Grayson Wolfe

Great advice, Laura! Thanks. I do prefer incandescents over CFLs, if the room fixtures can handle the higher wattage. I need to scout it out like you say. Using wardrobe and set dressing as fill is a brilliant idea.

Cool, thanks!

Thanks for those pics, Satsuki. Nice work. I like your colored curtain technique. I'm gonna be shooting ridiculously fast, so I'll need to light 360 degrees. My BMPCC has good dynamic range, but I'm going with the GH3. Better battery life and 1080 60p. Lots of slo-mo in the film. In the No Country image below… Deakins says he used a 100w bulb in the lamp on the floor. He bounced some additional light off the right wall, similar to what you describe. I won't need to light the background like he did the bathroom here, that's why I'm thinking two bedside lamps with 100 or 200W CFL bulbs. I like this shadowy look. I've read about using a pro-mist filter to help with the hot spots from practicals. I'm considering it because of the GH3's limited dynamic range. Any thoughts on that guys? Looks like Soderbergh used one a few times in The Informant and Girlfriend Experience.

That's a great idea. The way the scene is written, the TV will be switched on, playing static snow. I could crank up the brightness on the TV… Maybe even hide a light near the TV...

@ David - If I go the mixed temp route, I'll let the tungsten go warm. @ Satuski - Thanks! Great tips. I might have to steal some shots so I'll keep that in mind. I would be concerned about the dark shades for the same reasons David mentions. I do want to keep it super simple. It seems to be a catch-22… The lamps need to be bright enough to light the actors, while not distractingly overblown whenever they're in frame. I did some tests at home with my light meter and even a 60w tungsten bulb seems to meter around f16 at 800 asa. I guess I'll have to be careful when actors and lamps are sharing the frame, and ride the stops like David said. Perhaps I could bring 1-2 additional lamps of my own and put them on the opposite side of the room, sandwiching the action?

Thank you, David. This is my first post, but I always seek out your advice on the threads. I find this forum indispensable. Good point on the shadows for #2. I'll go with #1 and expose as you say. I'm thinking I could bring in my own shades and try to turn the lamps into miniature soft boxes. Do you think shooting the entire thing at one f-stop is possible? The action will spill into the bathroom and foyer as well. What if I put daylight bulbs in the bedside lamps, balance for those, and then leave tungsten practicals in the bathroom and foyer? Would that create an interesting gel effect in each section of room, or be a total disaster?

I'm planning to shoot an extended fight scene in a hotel room. Not a fancy hotel, think Days Inn. We will be shooting very quickly and I want 360 degrees of camera movement, with no apparent lights in frame. I'd like to shoot the whole scene at one f-stop, being able to move actors in and out of light and shadow as need be. Maybe f4, so focus isn't a huge pain. I'm shooting on a GH3. These are the two options I came up with… 1) swap practical lamp bulbs for 100W or 200W bulbs. or... 2) put a 1K on the balcony and light room through slats in blinds. swap practical bulbs for 25w bulbs. Will option #1 cause the lamps to blow out, or can I arrange them so that there are pools of light serving as both key and fill? I am a newbie and need your help, so please impart your sage advice. My goal is to keep the lighting as simple as possible. Thanks so much!