How do I shoot a scene thats suppose to be dark?

alfredoparra · February 22, 2005

I have a scene I have to shoot where the lights go out and a candle is lit until power is restored, im not sure how to light up the set? Can anybody help me please! Thanks

David Mullen ASC · February 22, 2005

a candle is lit until power is restored, im not sure how to light up the set?

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Veeeeeerrrrrryyyyyy carefully....

Lighting a room for different camera angles to suggest that a single candle is lighting everything takes some ingenuity, although the truth is that it would be rather flat lighting in real life from some angles because it's similar to a room lit with a bare light bulb, just dimmer and more warm-colored. Take some long exposure still photos of a room and actors lit by a real candle from different angles and see what it looks like.

It also depends on the look you want -- some people will light a candle scene from off-camera with large soft lights (like in "The Others") even though in real life, a single candle would produce a rather harsh light source that fell-off rapidly in exposure in the background.

Laurent Andrieux · February 22, 2005

What I lwould try to do in such a case is to do both. Have an amount of soft light just enough to work in the toe of the curve (about 3 or 4 stops under KL) and have a source to do the candle that is punctual, warm, etc. (typically a fresnel projector) that would provide a 1 or 2 stops under KL light on the actor's face. The rest would be done in post.

If you think the image is then too flat or dense, you might think of a soft counterlight even though it's not too realistic, depends on the script, style of the film etc.

Are you producing or doping this film ? What kind of style is it made in ? What is the story... ?

Michael Nash · February 22, 2005

Also consider what the room would look like without the candle, as if only ambient "nightlight" were lighting the scene (moonlight, distant streetlights, etc.). Chances are there would be a small amount of detail seen through the windows, or softlight coming in through windows (usually slightly bluish to suggest darkness and desaturation). Shapes are revealed through silhouette and edgelight.

You can use this as a "base" for illuminating the background slightly, well under-exposed but still visible, then use your candle-motivated light to key the main action.

The Others is indeed a good reference for candle and lantern lighting; they used every trick in the book have the sources move through space (multiple sources on dimmers, hidden sources in candles and lanterns, off-axis lights supplementing the source, and so on).

Adam Frisch FSF · February 23, 2005

Why not try the Harris Savides way suggested here in some other post: use real candlelights off screen to light your scene? With 500 film and T1.3 lenses that's not much of a problem anymore and you get all the right flickers and such?

Just an idea - haven't done it myself yet, but I'm eager to try.

David Mullen ASC · February 23, 2005

I did one scene at T/1.3 for a movie using Zeiss Super Speeds and it was a nightmare, not to mention half the footage was out of focus, and the stuff in focus looked soft anyway. Hoping the new Zeiss Master Primes are better for shooting at those stops...

Phil Rhodes · February 23, 2005

Hi,

That stuff I posted recently was Super Speeds, and looks strangely soft. I mean, a lot of it was out of focus, but some of the stuff that's soft looks soft in some way other than being out of focus.

Phil

Stephen Williams · February 25, 2005

Hi,

That stuff I posted recently was Super Speeds, and looks strangely soft. I mean, a lot of it was out of focus, but some of the stuff that's soft looks soft in some way other than being out of focus.

Phil

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Phil,

What was your T stop?

Stephen Williams Cameraman

www.stephenw.com

Michael Nash · February 25, 2005

I've used the Zeiss Superspeeds plenty in both 16mm and 35mm, and they're not inherently soft. Zeiss is characteristically kind of "cold and crisp" actually, although the superspeeds are an older generation of lenses.

Wide-open they do fall off in MTF some, not mention very small depth of field creating focus buzzes.

WFO... Wide Open and Hopin'....