William Ardani

I decided to shot without artificial lights. Now I can say it?s been a good choice. for the first scene (pub scene) I shot at ISO 640 and f 2.8. I exposed for the half face lighted by the window, then filled a bit the other side with a reflector (5 in 1 used for portraits), but I left it pretty dark and underexposed. I liked that look because,even underexposed, behind the subject there were a lot of bottle that create a shiny and colored bokeh. the subjcet was enough separeted from the back. for the other scenes I had no problem: just close the iris and filled the shadows withe the same reflector. now, while editing the video, I'm using the levels and rgb curves to fit the shadows/higlights.

Lubezki: I didn't use any lights. It’s funny, because sometimes I talk to other cinematographers and they say, ‘Oh my God, Terry doesn’t let you use lights,’ but it’s not that he doesn’t let me — I don’t want to use them. On Tree of Life we really tried to do combinations of scenes with light and scenes without, and when you add movie lights they doesn’t have the complexity of natural light. You’re putting one light that has one tone and one color through some diffusion, and it doesn’t have the complexity of natural light coming in through the window from a blue sky and clouds bouncing green off the grass. Some would call that kind of light imperfect, but it’s more accurate to call it more complex. That complexity of natural light and the way it hits the face is amazing, and when you start to go that way it’s hard to go back and light [things artificially]. The less you use artificial light, the more you want to avoid it, because the scenes feel weak or weird or fake. Often we would be inside a house and it would be cloudy and we would know that we’d probably have to rewrite the scene and shoot it outside or come back another day, but that would be better than the option of lighting the scene and not liking it.

ok, I'll do it without any artificial light, just with natural light and a reflector. and I'll try to do the same in the 2° scene. I'll let you know. thank you very much

I'm using a 5D mark II with a 50 mm f 1.4, 16-35 f2.8 and 100 mm 2.8 macro. this picture was found on their site, I don't have any idea of the light when I'm shooting. It will be at 11 am (more or less for a hour). I want the door open and the natural light to left side of the subject. I'd use the 1k just to get a right exposure on his face. maybe I can bounce the 1k and the fill light to have them more soft. Now I cannot give more information because I don't know much about the location. I saw it just one time and for few seconds. 2° scene (from 2pm) I thought bouncing 1k light on subject's face was a good idea just to give him some contrast. I'm shooting on shaded location. I was thinking at a 3 point lighting. I know I don't have any clear idea about the job I'm going to do. I hope it will be fine.

ok, I'll place all the lights inside the pub, so I'll have enough exposure. but, is the 1/2 CTB necessary for every light or just for the 1K? and which temperature on camera setting, 5500 or what else? this way the light will be soft? I think is needed at least a frost, but I'm not sure.

Hi, I'm going to shoot a mini-documentary divied in 2 scenes. I think I will use quartz lights: 1x 1K, 2x 650 (Lilliput). 1) the first scene is an interior/day on a irish pub. the shot is a medium close shot and a medium close up (like an interview). I would like to mix a daylight coming from the open door, the practicals light, and a backlight to separate the subject. How can I simulate a daylight with a quartz (I guess the natural light is not enough, the pub is pretty dark)? I'd use the 1k outside and near to the door, gel it with ful CTB (so it's 5500) and a frost to get a soft light. then I'd use the 650 as fill light without any gel but at 3200K and the other 650 (I don't know with which gel) to get a hairlight. I don't want hard light on the subject's face. 2) the second scene is an exterior/day. Do I have to match the 1K with the natural light or not? is a frost gel enough to mix artificial light with natural light? I'd like a very soft light, I don't to create a sunlight effect. in this case I can use a hairlight? I'd like hear your advices and opinion about the setup I described. Thank you, William