trying to acomplish.

 

Thank you in advance for your help,

 

Francisco

[Michael Nash]

What are you shooting (subject)? How do you want it to look? What are the shots? You need to a little more specific...

[Kevin Zanit]

To compete with daylight, you need big lights, unfortunately for the budget. A lot of it is about scheduling your wide shots for the right time of sunlight, and then matching that in your coverage.

 

On a music video I did recently, we used a tall scissor lift with 2 18ks on it and then just rolled it around all day. Was a nice way of working.

 

I would really need to know more about your locations to give you better advice.

 

 

Kevin Zanit

[F Bulgarelli]

Thank you guys, sorry i wasn't more specific.

We will be shooting out in the dessert, in a place call ranch oasis, we are going to check the location saturday.

Mainly, it's a performance driven video, it's about the artist doing his song and four women dancing.

So, i'm planning to do lots of coverage: hand held, possibly steadicam, jib arm.

I want it to look slick, a bit edgy, but i need to be able to control the light. like Kevin said, i was thinking about doing the wide shots early or late in the day and then, use a 20x20 overhead for mediums and close ups.

I don't think we can afford 18k but maybe 2-6ks and 2-4 ks.

I was thinking about using a zoom instead of primes because they tend to be a bit softer and easier on the faces, hmi's could still be a bit harsh, unless you have the budget to use big lights with multiple frames.

We will be shooting super16.

 

Thanks

 

Francisco

[Michael Nash]

I want it to look slick, a bit edgy, but i need to be able to control the light.

 

Well that narrows it down. :P

 

Really, I'm not trying to be a smart-ass, but there are just so many different things you could do that your actual lighting setup depends on the shot, the look you want, and the conditions. I've worked on desert music videos with 18K's, then turned right around and used nothing but sunlight. Shiny boards, foamcore, ultrabounce, negative fill, you name it. It could be none of it or all of it.

 

Kevin's right that nothing but an 18K or maybe a 12K par can compete with the sun. A 6K maybe, I've never tried it that way. 4K's won't do much in open sunlight.

 

Basically the worst type of light to make look good is when the sun is overhead. Take a lunch break, shoot some inserts. Then when the sun has moved off a little, go back to more coverage with the sun behind your talent.

 

In a music video you've got the leeway to be more stylish and "edgy" than in drama, so take the opportunity and try some different things that look "cool." This is a perfect chance to use shiny boards to give a really hot, unmotivated rimlight. Consider negative fill on one side if you're on open sand that's bouncing up too much.

 

Highlight is a good material to smooth out harsh sun without killing all your stop like a silk will. The desert can be windy, so don't count on flying large rags all the time.

 

Think about your coverage as well; if you're talking about wider shots with the Steadicam and jib, it's going to be hard to hide overhead stands, shadows, and backlights.

[Chris Pritzlaff]

Just curious - an 18k in bright daylight won't do much will it? Maybe just a little as a kicker or something right? Or fill in shadows? Ive never had the opertunity to work with the larger lights. Mostly have been forced to ues mirror board and ultrabounce.

[Kevin Zanit]

Well I generally try to use the lights as more fill light/ kickers, but at the right distance an 18k can do some "damage". It is a bright light. For instance, that 2 18k rig we used was used mostly for filling in under overhangs, etc., but also to give the sunlight some shape by adding the 18ks to one side just to give more direction to the light.

 

A 12k "Silver Bullet" really won't do much outside. It has a lot of spread, but not as much punch as one would hope. The 18k is really a good bet outside, but so is a 12k PAR bounced/ heavily diffused.

 

The original plan was to use a 50k Soft Sun on the scissor lift, but there were none available in LA. It?s too bad because I haven't been able to work much with them (only the 25k once), they seemed like the perfect solution.

 

 

Kevin Zanit

[Jon Rosenbloom]

If it's fill light you're worried about, you could always use bounces, 12'x12' or 8'x8' silver lame's, or chekerboard lame's, or claycoats, or white rubber mat, or reflectors through opal ... many options. Just remember what Jim Kwiatkowski said, if you really want to control the sun, you need a 40'x40' on a contruction crane!

[Mario C. Jackson]

Whenever I shoot outside I just use reflectors and bounce cards. Everyone else said it best just schedule your wide shots at certain time and then do your inserts whenever. I have never used a 12k or 18k but I have still got good pictures. Just schedule and pray.

Hope this helps

Mario Concepcion Jackson

[Michael Nash]

Hi Francisco,

 

It turns out a friend of mine was the jib operator on your shoot. He sent me some pics of the jib in action.

 

It's nice to see a follow-up to one of the discussion here.

[F Bulgarelli]

Hi Francisco,

 

It turns out a friend of mine was the jib operator on your shoot. He sent me some pics of the jib in action.

 

It's nice to see a follow-up to one of the discussion here.

 

That's great.

 

we had some camera issues, i'm gonna post some questions about it.

 

Thanks