andrew heggli Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Theres a scene in the newest Bond movie where Bond and (sorry can't remember her name) are having dinner. Bonds skin appears to be a rich golden colour, with the rest of the picture in black or darker colours (like vesper(?)s red lipstick). I have two questions for this: 1. Some people seem to dislike everything thats not "natural" skin colour, but i thought this effect looked pretty good, am i just a confused amateur or are there other more professional cinematographers that also like this lighting? 2. How was this done? As i said, i am an amateur (at least compared to alot of people on this site...), and lighting is one of the aspects of cinematography i have had least opportunity to work hard on. So if this lighting setting is very simple, please excuse me. Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Bowerbank Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 I remember the scene, but not exactly how it looked. If you could get a still or two that'd be great. Also, there was a great article on Casino Royale in the AC Mag around the time it came out. A very informative piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew heggli Posted July 30, 2007 Author Share Posted July 30, 2007 Couldn't find anything that really showed how it looked in the movie but this is at least the scene i was talking about: http://www.darkhorizons.com/2006/casino/royale69.php http://www.darkhorizons.com/2006/casino/royale51.php I'll check out the mag as soon as i get time, thanks for the tip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Bowerbank Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Those are some really simple & basic setups. The first one is basically a large soft source for Bond's key light, then a kicker at 45 degrees or so behind him (approximately 2 stops under key, incident reading maybe). And probably a light bounced into a bounce board behind the camera just to provide a bit of fill and give some more detail in the shadows. Vesper's backlight is probably coming from the same light providing Bond with his key. The second one is just as simple, only it seems Bond might have his own pair of backlights goin' on there. This is just a semi-educated guess :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted July 31, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted July 31, 2007 (edited) This is just a semi-educated guess :) Sounds about right to me. It looks like a very simple back cross-key setup to me. Probably some special kickers added since they often have to be at the right angle to just make a sheen on the skin. As I remember, that whole scene was very warm and luch, as if from all firelight even though there was only one candle on the table. Those stills aren't as warm as I remembered the scene. Probably lots of CTO and/or straw going around. Edited July 31, 2007 by Chris Keth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Gerke Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 (edited) Tell me if I am wrong, but her key looks a hell of a lot softer than his. Her whole face is nice and soft and purdy while he has the whole shadowed half of the face thing going on. Isn't that more indicative of a harder source? I think this setup is a perfect example of how lighting is used guide the audiances perception of characters. Edited July 31, 2007 by Phil Gerke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Bowerbank Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Good point Phil, Bond's key is also more of a side light too, creating a lot more contrast in his face as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Brad Grimmett Posted July 31, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted July 31, 2007 Bond's key light seems to be motivated from a window, and her key light seems to be motivated by the candle on the table. I think that explains why she's more front lit (with softer light) and he's more side lit (with harder light). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew heggli Posted July 31, 2007 Author Share Posted July 31, 2007 thank you everybody for the comments, espcially jonathan! Btw, even though its wonderful to know how they set up the light, i was wondering more how they got the colour, because the two photos i added (as stated before) aren't really showing how it looked in the movie. In the movie (maybe one of you guys have the dvd or have watched the movie recently enough to remember) the skin of both bond and vesper had this lovely (IMO) golden colour to it. As Chris said "As I remember, that whole scene was very warm and luch, as if from all firelight even though there was only one candle on the table. Those stills aren't as warm as I remembered the scene. Probably lots of CTO and/or straw going around.". Would the CTO and/or straw be the reason their skin gives that colour? Just thought it looked great, especially when the rest of the colours in the frame where black or dark red. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Bowerbank Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 Yeah, looks closer to perhaps a 1/2 CTS gel. But who knows how it might have been originally shot or what went on in timing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Andrewski Posted August 4, 2007 Share Posted August 4, 2007 In any case, you can get away with hard and dramatic lighting on men more than you can women. Women just look better with soft light in general so this may be the real reason they did it this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted August 4, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted August 4, 2007 The shame is that most women can look wonderful in hard light but many will object and make a stink if they don't see a big silk or chimera aimed at them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Andrewski Posted August 4, 2007 Share Posted August 4, 2007 Yeah, but we definitely expect a good hard light on Bond since he's a dramatic guy anyway. Not surprising at all to find half his face in relative shadow considering his profession... Just lends to the overall feeling we're supposed to get watching a Bond film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Brereton Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 It looks like both keys are fairly hard. Look at Bond's collar shadow in the first picture. It's quite sharp, as is her jaw shadow in the second picture. Her key is much more frontal & flattering. This was quite a hard lit movie, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Auner aac Posted August 5, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted August 5, 2007 The shame is that most women can look wonderful in hard light but many will object and make a stink if they don't see a big silk or chimera aimed at them. Couldn't agree more! Was watching The Good German last night and was happy to see a new film done the old way. Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted August 5, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted August 5, 2007 Couldn't agree more! Was watching The Good German last night and was happy to see a new film done the old way. Cheers, Dave It's unfortunate The Good German just wasn't a very good movie, though. I barely finished it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Auner aac Posted August 6, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted August 6, 2007 It's unfortunate The Good German just wasn't a very good movie, though. I barely finished it. Yep, wasn't all that good. But the lighting was pretty nice IMO. Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted August 6, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted August 6, 2007 Yep, wasn't all that good. But the lighting was pretty nice IMO. Cheers, Dave The look is the only reason I finished it, and it takes a LOT for me to not finish a movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Auner aac Posted August 6, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted August 6, 2007 Chris, we seem to have something in common. :D I really do have stamina to finish even the most awful movies. I am lucky though, my girlfriend takes my bitching about with even more patience ;) Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted August 6, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted August 6, 2007 Chris, we seem to have something in common. :DI really do have stamina to finish even the most awful movies. I am lucky though, my girlfriend takes my bitching about with even more patience ;) Cheers, Dave Well, even awful movies are often well-shot. In a bad movie, I just switch to "analysis mode" and start watching more like a filmmaker and not like a viewer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member David Auner aac Posted August 7, 2007 Premium Member Share Posted August 7, 2007 Well, even awful movies are often well-shot. In a bad movie, I just switch to "analysis mode" and start watching more like a filmmaker and not like a viewer. When I start thinking about framing and lighting when watching a movie for the first time the movie is usually pretty bad. There are exceptions, though. Truly spectacular cinematography instantly strikes me as well. Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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