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Hi! We’re shooting a studio shoot scene in a studio with a white void backdrop. The white void backdrop will be high-key and very soft like this (the 2nd photo is the actual location of the shoot): We will also shoot the reverse shot of the white backdrop which will have actors acting as crew, there will be around 8 actors. 2 main actors (director and assistant) in the front and the rest are acting as crew members at the back. While the white void backdrop is high key the director and crew area will be low key and high contrast. The director wants it to look like this: Basically he only wants the front part of this area to be well lit while the back is just dark. I’m thinking that the motivation of the light will be the “bounced” light from the white void backdrop so I’m thinking of putting a 300 watt or 200 watt led light with lantern diffuser situated from the side lighting the actors. (Other than a lantern diffuser, we have an Octabox, 12x12 butterfly diffuser, and a diffusion cloth for our options for our lighting modifier.) I might also put a backlight for the two main actors in the front for their hair light (situated close to them so it looks like it’s coming from the side, not from the very back which is supposed to be dark). I’m worried that if I put a light from the side at the actor’s level, the fall out of the light will still be strong that the back of the studio will still be well-lit or can I solve that by using flags to shape the light? Or I should just make sure the light from the 200 watt or 300 watt led light won’t be too strong so the fallout of the light reaching the back will naturally come out dark? I also have an option of rigging the light from the ceiling, angled towards the actors so the back won’t be lit as much although I’m worried that it will be obvious that it’s a top light, not light “bouncing” from the strongly lit white void area. Or instead of directly lighting the opposite side of the white void area, I'm thinking that I can also just bounce a naked strong light (will a 300watt suffice? apart from the lights that are already rigged in the white void area) onto the wall of the white void area to light the crew area. What do you think?

Hi, I just have a question about the flourescent-type lights used in the underground bunker scene in Parasite. They give off this greenish cast or tint in the shot and I’m wondering if that’s the color of the lamp itself or was it given a greenish cast by adjusting the color temperature in camera or was it given that color through color grading? I plan to incorporate these type of lighting as accents for a small hideout room scene for a short film. The room is going to be lit through a window (a window with a black screen, not glass) and exhaust fan. I plan to haze it with a haze machine to make it look dusty and dingy and to make the light rays from the light outside pop. That’s why I’m hoping I could get the green effect from the light itself so the color temp of the practical light is distinct from the light rays of the “sunset light” outside which is supposed to look warm. Maybe I could get the similar greenish tint effect with a specific tube-type light or a flourescent light that gives off this color. Basically, the shot is supposed to be a combination of the shot above from Parasite with this two shots from Cure:

Hi, I'm trying to make a compilation of films with low key lighting in them for reference and inspiration. It would be great if some of you could help me by giving me some film titles. Merci! Thomas

Hello, I've been wondering, for quite a while now, how to replicate this kind of "glowing" underexposed look when lighting frontal. It's pretty easy to obtain this effect when it's a rim light like here (event though it's a day scene you get the idea) You have the specular reflection of the source when that source is placed correctly in direct reflection on the portion of the face you want to enhance. If you have a large white surface (even passive reflection) it works like a charm. I find it quite impossible to obtain when you want to have this kind of effect coming from the camera, with a low key. The ambient light caused by the source is usually killing the specular reflections I want. (Basically I only want the specular reflections on the face not the diffused reflection) When analysing the first 2 images (from the Turkish movie "Three Monkeys") the source is exactly the opposite as what I'd do in rim light, it's a small hard light. On the third image (from a teaser of "Pompeii" coming out soon) it's a much softer source (probably a chimera). It's not quite frontal and much less underexposed but there is still that reflective quality to it. So small or large sources are not relevant here, there is no hard rule I assume. I'm sure one of the key for obtaining this effect is the make up, but despite my various attempts to obtain this with the various make up artists I worked with, I've never managed to obtain that quality... and I guess make up is not all there is to it. I'm looking for any advices and tips from any of you guys to replicate this look... how would you do it ? Type of source, distance, exposure, anything... I think it's a very interesting way to keep a low key image with the face structure from the character very present still, and I'd love to use this on my next project. Thanks for your help Raf

Hi, i am currently coming to the end of my film degree and for my final piece of work i'm writing a research project about film noir's visual style and how different lighting techniques were used and whether the cinematography is ultimately a character. I'm looking to speak to directors/cinematographers/photographers/Gaffers who have used visual techniques from film noir and use replies within my project. (sorry to have to do this on here, i've tried contacting cinematographers directly but i'm just being ignored) My questions: why did you decided to get involved with the project that uses film noir cinematic styles? Why did you use techniques from classic noir? Which lighting set-ups have you used? What were the themes within the scene(s) that you used these techniques? Did you attempt any other lighting set-ups before deciding to use the specific set up for the shoot you were involved in? Would you consider the cinematography of the project you have worked on to be a character? For indoor scenes what type of lights/and how many were used to create the visual 'look'? If you can't answer all the questions thats not a problem, just answers the ones relevant to your project. Also if you could give me details about the project you worked on, or give me a link to the final piece, and your name so i can credit it correctly that would super helpful. If you want to contact me directly, and have the capability on this website (newbie to the forum), please do. I'm running out time on this project and i will greatly appreciate any responses to the questions. Thank you so much for helping out with this, i look forward to hearing from people. Rob