Shooting Skin Cream Commercial in Asia

[Shaun Lawless]

I'm shooting a commercial for a whitening cream in SE Asia. I've wanted to shoot beauty product commecials for a while now and this is my first break. Does anyone have any advice for me as this is my first spot in this field. The talent is Eur-asian....

[Tim Tyler]

I'm shooting a commercial...

 

Welcome to the forum, Shaun,

 

You'll need to be more specific about your concerns as a cinematographer if you'd like helpful answers here. What sort of setups are you expecting, and what format are you shooting in?

[Shaun Lawless]

Welcome to the forum, Shaun,

 

You'll need to be more specific about your concerns as a cinematographer if you'd like helpful answers here. What sort of setups are you expecting, and what format are you shooting in?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Hi Tim,

 

Thanks for the reply. Lighting ratios are my biggest question. I really want this job to go smoothly. I usually expose female skin tones at 1 and a half stops over my spot reading for caucasian skin. But this is asian skin.

 

Shooting 35mm. Not sure which stock as of yet. Still undecided. It will probably boil down to lighting budget. Have you shot much beauty commercials?

[Shaun Lawless]

One other thing.... Stupid question but about lighting ratios. I've never been one hundred percent about "lighting ratios". Would 2:1 lighting ratios be One stop difference between Key and fill side? 3:1 would be two stops???/

 

~Shaun~

[Sam Wells]

I don't really treat "Asian skin tones" (which can vary) any differently than caucasian. I think they are easier -- in dramatic / doc sense. Having said, I *notice* differences re exposure more but that's a cultural bias on my part I think. Some will read with the spot closer to mid grey than caucasian but so will a heavy tan.

 

 

The fact that it's a skin whitener product speaks volumes !

 

-Sam

 

ps lighting ratio is key + fill : fill

[Patrick Neary]

hi there

 

ring lights can be VERY flattering to your talent! My gaffer on a series made one from those tiny 12v under-the-counter lights you can get at Home Depot, fixed them to a ring that circled the lens, and while the rig was not beautiful, the light it produced certainly was. I'm sure on a cosmetic commercial you could just get a real one! (plus i think it might be actual law in most countries that ring-lights are required for cosmetic shoots ;) )

Edited May 4, 2005 by PatrickNeary

[boy yniguez]

hi there

 

ring lights can be VERY flattering to your talent! My gaffer on a series made one from those tiny 12v under-the-counter lights you can get at Home Depot, fixed them to a ring that circled the lens, and while the rig was not beautiful, the light it produced certainly was.  I'm sure on a cosmetic commercial you could just get a real one! (plus i think it might be actual law in most countries that ring-lights are required for cosmetic shoots  ;) )

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ring lights can be useful if the creative's idea of white skin is flat, shadowless lighting where it could just look like an overexposed shot. i would prefer to think white looks whiter in relation to shadows so some modeling ie. sidelighting would allow you to exaggerate (overexpose) the highlights without washing out the whole scene.

 

also

 

1:2 1 stop

1:4 2 stops

1:8 3 stops

[boy yniguez]

hi there

 

ring lights can be VERY flattering to your talent! My gaffer on a series made one from those tiny 12v under-the-counter lights you can get at Home Depot, fixed them to a ring that circled the lens, and while the rig was not beautiful, the light it produced certainly was.  I'm sure on a cosmetic commercial you could just get a real one! (plus i think it might be actual law in most countries that ring-lights are required for cosmetic shoots  ;) )

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

... also watch out for very shiny make-up since skin facing the lens squarely will reflect the ring light easily as sheen not as whiter skin that you are aiming for.

 

boy

[Rolfe Klement]

check out

 

Geoff Boyle asian advert

 

thanks

 

Rolfe

[Glenn Hanns]

1:2    1 stop

1:4    2 stops

1:8    3 stops

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Like Sam said Contrast ratios are K+F \ F so:

 

2:1 = 0 stops

ie 2.8 + 2.8= 5.6/2.8 = 2

 

2.5:1 = 1 stop

3:1 = 2 stops

4:1 = 3 stops

5:1 = 4 stops

 

 

Regards, Glenn.

[Chris Keth]

Like Sam said Contrast ratios are K+F \ F so:

 

2:1 = 0 stops

ie 2.8 + 2.8= 5.6/2.8 = 2

 

2.5:1 = 1 stop

3:1 = 2 stops

4:1 = 3 stops

5:1 = 4 stops

Regards, Glenn.

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Not exactly. Key+Fill is the incident reading of the key side of the face. Since the fill will bleed over there, you read it with the key and fill lights both on. Say this gives you a 5.6. Then you read the fill side with only the fill light on and it reads a 2.8. This would be a 4:1 ratio. 4 because 2 stops of difference is a difference factor of 4 (remember that every stop double the amount of light).

 

 

So 2:1 is a difference of 1 stop, 8:1 is a difference of 3 stops (8 = 2^3), 16:1 is a difference of 4 stops (16 = 2^4)

 

 

I would think that 2:1 to 4:1 would suit this type of ad very well. You want to provide soft modeling to make the talent look as beautiful as possible without being too flat or have too much contrast in the face.

 

 

If you use a ring light, be careful to watch the catchlights in the talent's eyes. Closeups that show a little circle for a catchlight make the talent look very strange.