Hi, all! This is my first post, as I'm new not only to the forum, but to learning cinematography. The University I went to didn't really have a program for it at the time, and transferring wasn't really an option, but that's neither here nor there- I'm here now, and trying to learn. I don't really know a whole lot of the technical aspects of cinematography, and will be mostly shooting on video, at least for now.
I'm working with a new start up film group, Plum St. Productions, and have shot a commercial for them. We shot it on a Canon XH-A1S, and were very limited in what we have as far as lighting gear. I took the two set lights we have, and diffused them through a tan pillowcase (as we don't have gels yet, since most of our money went to the camera). I added the candles, and raised the candle up next to the mannequin's (it's the Mascot of the BBQ place for some reason) to give it a nice candle light flicker. I tried to make the mood sexy and romantic, since the commercial is supposed to be creepy and funny all at once.
The last image was purposely out of focus, which is probably obvious. The whole thing turned out slightly darker than I had hoped for, but I'm hoping we can lighten it up in post... Again, I'm really new to all of this, so any ideas and suggestions you might have would be great. Unfortunately, it would only be for next time, as the commercial is being edited right now and needs to be online and ready for TV very soon.
Please let me know what you think, and remember I'm brand new to this, so I'm still learning!
Thanks, everyone!
Michael