lighting hall

[Natalie Saito]

lighting a hallway. wondering how to go about it? We have Chinese lanterns and small lights, 650s, 1k. we aren't using the whole hallway which is quite long and narrow; it is 4 ft wide.

 

thanks for reading!

[Brian Rose]

Hi Natalie,

 

Do you know what kind of practicals the hall has? Also, what sort of mood or look are you going for? And how many of each respective light?

 

Best,

BR

[Michael Nash]

We could help you better if we knew what you were trying to do. Whenever some asks "how do I light this?" I can't help but think, "well, what do you want it to look like?"

 

What are your shots? What's the halway like? What is the action? And, what do you want it to look like?

[Natalie Saito]

We could help you better if we knew what you were trying to do. Whenever some asks "how do I light this?" I can't help but think, "well, what do you want it to look like?"

 

What are your shots? What's the halway like? What is the action? And, what do you want it to look like?

 

outside an apt room, partial hall way with a couple people there. the question regards lighting if we shoot down the hallway, without the lights being in the shot. the hall is 4 ft wide and long. we will do a dolly shot (this "dolly" is smaller in width than a standard doorway dolly). thanks!

[Tim O'Connor]

outside an apt room, partial hall way with a couple people there. the question regards lighting if we shoot down the hallway, without the lights being in the shot. the hall is 4 ft wide and long. we will do a dolly shot (this "dolly" is smaller in width than a standard doorway dolly). thanks!

 

 

How tall is the hallway? What is there for a ceiling? At 4' wide with Chinese lanterns and 650W lights you ought to be able to use a multitude of rigging options,

from a polecat if you can get one short enough, to wall spreaders, wall plates, a variety of clamps if there are any beams overhead, scissor clamps perhaps

depending on what's above. You also could mount a small softlight to travel with your dolly to provide some nice fill on your talent and perhaps light in eyes

depending on if you have talent walking toward or away from you. Will you be low shooting high or high shooting low? If you frame out the lights, will you see

track if you shoot down or are you perhaps not using any?

 

Are there people in this shot? Is it a narrative film or a training video for carpet installers or a tour of a museum? Really, I'm just asking slightly differently what's already been asked. What do you desire for a mood, look, etc. and what is the action and field of view?

[Michael Nash]

outside an apt room, partial hall way with a couple people there. the question regards lighting if we shoot down the hallway, without the lights being in the shot. the hall is 4 ft wide and long. we will do a dolly shot (this "dolly" is smaller in width than a standard doorway dolly). thanks!

 

Again, what do you want it to look like? High key? Low Key? Day/night? Happy? Spooky? Somber? Cheerful? Tense?

 

Does the action have to take place in the hallway? 90% of the time the solution to a cinematography problem is to avoid the problem in the first place. Is there some other blocking or coverage that will allow you to tell the story in a less problematic way?

 

On a practical level (no pun intended), there's really only so much you can do with hallways -- light through doorways and windows, hide lights in the ceiling, and fill in a little bit from the camera side. Sometimes a china ball or kino above the camera can help with dolly shots, as long as you keep it at fill level, not key level.