John Byrne

We weren't able to get the light coming from the sides, so opted instead to go frontal (behind the tv). Personally I wouldn't have gone this way but in the end it wasn't my call. I haven't seen the finished product yet but there were far too many lights on in the room (3x500w - no dimmers, two spotlights and two 25w lamps). I was hoping to get it far darker and much more interesting to the eye.

Thanks guys. Yeah the white walls are killing it big time. So little space though that we've got no other option. And we don't have anything to cover the walls (using what we have to cover the tiles on the floor!). Gotta love low-budget filmmaking, eh? :) Adrian - can't get in from the sides as the width you see in the picture is actually the width of the room. Can't get in at the sides :/

Here's an updated pic of the setup - apologies for the poor quality shot but it gives you an idea. Also, the black material on the floor obviously needs fixing. I've got two lights set up behind the tv (to the left and right of it), both 500w with the barn doors quite narrow. Still looks a good bit off and not quite like a night scene - what do you think? Not sure what else I can do with this - the room is so small that it's impossible to cross light! Appreciate any feedback, shoot is in a couple of days so the sooner the more appreciated!

Thanks Rob. Too late to pick up any supplies unfortunately (duvetyne is hard to find where I am anyway!) so I'm just going to have to go with what we have. Not at all crazy about the white walls :(

Thanks Adrian, picked up a couple of 25w bulbs for two side lamps. Problem with the room and we've been left with the room attached to work with. Far smaller than what was desired but that's we've got now. I was thinking of using the Arri 300w (x3) since the room is so small and that I'm trying to create a night time living room environment - what do you guys think?

First I've heard about Streaks and Tips, I'll check it out. When you say swap out you mean just have bulb in there but just not turned on?

Thanks Adrian - going to do a couple of trial runs in the other room (as in, the second option) and see how that goes. Read some Blain Browne material there and he was saying to use dimmers on the lamps (once again, don't have dimmers for these!) otherwise you're looking at having a properly exposed lamp/light but an underexposed subject or a 'correctly' exposed subject but a blown out lamp. So I'm thinking it'll be hard to pull off without being able to actually dim the lamps :/ Evan - the rental company that has those lights says they don't come with a dimmer unfortunately. The said I can bring them down with some trace paper but that's not much help. They also said that they have the kino flo kit which has 4 tubes in each of the 2 banks, and each tube has its own individual switch so in a way it can be dimmed. Btw, the mood is pretty dark/depressing/gloomy! Appreciate any advice, thanks!

The room that's in line to be used doesn't have any windows (the room that I'd personally pick has two massive windows). Wide shot won't include the tv, maybe a hint of it, but mainly focusing on the seating area. There will be some OTS shots which will have the tv entirely in shot - guessing I need to pick up some gels to cover the tv (Adrian was saying it's roughly 6k on the kelvin scale so if I'm using tungsten lights (Arri + lamps) then I'll just put some CTO over the tv?). Don't have any china balls, nope, recommend? Adrian - Initially I was thinking of bouncing a light (or two) off the ceiling but then it occurred to me that this would look nothing like a nighttime scene - why are they being lit from above etc. So the lamps were thrown in to add a little bit of light to each side but still, the tv is not going to provide enough illumination to light people sitting on the couch/recliner. Problem is mainly with the wide/establishing shot and trying to hide the lights but still light the subjects somewhat. Here's an example of something similar-ish to what I'm aiming for, probably a bit darker though.

Thanks Adrian. I've extended this question somewhat in the lighting forum if you're interested!

Oh and it's going to be shot on a 5D MKII if that's of any use!

Obviously not looking for people to do my homework here or anything, but more looking towards some advice as this will be my first 'proper' shoot. I've attached the room layout. Extremely rough I know, apologies. Looking to light the room as if it was a nightime scene - television is on etc, and a couple of lamps. In terms of lighting I have the following to choose from: Arri 2 K Blonde Arri 800W Redhead Arri 1 K Fresnel 650W Fresnel Bambino Portable Lighting Kit (incl 3 X Fresnel 500W with stands and case) ARRI Portable Lighting Kit (incl 3 X 300W or 3 X 500W Fresnels with stands and case) Kino Flo (portable softlight interview kit including 2 X 4 bank 2ft (tungsten) stands & case) There's going to be wide, medium and close-ups. Also looking to have the shadows hit against the wall behind where people will be sitting. I think it's going to be hard trying to replicate the light coming from the tv, what do you guys think?

Probably a stupid question but blame the newbie in me. Also, I have one shot that's an extreme close up, and a second that is a long shot - lighting for the close up should be fine but what's the best way to approach lighting for the long shot? The image on the screen obviously isn't powerful enough to light somebody sitting 6 feet away. Thanks!

Thanks Hal, living in Ireland but I presume I can find something similar over here. Reading up on them it seems that the halogen lights are expensive to run and get pretty damn hot - guess that comes with the territory when looking for something 'cheap'. I've another short film coming up soon which I may need some advise on - need to scout the location etc first so maybe I'll post a different thread when that time comes!

Nice work Philip. A little off topic but how did you do the sound if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks Marcus, appreciate it!