Haroun Al-Shaater

 

For the low key scene I would definitely black out the East and South Windows. Two M18s will not be enough to cover the West windows, so you have two options. One is to wait to shoot your master establishing shot until you have direct sun coming in those windows. Before and after that point shoot your close coverage with the M18s in such a way that it will match the master shot. Your second option is to have the art department frame in two smaller windows, that you can cover with M18s, with black showcard or some other appropriate board material.

 

Guy Holt, ScreenLight & Grip, Lighting rental and sales in Boston

Thanks Guy,

I think we'll be going for the smaller windows option. Art dept are talking about covering 60% of the windows with 3mm ply which should do the trick in terms of blocking light whilst still being okay to be visible in frame

 

Not a lot, currently in the budget is 2 x M18. The scene that requires that will be fairly low key. Something akin to this: https://ibb.co/mBnPtJ

On top of that we'll be using a Aputure 300d plus as many LEDs as we can beg, borrow or steal, and likely some kind of china ball like an Aladdin bi-flex

 

Without knowing what kind of resources are available to you it is nearly impossible to make recommendations. How large an HMI can you afford?

 

Guy Holt, Gaffer, ScreenLight & Grip, Lighting Rental & Sales in Boston

Not a lot, currently in the budget is 2 x M18. The scene that requires that will be fairly low key. Something akin to this: https://ibb.co/mBnPtJ

I'm DPing a short set in this office location. There's going to be 4 very distinct time periods with really different looks and times of day (I'll be reaching out for advice on these looks in time) But at least one will require shafts of light from an HMI outside.

panorama

The big challenge is the amount of windows on 3 sides of the room. Floor to ceiling windows on both the east and west side, and the same on the south side (except it faces a wall 10ft away).

On the east side there's a pavement on which it's unlikely we'll get permits to put lights up, but there's a car park on the west side which we can use for lighting.

How would you approach it?

My instinct is to black out the east and south windows and never shoot that way. Then put blinds and or diffusion on the west side windows and put lighting out there. To be safe, would you tent those lights?

Let me know if there's key information i'm missing to get some useful tips!

Cheers

Great! Thanks for the responses. I had the feeling I was overcomplicating this setup.

Read this article. The DP gives a lot of valuable information about lighting and composition; not that scene in particular, but you can get an idea on his thought process and techniques with lighting the show.

http://filmmakermagazine.com/103768-dp-erik-messerschmidt-on-shooting-netflixs-mindhunter-with-a-custom-red-xenograph/#.WhSd_8tMHqB

Cool, will give this a read. Everything I've seen written before just focuses on the xenomorph rather than his techniques, this looks more interesting!

 

 

Doing some research lately, I found this reflector: https://squarebounce.com

 

3x3', Canadian made (Yay!), Seems quite sturdy, you can use it without a stand in a true one man band scenario, and it also acts as an umbrella since it's water resistant material.

 

Leaving for a 2 weeks shoot in Jamaica in december and was thinking of picking one up. Seems like a better option than a traditional 5 in 1 reflector though it's more expensive.

Looks great! Especially how easy it is to mount. I have endless headaches mounting 5 in 1 at the correct angles.

Let us know how it is if you get one.

God I love the cinematography in this show! And after having come out with pretty poor results once before when shooting in a bar I thought I'd get a bit of guidance.

Any tips on the recreating the light in this scene?

Am I right in thinking they likely blocked the windows that we see in both shots when facing away from them? Is that edge-light even from those windows or just motivated by them?

I'm also not sure where the light on the white door supposed to be coming from in this first shot

Thanks, any thoughts at all welcome!

Ooh show cards looks like a great shout.

As a one-man-band, I have a set of 5 Lowel tungsten lights (2 omnis & 3 totas) that I bought ex-rental (€200!). It has flags, gels, frames & softbox all in the hardcase. Definitely feel like I'm missing 4 x 4 frames with neg fill and diffusion with this set though. I use a 5 in 1 reflector but it never feels quite big enough to do the job. But this set up has given me a great introduction to crafting and modifying light without investing huge amounts of cash.

Lot of wisdom Tyler. I gotta say so far I'm loving my URSA 4.6k. For me it seemed the only viable option as I'm not at the level to invest in something +£10k. I've only used it on a couple of jobs to date - but will keep you informed with any issues. External IR cut filter just arrived so I will play around with and without.

As an intermediate it's encouraged me to learn a lot more that's improving my craft - using false colour, understanding the range of codecs, grading RAW. It's a whole different experience from the C100 i was using previously.

the only reason I don't own one is the OLPF issue, but I've been playing with it for a while now and I think it's a great camera.

Have you seen there's now the mosaic OLPF? http://store.mosaicengineering.com/

I'll be saving up to get one if they ship to the U.K. Would appreciate any review from anyone who already has tried it!