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Candlelight Movie References


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As a follow-up to a question we posted a month ago, we will be doing a short 16mm film where more than half of the film will be candlelit. Can anyone recommend candlelight scenes from any films that they thought were really well done, that we could view as a reference? Any and all assistance will be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

-Tim Carroll

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I've always liked the "magic hour" candlelight procession in the "Sunrise, Sunset" wedding sequence in "Fiddler on the Roof" by Oswald Morris.

 

I recall there is also some good use of candles in the 1967 "Camelot".

 

Certainly the candles weren't the only source of light, but they were featured.

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The obvious answer is "Barry Lyndon". I also like the candlelight work in "Amadeus", which augmented the candles with Chinese Lanterns with orange-painted light bulbs inside.

 

There are some nice candlelight shots in "The Mission".

 

The key to all of these films is the use of double or triple-wicked candles, creating a bigger flame. And fast lenses...

 

There is a nice candlelight dinner shot in "The Alamo", shot on Primo anamorphics (T/2.0 at the widest) using 5218 pushed one stop. The only additional lighting was from a redhead (probably gelled orange) bounced off of a 4'x8' white card mounted on the ceiling. Again, double-wicked candles.

 

In terms of the classic "follow the actor with a candle using spotlights on dimmers" old-fashioned approach, the best was in "The Innocents" when Deborah Kerr is carrying a candle down hallways and up stairs playing hide-and-seek.

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Didn't Kubrick (or Kubrick's MU-person) use white make-up for the actor's faces to better reflect the candlelight (and help compensate for the very orange color temp)? Maybe it was another film, but it seems like a good idea.

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They did wear white make-up in later scenes where Lyndon is a dandy, but that was for historical accuracy. There are three earlier candlelight scenes with no white make-up (the one in the tent with Barry and his commanding officer, the one with the German woman and her baby, and the one with Barry and the Prussian commander in the tavern.)

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There's a candlelit dinner scene in "Revenge" shot by Jeffrey Kimball. Lots of actors at a big table lined with huge candles. It's been a while since I've seen it but it was a pretty good illusion of the light coming only from the candles -- in anamorphic, no less.

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Hi,

 

There's a very cheesy candle (or at least live flame lighting) effect at the beginning of "Van Helsing." Hugh Jackman pulls a poster off the wall and holds it up to the light, which even at that stage is very obviously not the soft glow from the lantern about five feet to his left - then he strides purposefully off down the road and the hard beam from the well-flagged spot that was illuminating the paper appears on his shoulder. I'd have been tempted to put that one on a dimmer myself, because I don't believe that mid-victorian street lighting had 500W lamps, collimating optics and barn doors!

 

Phil

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Thanks for all the info folks. I have ordered up a copy of Barry Lyndon. I was intrigued by what David said about double and triple wicked candles. Searching on line revealed numerous examples, but none that would work for our purposes. They were all big fat candles with three wicks spaced across the candle face.

 

Then my wife and I were watching "Bon Voyage" yesterday and sure enough, in the one candle scene, I noticed that the candle (which appeared to be a normal candle) actually had two wicks placed close together. And the flame was quite a bit more pronounced than a normal candle flame would have been. I never would have noticed it if I had not been looking.

 

I think we will try to make some of those candles for our film. Thanks again for all the help.

 

-Tim Carroll

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In Scott Saunders' fairly recent Indie feature "The Technical Writer" David Leitner (DP) and I ("CLT") lit some scenes pretty much with candles as key light(s) or major source of motivated flickering fill. This was IMX format, MSW900P progressive PAL camera with digiprimes.

 

-Sam

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