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Tips on lighting "white void" scenes


Akie Yano

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Hi! We’re shooting a white void type scene in a studio. An example of a “white void” scene is this. 

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It won’t be completely a “white void” as the scene will reveal that it’s shot in a studio with a white backdrop. The studio looks like this.

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What is a nice way to light this kind of scene? I’m thinking of lighting the studio backdrop with lights with soft boxes or lanterns from the ceiling directed below and at the back of and sides of the backdrop then 1 light each with a huge soft box situated outside the “white void” on opposite ends (for the actors). For the lights outside the white void, will a strong light with soft box be enough or a strong light with a huge diffusion cloth be better? 

To achieve a soft almost no contrast lighting in the scene, I know I have to fill as much as shadows as possible but will there be a risk of it looking too flat? Or should I just meter one side of the face of an actor just to make sure that one side of the face is a bit darker than the other?

Honestly, I think it wouldn't be that very hard to light this given that the backdrop is already white so all of the shadows are easily filled in. But still, it's my first time to shoot and light this kind of scene and I would just like to know if there are any precautions and tips you can give me. Thank you!

 

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Soft lights will be easier to spread more evenly than hard lights for the drop. It's hard not to be flat unless the actor is forward enough to be keyed separately from the drop, then you could ring the drop with soft top lights but let the center of the white void drop off and then key the actor from one side. But generally you're in a white void for a heavenly light-is-everywhere effect so flatness seems OK.

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10 hours ago, David Mullen ASC said:

 But generally you're in a white void for a heavenly light-is-everywhere effect so flatness seems OK.

And if the background is pure white, then anything in the foreground that has any sort of color (even skin tones) will feel like color contrast and not flat in my opinion.

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On 2/19/2022 at 12:23 AM, David Mullen ASC said:

Soft lights will be easier to spread more evenly than hard lights for the drop. It's hard not to be flat unless the actor is forward enough to be keyed separately from the drop, then you could ring the drop with soft top lights but let the center of the white void drop off and then key the actor from one side. But generally you're in a white void for a heavenly light-is-everywhere effect so flatness seems OK.

Ok, understood. Thank you!

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On 2/19/2022 at 11:01 AM, Justin Hayward said:

And if the background is pure white, then anything in the foreground that has any sort of color (even skin tones) will feel like color contrast and not flat in my opinion.

Ok, thank you! Yup, I think in a white void scene, it's generally understood that the lighting is even.

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