Lighting For Exercise/Fitness

[DPW]

Hi all,

I am shooting a promo spot for the fitness department of a large university, and would like to get some ideas (if anyone would be so kind). I will be shooting both male and female performers. They will be using various pieces of exercise equipment as well as performing aerobics. The theme is body oriented, so I want to highlight different body parts in action... biceps, torsos, chests, legs...etc. I will be using a large black backdrop, with two large school logos illuminated with spots in the background. The shots will cut from Med. Long of the person in action, to CUs of specific body parts. My questions: for the CUs- would snoots be the best idea for highlighting only the desired body parts? Also..for the Med. Long Shots of the person performing the exercise...basic key, fill, and then several pin spots highlighting the exercise equipment? I need a very "sexy" look to the piece. I can see each shot in my head, but just wondering if anyone has had experience with this type of situation before. This is my first exercise/fitness shoot, so ANY info would be great!

Thanks,

Dave

P.S. I have vision 500 film stock...should I switch to something more like 200?

[Guest fstop]

You're shooting on film????!!! Wow!!!!!

 

I think you might want to try backlighting from both sides of the black backing with lots of soft,diffused fill on the front- either bounced or layers of 216 or silks/muslin etc- panels of diffusion away from the lamps so you cover the whole flesh area and don't get hotspots.

 

If you want a more saturated look I'd go with the slower film- or you could just rate the 500 at 250- giving it that extra stop and overexposing the female skintones by a stop particularly will give you the "sexy" look you are after (your subjects wil look delicious when they break sweat too! B) ).

 

If you want to emphasise spots that literally the snoot will be nice- go with what YOU want, sounds like you've got that idea there.

[Ram Shani]

hi

 

you can take a 12*12 frame with light grid and put 10k behind it

and go for 3/4 or 1/2 light(direction)that will look good and give you freedom to work fast and give the actors alot of space.(for the exersice)

you can add a cross back from the oposite side i go for 9 brute

 

overexposed is good idea

 

good shooting

 

ram

[Carlos M. Icaza]

Dave,

 

I shot a workout video not long ago. I'll post production stills so you can see how I lit it.

 

I would probably not recommend a black background. Sucks up too much light.

 

I'll follow up on the picts later today.

 

C.

 

PS: Does it have to be film? Can't you use video for something like this? We used three video cameras. One for long, one for med and the third one for closeups. Saved time, money and talent from getting too tired.

[DPW]

You're shooting on film????!!! Wow!!!!!

 

I think you might want to try backlighting from both sides of the black backing with lots of soft,diffused fill on the front- either bounced or layers of 216 or silks/muslin etc- panels of diffusion away from the lamps so you cover the whole flesh area and don't get hotspots.

 

If you want a more saturated look I'd go with the slower film- or you could just rate the 500 at 250- giving it that extra stop and overexposing the female skintones by a stop particularly will give you the "sexy" look you are after (your subjects wil look delicious when they break sweat too!  B)  ).

 

If you want to emphasise spots that literally the snoot will be nice- go with what YOU want, sounds like you've got that idea there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Shooting on film was my call. I had the oppurtunity and took it..need more 16 for my reel anyway. I had briefly thought about over exposure, but I think that I will def. try it.

Thanks for the thoughts!

Dave

[DPW]

Dave,

 

I shot a workout video not long ago. I'll post production stills so you can see how I lit it.

 

I would probably not recommend a black background. Sucks up too much light.

 

I'll follow up on the picts later today.

 

C.

 

PS: Does it have to be film? Can't you use video for something like this?  We used three video cameras. One for long, one for med and the third one for closeups. Saved time, money and talent from getting too tired.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Carlos,

What do you think instead of the black back drop? I chose black so that I could limit the amount of light bouncing around, I want to control the light- have it be very specific in the way that it reveals the body parts....just thought black in the back ground might keep the attention focused on the CUs of the bodies. As an alternative, I had considered a reflective, hot background, like a crumpled foil look- the opposite type of approach, but it migh tlook nice. I would love to see your stills. Thanks for the help.

Dave

[DPW]

hi

 

you can take a 12*12 frame with light grid and put 10k behind it

and go for 3/4 or 1/2 light(direction)that will look good and give you freedom to work fast and give the actors alot of space.(for the exersice)

you can add a cross back from the oposite side i go for 9 brute

 

overexposed is good idea

 

good shooting

 

ram

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I have limited lighting availability, so I am working with less than what might be considered desirable. I basically have 3 1ks, many pin spots, several cans, and diffusion capability, but beyond these things, I don't have much....basically enough to make it work. I just have to be creative. Thanks for the help, and if anyting else comes to mind, let me know...I gladly accept suggestions!

Dave

[Michael Nash]

Side lighting will reveal the countour and shape of the human figure, more than front lighting. You could come around to maybe 3/4 front, but any more than that you start to lose the shape and dimension of the muscles. Then add a backlight or 3/4 backlight from the opposite side, so that you have light wrapping both sides of the limbs. Make sure to leave a slight gap or "core shadow" on the fill side between the key and backlight -- in other words, don't let the key and backlight overlap each other and flatten out your subject. You need that core shadow (fill side) to give the subject dimension.

 

Soft lighting for your key is also flattering on skin tones, and will make perspiration on the skin "glow" more than shine.

[Carlos M. Icaza]

Here are some production stills for the workout video.

 

Hope this helps you with your lighting design.

 

Notice the first pictures what the studio originally looked like.

 

Workout design

 

Feedback is most welcomed as well ....

 

C.