Matt Workman Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 How do you light the background seperately from the actress like in the Kanye West "Gold Digger" video? I've seen a very similar style in fashion and product photography. I want to replicate this style for a music video. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_gonzo Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 How do you light the background seperately from the actress like in the Kanye West "Gold Digger" video?I've seen a very similar style in fashion and product photography. I want to replicate this style for a music video. Matt that shot just looks like its greenscreened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan McMackin Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 The circle of light doesn't appear to be completely symetrical. Seems to me that you could accomplish this with a fresnel w/ a snoot offset so it does not hit your talent. With enough separation between talent and BG this seems reasonable to me!? But I don't know, I've asked myself this same question before... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erica Thurlow Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 Light your subject(s), then flag the light off your backdrop until the backdrop looks black on camera. Then light the backdrop with one or two lights with colored gels aimed directly at the backdrop. Use the barn doors or flags to concentrate the light on the backdrop and keep spill off of the subject. Very easy with product photography, may be difficult when used in a music video. With your subjects moving around it will be hard to keep light from spilling onto the backdrop and desaturating the color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrin p nim Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 The circle of light doesn't appear to be completely symetrical. Seems to me that you could accomplish this with a fresnel w/ a snoot offset so it does not hit your talent. With enough separation between talent and BG this seems reasonable to me!? But I don't know, I've asked myself this same question before... sounds about right, for that photo looks like it could be a fresnel light source with a snoot from a far distance, considering theres no kick from the background on to the model. looks like it was hitting from the right of frame, if you look at the light on the background the left side is spreading and is softer than the right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrin p nim Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 (edited) Light your subject(s), then flag the light off your backdrop until the backdrop looks black on camera. Then light the backdrop with one or two lights with colored gels aimed directly at the backdrop. Use the barn doors or flags to concentrate the light on the backdrop and keep spill off of the subject. Very easy with product photography, may be difficult when used in a music video. With your subjects moving around it will be hard to keep light from spilling onto the backdrop and desaturating the color. doesn't look like colored gels to me, the backdrop looks to be of yellow pigment. the light covers the entire backdrop and doesnt seem to show any real falloff that would suggest otherwise. EDIT: This is if the the photo's backdrop is lit physically and not keyed. Edited September 27, 2006 by Darrin P Nim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rik Andino Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 It's definitely been keyed off a greenscreen... And that is the simplest and easiest way to do this for a video... Nowadays most vids have tons of post effects and greenscreen work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 doesn't look like colored gels to me, the backdrop looks to be of yellow pigment. the light covers the entire backdrop and doesnt seem to show any real falloff that would suggest otherwise. EDIT: This is if the the photo's backdrop is lit physically and not keyed. I totally agree. I don't think it was keyed tho. I've seen Hype do similar things in other videos but have a person smoking in the foreground... Thats probably one of the biggest key nightmares. I think this still i pulled from the video kinda speak towards the position of the light, the back drop color, and the fall off. (For those who haven't seen the video... most of it looks like the still from the ad, this is one of the few shots that a girl is standing in the light against the back drop.) Perhaps they move the talent forward enough to light them with a very soft source that would fall off before drastically changing the background, that along with the color back drop? It also seems like the shadows on her back droop down her spine in a kind of 3/4 (from camera position) top light in which you could throw your light downward away from the wall... thats if it wasn't so diffused that it had a throw. Regardless you could find a million ways to control it. But I have to say some of the wide shots in the video defiantly look keyed or rotoed around the talent and backdrop effect and then given a flat colour around the rest of the stage. Perhaps a mixture of both techniques? I can tell you one thing tho... I wouldn't shoot it against a green screen if the woman had hair like that. Especially if you couldn't afford a 4:4:4 transfer. Might look like mush. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrin p nim Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 I don't think it was keyed either. A majority of photographers i know, they would rather physically light something and know that its how they want it before they gamble too much with post/photo-editting. that screen shot of the kanye west music video, looks like the same idea but approached differently, blue pigment backdrop with what looks like to be an uncorrected tungsten light. blue subtractive pigment plus yellowish additive light equates for a white reflectance, hence the whitish spot on the wall. and no rotoscope here, the shadow gives away the blue backdrop, unless they played with the shadow aswell. whats really picking my head apart is the short shadows coming off of her legs. another light? if so, how is it hitting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrin p nim Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 (edited) Oops, double post. Edited September 27, 2006 by Darrin P Nim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Kevin Zanit Posted September 27, 2006 Premium Member Share Posted September 27, 2006 Could also light from behind some types of seamless paper, or do a combination of lighting the backdrop frontally, and also punching up certain areas from behind. I have done this with some product shot type stuff. Kevin Zanit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 Could also light from behind some types of seamless paper, or do a combination of lighting the backdrop frontally, and also punching up certain areas from behind. I have done this with some product shot type stuff.Kevin Zanit Aye. Thats a great approach. They used that technic in the Amerie "1-thing" video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Brian Wells Posted September 27, 2006 Premium Member Share Posted September 27, 2006 Aye. Thats a great approach. They used that technic in the Amerie "1-thing" video. Is that Mylar on the floor, or am I just imagining things? It's fairly common to see Mylar on the runway of a fashion show... Looks cool on film, too. Thanks for posting that pic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Wendell_Greene Posted September 27, 2006 Premium Member Share Posted September 27, 2006 It's definitely been keyed off a greenscreen...And that is the simplest and easiest way to do this for a video... Nowadays most vids have tons of post effects and greenscreen work. Agreed. Lot of time spent in the Flame bay. One of the few shots of the models that wasn't keyed was the still Chayse posted above where they moved the light to create movement in the model's shadow on the wall. Great work on that video by Hype and his DP Malik Sayeed. On that Amerie "One Thing" video they used a material called Sharkstooth scrim or net, which is used primarily on stage in Theatre. What's great about it, as Kevin mentioned, is you get a different effect depending on whether it's front or back lit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Workman Posted September 27, 2006 Author Share Posted September 27, 2006 Agreed. Lot of time spent in the Flame bay. Crap. I wondered how the background was so perfect without any spill. Cheaters...bloody cheaters. Thanks Mr. Greene. :lol: Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chayse Irvin ASC, CSC Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 Agreed. Lot of time spent in the Flame bay. One of the few shots of the models that wasn't keyed was the still Chayse posted above where they moved the light to create movement in the model's shadow on the wall. Great work on that video by Hype and his DP Malik Sayeed. On that Amerie "One Thing" video they used a material called Sharkstooth scrim or net, which is used primarily on stage in Theatre. What's great about it, as Kevin mentioned, is you get a different effect depending on whether it's front or back lit. Nice. They had me totally fooled. Sharkstooth scrim eh... stuff looks solid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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