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Pas de Deux - How did they do this?


Renny McCauley

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Hello all,

 

I'm wanting to do something like this Norman McLaren film Pas de Deux. Here's the link:

 

http://www.nfb.ca/film/pas_de_deux_en/

 

I feel pretty confident that I get the lighting. I'm picturing 2 hard lights to the side and back of the performers. What I don't get is how they keep the floor so black. Is it just that they have a dark matte black floor? If I film on some black fabric, will I get a similar look? Or is there some other trick to keeping the light off the floor?

 

Thanks for any input.

 

Renny

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Seems to me like it is not necessarily the result of a harsh lighting effect, but very specifically-directed lighting and a small iris. I’d bet the floor does not appear because the exposure settings were so low the film did not detect any light except what was coming off the subject.

 

But there are a lot of tricks one can play with film and that is only my best guess. Black floor and background were definitely involved.

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