Filming with mixed daylight and tungsten

[Jon O'Brien]

Hi I went along to a local chapel the other day that hires out for weddings and I'm wondering how to film a wedding ceremony there. I film with a 16mm film camera. It's a medium-sized to smallish chapel, with large windows along both sides. Where the ceremony takes place at the other end of the chapel there are largish floor to ceiling windows to the left and to the right of where the celebrant and couple will stand. So they will be backlit by daylight to an extent. However the windows themselves can be avoided in the background, in the framing of the shots, as they are slightly off to the sides.

Now, the weather is quite grey and wet lately, and the outside daylight is dull. There's a likelihood of this weather lasting until the ceremony. So the daylight entering the room is slightly subdued lately.

Overhead of the couple and celebrant is a pretty enormous chandelier, with tungsten balanced bulbs in it. It adds a definite warmth to the light in the room. I haven't made any measurements yet but by eye the daylight and tungsten light in the chapel seems fairly evenly balanced. I can't change the bulbs in the chandelier.

If I can't put a light or lights on a stand and manipulate the lighting in the chapel to suit myself, but must film with only the available light, with fast film and a fast lens since light levels are a bit low, what film do you advise that should I use, tungsten balanced or daylight balanced? I'm inclined to think tungsten balanced film. If they do say I can use one filming light, just on a stand and off to the side slightly, can you advise what type of light might work well in this scenario. BTW, I can't gel the windows or cover any of them with anything. My presence must be fairly minimal. Perhaps this topic is more suitable in the film stock section. Thank you for any advice.

[Tyler Purcell]

Yea been there done that, not much you can do honestly. If it were a big film, you'd probably kill the chandelier and use HMI's in the windows to augment. But since ya can't do that, then you're kinda gonna shoot whatever you can balance wise sadly. 

[Jon O'Brien]

Yes, a bit of a hotchpotch of mixed light. Not ideal, and really, sort of cinema verite style with not-so-great lighting, but there you go. Better that the daylight coming in looks too blue than the overhead warm light looks too orange.