lighting for movement

Rick Shepardson · October 5, 2007

Ambient light at 40 foot candles T4.0

Key light at 160 foot candles T8

This question will reveal just how much of a beginner I am!

I need to light a bookstore. The character will walk around and address the camera, which will also move.

This question has to do with movement of characters in and out of light.

I have excluded information such as the size and shape of the room to be lit because this is question has more to do with a general concept of lighting.

It will begin with the protagonist sitting in a chair at the end of an aisle of books. The camera will dolly down the aisle until capturing him in a medium shot (sitting down, waist up.)

After awhile, the camera will follow the character as he walks down the aisle of books.

Lighting him as he is sitting down shouldn't be too hard. I want to use a kobald 800 watt to emulate sunlight pouring in through the window and hitting him from the side. I want to use a CTB'd 650 bouncing off a show card for his fill. And, I want to give him an ever so soft rim light.

I want a low contrast two stop difference between his key and fill side.

The problem of course, is when he gets up and starts moving around. I just don't see how I can maintain consistent light on him throughout. The fact of the matter is, he's going to get up, leave the patch of key light he's sitting in and start walking through ambient light which will be slightly darker. I mean, people walk in and out of light sources in real life-and we accept it. But, I have a fear that If I do it in this scene, it will disrupt the viewer. What is even worse is that the character will be addressing the camera as he is walking. So, I can't just set up practicals for him to walk in and out of. How can I possibly light a room so evenly that the character constantly maintains the same lighting ratio?

This is a problem that is only furthered by a lot of cinematography books I've read. Even "Reflections" shows a lighting set up for a stagnant frame: people standing in one place.

This really is one of the big mysteries for me.

By the way, I will be shooting on vision2 500T. The film is a comedy and the mood of the scene is jovial.

Thanks for any help you might provide.

Brian Dzyak · October 5, 2007

Is it safe to assume that you'll be trying to maintain a consistent lens to subject distance? If so, I'd attach a diffused lamp on the camera itself that serves as the consistent key. Because it is "comedy" and not "drama" or "horror" I would feel comfortable having that flatter light on the talent throughout. It'll take a little work to find the level for the key then work to control every other source that the lens will see, but the result should work. You can still hit him with those daylight sources for effect, just keep them down so they don't overpower the on-camera key and distract the viewer.

If the camera to subject distance varies somewhat, attach a dimmer to the onboard light and have someone ride the levels throughout the shot.

The only other alternative is to somehow hide enough units throughout the set, which could be difficult and time consuming, if not impossible.

Michael Nash · October 5, 2007

You're simply talking about lighting a large set, which I'm assuming is a practical location. The easiest thing to do is build up the base ambience and add strategic keylights and backlights wherever you feel you need them.

You can start by bouncing lights off the ceiling (if it's white or close to white), and maybe rig some chinaballs in the ceiling as well. Use more focusable units like fresnels as backlights, rigged in the ceiling or hidden behind bookcases or other architectural elements.

And for those areas where the actor may "dip" out of rigged light for too long a period, you can use a chinaball handheld on a pole near the lens of the camera.

Rick Shepardson · October 5, 2007

You're simply talking about lighting a large set, which I'm assuming is a practical location. The easiest thing to do is build up the base ambience and add strategic keylights and backlights wherever you feel you need them.

You can start by bouncing lights off the ceiling (if it's white or close to white), and maybe rig some chinaballs in the ceiling as well. Use more focusable units like fresnels as backlights, rigged in the ceiling or hidden behind bookcases or other architectural elements.

And for those areas where the actor may "dip" out of rigged light for too long a period, you can use a chinaball handheld on a pole near the lens of the camera.

Thanks.

I had allready planned to bounce two 2k tungston units off of the cielings-or maybe off of high show cards for just a bit more control.

The subject to camera distance will change. I'm rigging up some china balls as well and perhaps some kino-flos.

When I watch shows like "The Office," I'm amazed at how soft wide spread the lighting is.