help with lighting exterior without HMI's

[Ryan Rigley]

hey guys and gals,

I'm a DP on my school film, and i have to light an exterior bright day with out using any HMI's, should i just use the sunlight and bounce it for fills? any cool advice for me?

 

also, there is a polar opposite scene that needs to be lit like a film noir. It's a night scene in an alleyway with lights on the walls. Personally i want it to be pitch black without any light on the walls except for the very bright cones of light coming from the wall lights. any suggestions on either would be much appreciated

[David Mullen ASC]

If it's pitch black without any light on the walls, how are you going to know that it's an alley?

[Ryan Rigley]

as long as the brick is lit on the wall, you will be able to tell

[David Mullen ASC]

as long as the brick is lit on the wall, you will be able to tell

 

Then it's not pitch-black...

 

Most people would use a tungsten PARCAN, like a spot or narrow-spot one, for a hot downlight on a building. Or you could use a Leko / Source-4 ellipsoidal lamp. PARCAN's are pretty cheap and only 1K, except for the 1.2K "firestarter" very-narrow-spot ones. More energy efficient than using, let's say, 2K Baby Juniors with snoots to create the spots.

[Adrian Sierkowski]

Other thing you can do is try stringing up some sockets and putting a few bulbs in 'em, which look like they'd belong over back doors etc. Can help give some definition then a soft slightly under-exposed source illuminating characters and a little eye light if called for.

Just an idea which can be gotten from the hardware store.

[DS Williams]

If you don't see the ground of the hallway you might be able to lay some Kino singles down to get a teensy bit of exposure on the walls. You said you wanted to see the brick, that might bring some texture. Or maybe you could rig the practicals with real bright 200 watt or 300 watt photofloods or use CFLs for more lumans output

[DS Williams]

Though not energy efficient as Mr. Mullen pointed out, a 1k or 2k fresnel or open faced light (like an arrilite or lowel DP light) with a snoot would give you a very narrow concentrated downlight on the walls...

[Ram Shani]

i agree with all the above

 

as for the daylight scene use reflectors, foam-core

 

if you can use 12*12 frame and you can add to it a silver reflector or diffuser like light grid or black for negative fill

 

go to the location stay there look at the sun and the way it look on the "set"

do a breakdown to meet your need

[Nick Harris]

When shooting outdoors and without hte budget for HMI's, I usually like to cut the sun with a double net (also a 1/2 or 1/4 silk works), although I find a full silk to be a bit too much.

 

Then I bounce in underneath using shiny boards, each with a single/double net to control how much I'm getting off of each.

 

This should give you a nice ability to control the light with no powered lights. Here's a sample of a commercial I shot using this approach.

 

http://www.sunspot-pictures.com/commercials.php

 

Hope this helps!

 

 

-Nick Harris

www.sunspot-pictures.com

 

hey guys and gals,

I'm a DP on my school film, and i have to light an exterior bright day with out using any HMI's, should i just use the sunlight and bounce it for fills? any cool advice for me?

 

also, there is a polar opposite scene that needs to be lit like a film noir. It's a night scene in an alleyway with lights on the walls. Personally i want it to be pitch black without any light on the walls except for the very bright cones of light coming from the wall lights. any suggestions on either would be much appreciated