Jack De La Mare

Some incredibly detailed posts here - thanks to everything who has contributed. I've learned a lot already from all of this. I've only ever used generators for our lighting on music video shoots, meaning sound/dialogue has never been an issue. But for a dialogue short-film, I guess it's a case of either moving the generator far away enough and downwind, or ADR the entire thing...

I'll look at the driving/road scenes in Sicario and Fargo, thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to experiment with some of these lighting ideas and see which works best for us. It looks quite noisy, but not too bad - and considering the lack of practical lights you were using, it looks good! I'm looking to get the Metabones Speedbooster to just allow that extra stop.

Intending to shoot on the Blackmagic Pocket, likely RAW. The native ASA for the BMPCC is 800 I believe, and I've seen some fantastic results from it at 1000 ASA. There is a short driving sequence in my script, so the side lighting used in the Rex chase in JP would be good to replicate as best we can? I assume it's multiple lights for as long as they need up the road, hidden in the trees to the side? Thanks for the info on how those shots were lit! Really helping me to understand the various setups to gain very similar results. Can't wait to do some experimenting with this before the shoot. Is there anything else you'd recommend/suggest for a night exterior shoot like this? Great work on Jennifer's Body and thanks again for all of your help. :)

This is what we have done in the past - a line of 2K blondes far in the trees as high as we could get them. Thanks for the suggestion, it would be a good idea to have a large HMI up high but would a 2K HMI provide enough light? I'm trying to figure out some sort of plan based on what I have available. Certainly a fan of Shelly Johnson's work on The Wolfman, and even though the lighting is not from a "natural" source, it fits the film perfectly. Here are a few screens from a previous project where we lit using the 2K method, as high as we could to replicate moonlight. Shot on a 550D so I was doing my best to keep the ISO low. So you'd recommend keeping the 2K/HMI's to replicate moonlight in the background, further down the road/through the trees, and then a softer light as the key light on the subject which we'd adjust as we go? I'd assume it would have to be very soft so it's not obvious to the audience that it is lit. We could diffuse some redheads or attempt to source a Kino locally. And I assume this key light would be more for the audience to see our action and characters rather than to replicate a "natural" light source? Agreed - that's some beautiful lighting David! And that's purely from the 2 HMI's and the HMI joker you had in the bushes to pick out the characters? I've been looking at Dean Cundey's work on Jurassic Park and of course Kaminski's work on The Lost World. How do you think this and this were lit? It's similar to the look I want to find for my own short. It's very different to this shot, which always looked like it was lit by the park's own "service" lights at the side of the road, much like street lights. Thank you all for your help so far, it's really interesting to see how the A7S is handling moonlight. It's going to change low-budget filmmaking, that's for sure. Love the look of that scene David - what project was it from? :)

I'm working on a short film and the main location is a forest, at night. Most of it is set on a muddy road with trees surrounding either side, but there is a little section where our main character is running through the trees. My question is in regards to lighting, and what is the suggested method of lighting for this type of location? On previous projects, we have blasted 4 x 2Ks through the trees from a distance and used a smoke/fog machine for different looks and to help spread the light. We also used smaller lights for tighter shots, but I have found that this can often lead to quite harsh lighting and create ugly shadows. This setup has allowed for some great shots, but I'm wondering what other options there are? I have read a few other threads which suggested lighting a background road or something to give the shot some depth, but also have read that using paper lanterns up in the trees can provide great soft lighting. The only problem then is wind! Would love to hear some suggestions! Will likely be shooting on the BMPCC. Thanks! :)