Quick light set up advice needed

jack king · October 16, 2009

Hi again folks,

lots of progress being made on the music video shoot if anyone remembers me. 3 weeks until production.

Anyhow, quick question. Basically, I need to shoot some images of band members faces next week that are going to be projected digitally onto other peoples faces for capturing during the actual shoot.

I need a strong image, shot 4:3, from round about the same distance it will be projected from. I'm using a canon xl1s and a beaulieu r16.

Okay, so i'm wondering how I should go about lighting this and getting maximum contrast? A black canvas behind the band members head. Face painted totally white. Black lipstick. Black lens sunglasses. I need the contrast to be maximized as much as dammit whilst retaining total clarity. (its going to be projected on a bare white face with white lens sunglasses). Black and white film.

Thanks so much for reading. Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)

Jack

Chris Keth · October 16, 2009

Hi again folks,

lots of progress being made on the music video shoot if anyone remembers me. 3 weeks until production.

Anyhow, quick question. Basically, I need to shoot some images of band members faces next week that are going to be projected digitally onto other peoples faces for capturing during the actual shoot.

I need a strong image, shot 4:3, from round about the same distance it will be projected from. I'm using a canon xl1s and a beaulieu r16.

Okay, so i'm wondering how I should go about lighting this and getting maximum contrast? A black canvas behind the band members head. Face painted totally white. Black lipstick. Black lens sunglasses. I need the contrast to be maximized as much as dammit whilst retaining total clarity. (its going to be projected on a bare white face with white lens sunglasses). Black and white film.

Thanks so much for reading. Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)

Jack

I think you're on the right track with the makeup for the look you want. I think a very simple high hard key 45 or 50 degree off to the side of each person. Fiddle with the exact placement to highlight the shape of their face well. Without that modeling, the band won't be recognizable projected onto other people. To ensure the highest contrast possible, you may want to kind of box the person in with duvetyne. Leave enough room to light comfortably, of course, but that will keep reflected light from the room down.

You might want some help from makeup to create higher contrast facial modeling. For example, once the face is made up white add some color in the hollows of the cheeks and under the eyebrows.