mimicking a "Starbucks" lighting set up.

[Rick Shepardson]

Hello, I'm a student DP seeking advice on an upcoming lighting set up.

 

It's a comedy that takes place in a coffee shop. The director wants a warm "Starbucks" lighting scheme.

On a whim, I Googled "Starbucks lighting" and came up with the attached image. I'm considering creating the ambiance by mimicking what the picture shows as much as possible with brighter lights. By this I mean placing some 300 watt tungsten balanced bulbs in homemade fixtures similar to the those pictured. I want to line the inside of the fixtures with 1/4 grid cloth to soften them up a bit. Also, I have plenty of ND gels to cut down any lights that might be in the frame on wide shots.

Of course, I will have other units off frame to create desired highlights.

What are your opinions on this strategy and does anybody have any hints as to how I could best implement it?

 

Techinical information:

HVX 200 with film like gamma.

White Balanced with a slightly blue gel in order to get the warmth from the tungsten units.

[Walter Graff]

Most Starbucks in the US are lit with high hats and/or MR16 fixtures. I'd go for a soft angled overhead/side feel and/or combinations of MR16 type spills. Many stores light the walls a lot and let that soft bounce light the stores. The color scheme for most stores is mustard yellow and peach which to me means warm light. The Starbucks interiors below is more like I see Starbucks in terms of feel on the faces.

 

http://russelldavies.typepad.com/planning/starbucks2.JPG

http://www.fortunecookiechronicles.com/wp-...0/hongkong1.JPG

http://rpowens3.googlepages.com/DSCF1285.J...CF1285-full.jpg

http://racked.com/2007_04_Greenpoint%20Starbucks2.jpg

 

To me in a sitting shot I'd do small fixture bounces off foamcore pieces on arms around talent or simply using walls for bounce as many Starbucks lighting designs now do creating more like the images in the links above.

[Erik Anschicks]

One light I LOVE for restaurants/coffee shops, etc. is a source 4 leko. When used with patterns, you can create shapes and knock them out of focus to create good texture, and they're great for toplighting tables or creating hot spots on the walls. They project light well and can be very easily controlled with the condensers. They are also not too heavy, so they can be hung fairly easily. Check out "The Man from Elysian Fields," they used those lights in the restaurant scenes to great effect.

 

Also, I've loved the results I've gotten with the HVX in terms of creating warmth by balancing the camera to 5600K, using daylight sources as my keylights for actors and using uncorrected tungsten background light. This can give a wonderful warm glow to the backgrounds and highlights.

Edited February 26, 2008 by Erik Anschicks