You should be aware that whenever you frame a corner of your mirror room, the reflection of the camera WILL be in frame. This is because of the corner cube effect the mirrors create (which is the same effect of Scotchlight reflecting light only in the direction of the light source).
I used to go crazy moving the camera left or right and the reflection always moving with me rather than out of the frame!
Some ways to deal with this are:
- covering the camera and hiding it in darker parts of the frame
- hiding the reflections behind the actors or props (makes movement tricky)
- framing from above or from the floor.
But you didn't ask about this so I'll get to what you did ask about. Lighting from above is ideal for ease in hiding lights. 8 by 8 is an awfully small space and if you can keep your lights above, you will make things much easier on everyone. You can go all the way from stretching a white cloth over the set and lighting through it for a very soft light to using pools of light for a moodier effect as your actors move in and out the light. You spoke of using the first approach. In this case, the only advantage of kinoflos is if you anticipate heat problems or have limited power available. Otherwise just go with regular quartz lights or photofloods through the cloth.
Where I would use 4x4 kinoflos, though, is inside the set if you need supplemental modeling. They are black and have integral barndoors so they will flag themselves if you use them sideways to your actors. They can also be laid on the floor with no fuss and no fear of melting the mylar.
Sounds like a fun and challenging shoot!
Bruce Douglas
