Candle lighting on 16mm

[wallspray]

Im shooting a short on 16mm. its a dinner scene and i want the entire room too look as though it were lit only by candles... any suggestions as to how to go about this and still get an exposure?

[Michael Nash]

Check the archives as this has been discussed many, many times.

 

You'll have to supplement the practical candle light with off-camera movie lights. There are various tricks to making the artificial light look like it's motivated from the candles. Basically you want the light to come from the same direction, but avoid casting a shadow of the candle on the subject. You'll also want to keep the light from spilling on the back wall too much and over-illuminating the room (natural candle light falls off pretty quickly). Try gelling the lights with some CTO; maybe 1/2. It just depends how warm you want the scene to look.

[zrszach]

take a look at this.

http://www.theasc.com/clubhouse/tricks/tip-cc1.htm

Edited December 2, 2004 by zrszach

[Chris Keth]

take a look at this.

http://www.theasc.com/clubhouse/tricks/tip-cc1.htm

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Wow, could be some work convincing a director of the makeup thing the first time out. :)

[Nate Downes]

If you have the money, get a superfast lens, like a Zeiss 0.7 or a Leica 0.9 and shoot with that.

[Guest Daniel J. Ashley-Smith]

If you have the money, get a superfast lens, like a Zeiss 0.7 or a Leica 0.9 and shoot with that.

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I don't get this whole thing with super fast lenses. Sure, a Zeiss 0.7 is DAMN fast, but look at what DOF you will get. I doubt you could even keep the entire actor in focus.

 

(Oops, yeh I meant DOF)

Edited December 5, 2004 by Daniel J. Ashley-Smith

[David Mullen ASC]

You mean DOF (Depth of Field) nor DOP (Director of Photography) although what DOP you get DOES matter too! And you're right, the focus is incredibly shallow.

 

I'm not even sure one can get a T/0.7 Zeiss lens -- that was something special made by Zeiss for NASA that Kubrick bought and had adapted for a non-reflex Mitchell. Anyway, a normal T/1.4 Zeiss Super Speed and filmstock pushed to 800 ASA would be the equivalent of what Kubrick was working with on "Barry Lyndon" (T/0.7, 100 ASA film pushed to 200 ASA.) But Kubrick used special-made triple-wicked candles for three times the light output.

 

The general approach is to use fast film and fast lenses, not enough usually to ONLY shoot by candlelight but enough so that they expose realistically bright enough and add some exposure -- augmented by very low-level artificial light (low in order to not overpower the candles). For example, "Amadeus" used Chinese Lanterns with orange-painted light bulbs in them to augment the real candlelight (and I think they used double-wicked candles.)

 

The fastest cine lens I've seen for rent is a 50mm T/1.1.

[DavidSloan]

I've never worked with these trick movie candles...does anyone have a link for them?

 

Thanks

[Chris Keth]

I don't get this whole thing with super fast lenses. Sure, a Zeiss 0.7 is DAMN fast, but look at what DOF you will get. I doubt you could even keep the entire actor in focus.

 

(Oops, yeh I meant DOF)

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How exactly can you possibly have a .7 lens? Isn't a 1.0 lens theoretically the fastest lens possible since it would allow all available light through with no loss?

[John Pytlak RIP]

Extra bright candles:

 

http://www.thecandlefactory.com/custom.php

 

They range from jumbo hand-dipped tapers, to extra bright burning candles for the movies (including Alamo and Spy Kids), and even a special wax target for The University of Texas at Austin.

 

Most custom candle shops can do the same.

 

At 24fps (170 degree shutter) and f/2.0, an EI 500 film requires only 10 footcandles for FULL NORMAL exposure. In most cases, a candlelit "look" is underexposed somewhat.

[Guest Erik]

an EI 500 film requires only 10 footcandles for FULL NORMAL exposure.  In most cases, a candlelit "look" is underexposed somewhat.

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John -

Does that mean that EI250 can get full normal exposure with 20 regular candles? (what is a footcandle vs. a store-bought single wick candle?)

thanks

EH

[John Pytlak RIP]

Yes, an EI250 film would require twice the light of an EI500 film, all else being equal.

 

A "footcandle" is a standardized measure of illumination. In effect it is the light falling on a surface 1 foot away from a "standard" candle, whatever that once was. Obviously candles vary in light output, depending on the wick type and length, and the fuel (type of wax).

 

Here are links to information about light measurement:

 

http://www.intl-light.com/handbook/registered.html

 

http://www.led.net/pages/tech4.htm

 

http://www.science.edu.sg/ssc/detailed.jsp...parent=5&cat=56

 

http://encarta.msn.com/text_761579230___28/Light.html

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/edscott/pss00020.htm

[Guest Erik]

very cool, thanks John!