Tv show

[J Costantini]

Hi

I'm looking for advices and tips on tv shows' lighting. ideas and solutions are very welcome.

the project i'm working on will be shot on location not on a studio.

There's a scene where 60 people will be in a party in an apartment. there will be a bar next to the dance floor.

Ideas for lighting a party like this are very welcome. should I always use backlight?

what's a good contrast ratio for the faces? creative spots where the light could come from?

what do you think about using kinos for backlight and keylight?

 

will shoot on hvx200.

 

thanks

Edited January 27, 2007 by nillo

[Walter Graff]

I don't know if you are going to have any problems at all. I do quite a bit of shooting with brushed SS and really it isn't a problem. If you get a reflection it's usually due to incidence and cured by simply moving a light slightly.

[Frank Barrera]

Well if it's a TV show and you want it to look like a TV show then you should light it like a TV show. You should have the grips build a grid along the ceiling with supports from the edges of the set. Effectively turning the location into a studio. All the TV lighting I have ever seen or created myself has made extensive use of 750 and 2K Softlights with foamcore snoots for both Key Lights and Fills. Source Four Lekos as well for back grounds, backlights and even Key and Fill. And all of the lights should be on a dimmer board just as they would be in a studio. As for contrast ratio it depends on the nature of the material but most TV shows are pretty flat.

 

As for the grid you could post in the Grip forum for some ideas about it.

[Walter Graff]

I thought I made the post above somewhere else yet somehow it appeared here. It is not a response to the question in this thread obviously.

[J Costantini]

I'm not sure about a grid.... it's not a show like "friends".... it's more "sex and the city" style... I think it's more of a film lighting than a tv show's...

[Walter Graff]

A lot of the sports shows use hteose grids but they are not good for most other applications. Very simply you could put three ligths in three coners of the room with soft diffusion and do the trick.

[John Thomas]

Nillo,

Get a location with a high ceiling. It would be helpful to be able to rig above. Lights on the floor with 60 people will get in your way. Light the room first, make it look great, then worry about the people.

[Frank Barrera]

I'm not sure about a grid.... it's not a show like "friends".... it's more "sex and the city" style... I think it's more of a film lighting than a tv show's...

That's fine but I'm pretty sure that any scene in 'Sex and the city' shot with 60 people would have used some type of grid. the thing is that you're life will be much easier if you light from the cieling and that means either you screw lights into the cieling or you build some type of grid that allows you to light from above without seeing a bunch of stands. You can still utilize "film lighting" with a grid.

[Jim Feldspar]

I thought I made the post above somewhere else yet somehow it appeared here. It is not a response to the question in this thread obviously.

 

 

Even still, ...since you mention it, what is "brushed SS"? Thanks.

 

Back on topic:

 

Some party scenes provide their own justified practical lighting, more commonly

in restuarants where tables have candles in glass containers but perhaps if your story would

allow this party to have had a party planner or designer you might be able to introduce

some practical lighting into the apartment to help out, although a grid does seem to

be necessary.

 

Even still, ...since you mention it, what is "brushed SS"? Thanks.

 

I think I just found the other thread. Brushed stainlesss steel? Makes sense now.