Creating dramatic lighting

Tiago Pimentel · October 10, 2017

Hi guys,

Here's a photo of what I will be lighting:

The scene will feature a father reading a story to his little girl, both in bed (the little girl will be lying in bed, while the father will also be in bed, but with his back against the wall). The mother will arrive after the shot begins, sitting in the bed, on the left side of the frame, facing them (so, back against the camera).

Ok, I will be moving the bed from the left wall and place a small bedside table with a lamp to create ambience and also allow the mother to sit on the left side. The idea will be to simulate cozy lamp light. I'll be shooting with an Ursa Mini 4.6k at 800 ISO. I wanted some focus on the mother as well, so we're looking at a relatively deep focus scene here (perhaps T4). I have acess mostly to tungsten Arri fresnels (150 and 500w). How would you guys light this? I want this very smooth and ambient light on the characters, even though, the previous shot is the dad's shadow on a white closet reading the book. And the silhouette is well cut, so a bit of a lighting incoherence, since no soft light would produce a sharp shadow, but I think I can get away with that, for the sake of the look... Any suggestions? :)

thanks for helping, guys!

Edited October 10, 2017 by Tiago Pimentel

Tiago Pimentel · October 11, 2017

Anyone? I was thinking maybe getting a 500w fresnel on the left side, at about the same height of the dad and daughter, going through big diffusion. Goal is to avoid clipping of the practical and get good quality light into their faces. To light the mother, I was thinking maybe a backlight to silhouette her (simulate the light from the lamp, and then another light from the left to fill her left side a bit (as if it was the light from the lamp bouncing from a wall). The delicate thing will be to create atmosphere with so much light. A lot of flagging will be needed. What do you think?

Thanks

Edited October 11, 2017 by Tiago Pimentel

Samuel Berger · October 11, 2017

I think it might work better to look at some shots from other movies that have the look you are going for, and then post the image here to ask how folks think it was done.

Tiago Pimentel · October 12, 2017

Here's a still from ET that doesn't actually look that complicated but it kind of ressembles what I want to do. My shot will be wider and the dad will be in the place of the mother and the mom will actually be sitting on the left side of the bed, facing them (back against the camera). My lighting should also look warmer and softer on them as i will be framing a practical with diffusion.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWmh-BaGMdU/UXJNkbUrSMI/AAAAAAAAAqE/DKVQDT1OSrY/s1600/Dee-Wallace-Drew-Barrymore-ET-photo.jpg

Edited October 12, 2017 by Tiago Pimentel

Tiago Pimentel · October 12, 2017

Sorry, I said practical with diffusion but I actually meant practical with shade.

Brandon Ruiz · October 13, 2017

First problem is your location really isn't the best. You're crammed into a corner with no windows to open up the room. Second problem is that ugly, almost-chroma-key green wall that will spill over everything in that tiny room. Can art department paint the walls? Otherwise you're fighting a battle you just can't win.

I'd recommend going with a chimera softbox and fabric grid on a menace arm for your top key to better control the light spilling around the room, then a simple fill to wrap around their faces a bit. Chimeras will be your friend in situations like this. Will make your life a lot easier. Your key's surface area doesnt need to be huge because you're replicating a lamp, so dont go crazy with the diffusion.

Tiago Pimentel · October 13, 2017

I think I'll change my location here:

https://i.pinimg.com/1200x/b3/0a/19/b30a19be14a6ee2ff9b1a3585daf1dc7.jpg

It's got more space (i'll probably change the lamp for something with shade) and the dark brown will definitly work better to create ambience. What do you think?

Thanks

Adrian Sierkowski · October 14, 2017

Problem with location 2 is that you basically have skin-tone walls.

And again it's hard to tell how large the room is..

Were it me, I'd have the lamp ,yes, then i'd think about a wall spreader with a lite-mat on it overhead with the egg-crate on it to control it's spill-- probably use a medium diffusion on it, set it tungsten, and use that to wrap that key flatteringly onto their faces. Then I'd think maybe something small, like a Dedo to use as a back-light, again, VERRRY dim and warm just to try to seperate them from the wall.

Tiago Pimentel · October 14, 2017

Ok, here's a grab of what I shot. It was so hard to flag that, but I think I got a good ambience. There's a lot of space to the left, because there's a character that will sit on the left of the bed. Maybe it's a bit yellow and needing of proper color correction, but I actually like the warm tone.

Stuart Brereton · October 14, 2017

Looks great!

Justin Hayward · October 14, 2017

Very nice!

David Mullen ASC · October 14, 2017

Turned out great, doesn't look like the original bed and wall, which seemed problematic.

Tiago Pimentel · October 15, 2017

Turned out great, doesn't look like the original bed and wall, which seemed problematic.

Yeah, I changed location as I realized that in the original room, especially with the white stripes, would be very hard to pull off a decent cosy atmosphere. The impact on the story is minimal and visually it works much better. Thanks!

Giacomo Girolamo · November 14, 2017

Yeah, looks great the final result you achieve. Congratulations for pull it off!

Samuel Berger · November 14, 2017

Looks great and I'd like to know how you accomplished the lighting.

Found the book, too: https://www.fnac.pt/O-Espaco-Para-Sentir-Benjamin-Becue/a318429#

Tiago Pimentel · November 14, 2017

Looks great and I'd like to know how you accomplished the lighting.

Found the book, too: https://www.fnac.pt/O-Espaco-Para-Sentir-Benjamin-Becue/a318429#

haha, that's the exact book I was using. It's a children's book that teaches basic stuff about space.

About the lighting. It was much more about the flagging than about the lighting, I must say. Key light was a 500w tungsten through a big (can't remember the exact size) softbox with eggcrate to avoid spill on the wall and lamp. I had additional flagging on the left side of the frame to really cut the light from the wall. Then, since the mother will sit on the left side of the bed (not visible on that still I posted), I also had a 500w tungsten on the right side with diffusion paper and some ND, just to let the light fall on her right shoulder and kind of enhance the motivation from the lamp. Of course, more flagging to avoid spill on the wall and ceiling. I think I also had cinefoil on the mother's light.