Bathroom

Dave Plake · February 6, 2006

Any advice on lighting a bathroom for 35mm? The shot calls for a guy to be shaving and looking at himself in the mirror. The camera will be behind and to the side of him at about 30 degrees so as to not see the camera in the mirror. Tungsten Kinos overhead? China ball hanging overhead out of frame? Fresnels perhaps...where to place them? A chimera? I was thinking the kinos in front and above him would replicate a usual bathroom sceneI am just trying to make it believable. Early morning groggy just got out of bed shaving. Would love to hear what you guys think.

Thanks,

Dave

Matt Sandstrom · February 6, 2006

depending on the size of the bathroom, i'd just hang a chinese lantern above the mirror, above and in front of him. but i really like simplistic setups. maybe you need a kicker for separation. a small fresnel hitting his face on the opposite side of the camera from a low angle perhaps?

/matt

Dave Plake · February 7, 2006

depending on the size of the bathroom, i'd just hang a chinese lantern above the mirror, above and in front of him. but i really like simplistic setups. maybe you need a kicker for separation. a small fresnel hitting his face on the opposite side of the camera from a low angle perhaps?

/matt

I was thinking putting some kinos above the practicals that are aboce the mirror. Then putting a 2 k kick behind him or maybe a smaller fresnel. Any other thoughts on possible lighting schemes? I wanted to use daylight balanced kinos cause I want it to have a colder look, but the practicals are so warm that I think it will be weird to mix.

D

Joe Anderson · February 8, 2006

Having gone to film school in NY, I inevitable had to light these types of scenes several times. My preference is to simply bounce an open-face off the ceiling. In addition to being a very simple set up, I find that bounced light is more pleasing on faces than lanterns or even heavily defused Kinos.

Most often these scenes are meant to have a somewhat intimate feeling and therefore don't really need additional sources like a kicker (which are also hard to position if there is a mirror in frame).

Daniel Madsen · February 8, 2006

If I was shooting a scene like this I'd find a motivated source- lets say a 2k through a window and a chinese lantern as ambience. I'd experiment with how that light interacts with his face and the set. Could the light reflect in the mirror or the character's razor...make the shower curtain glow? If these effects prove too over powering I'd up the ambience.

Jamie Metzger · February 8, 2006

take the kinos out of the holster and put them on either side of the mirror, and then have art dept go to work on them making them look real; seems ghetto, but it will work.

Mario C. Jackson · February 8, 2006

I would just change use the normal lights in the bathroom and just enhance them. Then maybe I would use the sun as backlight coming from a door or window.

Hope This helps

Mario Concepcion Jackson

Kevin Zanit · February 8, 2006

On a feature I did a while ago I had to light some pretty tight bathrooms.

Maybe these will give you some ideas; it obviously depends on the look you are going for:

Had a Dedo armed overhead, going hot into the sink. I lit him with the bounce back from that light. I filled a little with a Kino off screen and then had something going on in that rear window (although it wasn?t completely set when I took the picture)

Or for day:

I had a 1200 PAR going through the frosted window and some light diffusion on the outside of the window. I then filled a little with a Kino again.

Then this was in the shower, but you could obviously use the same idea for the sink area:

Hope it helps some,

Kevin Zanit

Dave Plake · February 9, 2006

very cool

yes it did help, and thanks to all you guys.

Dave

quote name='Kevin_Zanit' date='Feb 8 2006, 01:46 PM' post='89514']

On a feature I did a while ago I had to light some pretty tight bathrooms.

Maybe these will give you some ideas; it obviously depends on the look you are going for:

Had a Dedo armed overhead, going hot into the sink. I lit him with the bounce back from that light. I filled a little with a Kino off screen and then had something going on in that rear window (although it wasn?t completely set when I took the picture)

Or for day:

I had a 1200 PAR going through the frosted window and some light diffusion on the outside of the window. I then filled a little with a Kino again.

Then this was in the shower, but you could obviously use the same idea for the sink area:

Hope it helps some,

Kevin Zanit

Cody Dulock · February 10, 2006

kevin,

how did you mount the 2x4 and the kino in the shower scene??? specifics please!!

Shawn Murphy · February 10, 2006

Kevin,

Thank you for posting those setups, greatly appreciated, "a picture is worth a thousand words", but the words help too!

~Shawn

dudeguy37 · February 10, 2006

kevin,
how did you mount the 2x4 and the kino in the shower scene??? specifics please!!

Hey Natx...

Obviously I'm not Kevin, but from the picture it looks like he used a 2x4 wall spreader. Basically 2 metal fittings that slip over the ends of a 2x4 (construction stud) and get fastened down and than wedged between 2 walls, offering a grid like fixture to hang a relatively small amount of weight from. I believe a few different manufacturers make them, but I know for a fact that Matthew's does. As for the exact mount Kevin used to get from the lumber to the kino, I can't tell in the picture, but it looks like it may have just been a baby plate nailed to the 2x4 and than a kino boomed out on a grip arm (usually found in c-stands) If the names of the grip equipment are lost on you, you might want to go to msegrip.com (matthews studio equipment) and read through their "griptionary" or at least look up the specific names you need to know. Anyway, I hope that helps and that Kevin will clear up any errors I made.

And a question of my own: Kevin, when you say you just put diffusion on the outside, are you using something heavy (216 I think is the Rosco #) or something light, just enough to get rid of hot spots?

Peace,

-Harry

p.s. Kevin, thanks so much for posting this journal ("These Days," I believe it was?") Anyway, I read the whole thing on DVXuser.com and than read all of your replies here and there and felt like I was on set with you. It was awesome.

Edited February 10, 2006 by dudeguy37

Kevin Zanit · February 10, 2006

Thanks, I'm glad you found the journal helpful. I posted one recently on a different project I did (Room Service) if you missed it.

Pretty much Harry got it correct. It was just a wall spreader with the Kino held with a Cardellini, and a C-stand arm. Also the Kino had first some heat shield over the globes for some safety (and was later diffused).

The diffusion on the window was this stuff that a member of Conrad Hall's lighting crew used to use on windows (around the Jennifer 8 time, and this particular guy had tons of it), and they gave me a roll of it. It?s just this light plastic sheeting that reacts slightly lighter than opal and a lot heavier than Hampshire frost.

Kevin Zanit