Need guidance.

kyle ragaller · January 30, 2008

I am shooting my first short, on film, soon. I am using classic Noir as inspiration for the look of my film. I looked through another post that asked about a list of films to watch for ideas, but I was wondering if anyone knows of some literature or "how-to" books that can help with techniques and tricks associated with Noir filming. The light kits that are available to my production course lack some key options (no flood/spot dial, no barn doors, no scrims--they are just a lightbulb in a coned casing). I have a few jimmy-rig ideas to work around these discrepancies but if there are some good texts or online sources on Noir lighting that someone knows about I would love to hear about them.

Thanks for the help,

kyle.

Matt Irwin · January 30, 2008

Where are you located? If it were me, I would look into renting a package of fresnels-- from 2k on down to 150.

One of the keystones of noir lighting is hard light and sharp shadows, something that is just not achievable with clamp-on worklights or old-school Lowel Lights. You could definitely get away with using halogen worklights for wide-coverage backlight, but if you want to go for those noir slashes and razor sharp shadows on the key/front side, you will need something with an even spread that is focusable-- like a fresnel. A lot can also be done with PARs and open face lights (redheads/blondes).

Are you shooting for black-and-white or noir-inspired color?

Jonathan Bowerbank · January 30, 2008

"Painting With Light" by John Alton. He is the master of noir lighting.

kyle ragaller · January 31, 2008

I am shooting for black and white. I am going to school in Souther Illinois and am not sure about rental houses nearby, I can look into it though. I am familiar with that book "Painting with Light" but have not been able to look at it much. I certainly am looking for the sharp shadows and dark blacks, well I will see what I can pull up around town here. Thanks.

kyle.