shooting a fireplace like in a chimney

[Guest martin levent]

hi, i would to know how to shoot a fireplace effect.for example if you have two persons in front of a chimney and this is the only one source of light.

if you have any ideas , sketch about that you're welcome.

it's just for my personnal trainning.

thanks you. :P

[David Mullen ASC]

hi, i would to know how to shoot a fireplace effect.for example if you have two persons in front of a chimney and this is the only one source of light.

if you have any ideas , sketch about that you're welcome.

it's just for my personnal trainning.

thanks you. :P

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Depends on the camera angle, movement, focal length, etc. You can shoot two people in profile with a fireplace between them by cross-lighting them just from off-camera with flickering orange light (orange-gelled tweenies on flicker boxes, let's say, or dimmers) but the lights can't be SO far off-angle from the fireplace that the light looks like it is coming from the sides. A long lens helps, or shooting slightly from one side, with the fire on one side of the frame, so that the lights can be placed right next to the fire.

 

You can even place some lights right inside a fire -- halogen bulbs apparently burn hotter than fire so can survive in a fireplace with the right base and buried wiring. You'd need to dim them to an appropriate orange color.

 

You can create flickering boxes of light bulbs too, like six bulbs grouped together, some of flicker boxes and some on dimmers, randomly changing.

 

You can shine orange light through real flames and "project" the smoke and heat patterns on people.

 

You can wave hands or flags in front of lights (it helps if the light is softened somehow to make the movement more subtle.)

[Guest 22west]

Depends on the camera angle, movement, focal length, etc.  You can shoot two people in profile with a fireplace between them by cross-lighting them just from off-camera with flickering orange light (orange-gelled tweenies on flicker boxes, let's say, or dimmers) but the lights can't be SO far off-angle from the fireplace that the light looks like it is coming from the sides.  A long lens helps, or shooting slightly from one side, with the fire on one side of the frame, so that the lights can be placed right next to the fire.

 

You can even place some lights right inside a fire -- halogen bulbs apparently burn hotter than fire so can survive in a fireplace with the right base and buried wiring.  You'd need to dim them to an appropriate orange color.

 

You can create flickering boxes of light bulbs too, like six bulbs grouped together, some of flicker boxes and some on dimmers, randomly changing.

 

You can shine orange light through real flames and "project" the smoke and heat patterns on people.

 

You can wave hands or flags in front of lights (it helps if the light is softened somehow to make the movement more subtle.)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

When using the dimmer option, is there anyway to tell what level to set the lights at without a color temperature meter?

 

Thanks.

[James Tanouye]

I thought a good example of this was in Garden State. There's a scene where a few people are sitting next to a huge fireplace and it's the only thing lighting the room. I thought they did a good job lighting it. Natalie Portman is a cutie.

[Robert Edge]

If you have access to Nestor Almendros's book A Man with a Camera, he talks repeatedly about lighting candles and open fires and fireplaces. It was a subject that interested him throughout his career. The book doesn't have an index, so you pretty much have to read all of it to find all the passages on this subject. That isn't a bad thing, because the book is wonderful.