limited lighting for night shoot

[Guest Michael Cathcart]

Hello -

Well, Im going to be directing my Junior Student film in about three weeks and my DP and I have been having some discussions on lighting for the film which takes place 95% at Night - Outside. It appears right now that the lights available to us will be: 2 Arri Kits which all included is 2 - 1K, 4 - 650, 2-300, also we will have two kinos I believe they are 4x4s, also we will have 3 additional 1K lights not sure brand but they are Tungsten.

So heres my Question do any of you think that this will be enough, because the script really calls for lighting in the front yard and outside of a house, trying to keep this relatively realistic. We could rent lke 5K and 10K lights but cant really afford the generator(s) needed for those.

So what would some of you more expierienced gaffers and Dps reccommend.

 

By the way we will most likely be shooting on the SR-2 with 7218 16mm film

[Tim J Durham]

Hello -

Well, Im going to be directing my Junior Student film in about three weeks and my DP and I have been having some discussions on lighting for the film which takes place 95% at Night - Outside. It appears right now that the lights available to us will be: 2 Arri Kits which all included is 2 - 1K, 4 - 650, 2-300, also we will have two kinos I believe they are 4x4s, also we will have 3 additional 1K lights not sure brand but they are Tungsten.

So heres my Question do any of you think that this will be enough, because the script really calls for lighting in the front yard and outside of a house, trying to keep this relatively realistic. We could rent lke 5K and 10K lights but cant really afford the generator(s) needed for those.

So what would some of you more expierienced gaffers and Dps reccommend.

 

By the way we will most likely be shooting on the SR-2 with 7218 16mm film

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are there street lights? A strip of shops down the street? Is there anything around to hint at as motivation for the light you will put on the characters? Porch lights, landscape lighting, cars driving by?

 

Or is it out in the middle of the woods with only the moon? If so, rent "The Evil Dead" and watch it together.

[Guest Michael Cathcart]

its in lke a neighborhood,

for some of it the neighbors porch lights will be on, but , then the last half the porch lights will be off and the neighborhood will be relatively dark.

The setting is halloween, but late late after most people have gone to bed, and its all quiet and dark, its not a horror story however, more like a story of kids pranking people.

[Matt Sandstrom]

sounds like plenty. ;-) (see my night for night topic) i'd probably use the kinos for frontal fill of the actors, simulating moonlight, then the two 1k's as back/cross light from a direction where it's motivated. maybe use the smaller arris as "set lights", augmenting the pattern coming from the available light. then for closeups you can do whatever you like to make it look good as long as you keep it the same style and contrast, it doesn't even have to match. exact angles and the number of light sources are easily forgotten by audiences when you go close so it doesn't have to be real to be realistic. good luck.

 

/matt

[Guest JP Creatives]

Hello -

Well, Im going to be directing my Junior Student film in about three weeks and my DP and I have been having some discussions on lighting for the film which takes place 95% at Night - Outside. It appears right now that the lights available to us will be: 2 Arri Kits which all included is 2 - 1K, 4 - 650, 2-300, also we will have two kinos I believe they are 4x4s, also we will have 3 additional 1K lights not sure brand but they are Tungsten.

So heres my Question do any of you think that this will be enough, because the script really calls for lighting in the front yard and outside of a house, trying to keep this relatively realistic. We could rent lke 5K and 10K lights but cant really afford the generator(s) needed for those.

So what would some of you more expierienced gaffers and Dps reccommend.

 

By the way we will most likely be shooting on the SR-2 with 7218 16mm film

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Michael

 

You can do a lot with a little bit when you are shooting on 7218. I would suggest getting faster prime lenses. A lot of time schools provide students with zoom lenses that are relatively slow. The key to night in my opinion is not illuminating everything, but creating depth. Do not neglect the far background. For instance, something I used on a feature I just shot was (the whole movie takes place over one night) was lighting trees in the background. The brightest light we had all summer was a 2.5k HMI that never really worked.

 

We used china balls a lot this summer too. Check out lanternlock.com. They are awesome and the 1ks throw off an insane amount of soft light. Great looking on grass (front lawns). I could go on and on about shooting night exteriors since I did it for 5 weeks.

 

Here are some stills from the shoot

 

only a couple are night exteriros, but done with very little eqipment and 500t.

 

Let me know if you want to talk more.

 

JP

[John Thomas]

Michael,

 

Beat on parts of the background with 500W and 1K theatrical par cans. They're cheap to rent, plug into the wall, and the VNSP bulbs do a lot of damage. They are also black so that you can hide them in the shot. Small over exposed areas look great in the mostly dark, out of focus, background. Light the background first, then worry about the actors.

 

Good luck,

 

JT