Lighting using practicals

[Andrew Jackson]

This is my first dive into color, and for the scene I'm planning on shooting will be interior at night. I was originally planning on blocking off the windows, but I believe I'll just shoot it at night. Anyways, I'm hoping to use some "naturalistic" lighting; there will be lamps around the the room and I want it to appear like all of the light is coming from those lamps - with an orangish color....

 

I'll be using 500T film, and I have tungston balanced lights. I don't believe the practicals alone will be enough to light the room, so I was hoping to use some of the tungston lights and match it, color wise, to the 60-watt bulbs....what sort of gels would be used for doing this? Any tips?

 

Thanks,

Andrew

[David Mullen ASC]

Most people use 1/4 CTO or 1/4 CTS on tungsten movie lamps to match that warm under-3200K practical look (it's a bit of an over-correction but 1/8 CTO/CTS seems too whimpy to be worth it...)

 

Generally the lights would be softened in some way too, and kept at a low enough level so as to not overpower the practicals (in which you can use brighter bulbs too.)

 

Be sure to shoot a grey scale under white 3200K light so that the warmth of the gelled shots is not timed out in dailies.

[Jonathan Benny]

This is my first dive into color, and for the scene I'm planning on shooting will be interior at night. I was originally planning on blocking off the windows, but I believe I'll just shoot it at night. Anyways, I'm hoping to use some "naturalistic" lighting; there will be lamps around the the room and I want it to appear like all of the light is coming from those lamps -

 

Try placing soft sources at chest level or below, off camera from the same direction the light(s) appears in the frame, and flagged so that no spill hits the walls, only the talent. Allowing your talent to move in and out of these soft sources can create nice results depending on the mood you are going for. You don't have to lock yourself down to just the practicals in the frame. You can assume that other practicals exist in the scene that the audience never sees, and create soft sources from those.

 

AJB

[Dan Salzmann]

All good advice. +1 on the grey scale because many labs will "neutralize" what they consider too warm.

Watch for reflections in the windows. The 500T film stocks are amazing in terms of their contrast range.

Think about the mood and don't overfill.

[darrin p nim]

Most people use 1/4 CTO or 1/4 CTS on tungsten movie lamps to match that warm under-3200K practical look (it's a bit of an over-correction but 1/8 CTO/CTS seems too whimpy to be worth it...)

 

Generally the lights would be softened in some way too, and kept at a low enough level so as to not overpower the practicals (in which you can use brighter bulbs too.)

 

Be sure to shoot a grey scale under white 3200K light so that the warmth of the gelled shots is not timed out in dailies.

 

agreed, i personally prefer CTS on skin than CTO, CTO can be too orange for my taste, CTS gives a nice glow that is warm but not over board.

 

like Mr. Mullen said, shoot a color chart with 18% gray under your un-gelled tungsten light the the beginning of each roll before you shoot, i should atleast 7-8 seconds. your timer will correct to it in telecine.

 

EDIT: If you have time and money i would also advise you to shoot a film test with your film stock and play there so you are content with your look.

Edited September 27, 2006 by Darrin P Nim

[Andrew Jackson]

Thanks guys....you give much helpful info!

 

By the way, what exactly is a CTS gel?

[darrin p nim]

Thanks guys....you give much helpful info!

 

By the way, what exactly is a CTS gel?

 

CTS = Color Temperature Straw