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Music Video - Lighting an abstract night exterior


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I am DPing a music video in the near future that will be shot entirely at night in a forest. The concept is to have an industrial yet gothic feeling rave taking place in the forest with numerous people dancing and milling around. We are going for a very abstract and neon look, reminiscent of "Only God Forgives". Saturated colours are important and it's not important to have a sense of realism with moonlight or anything.

 

I am hoping to light the scenes with Arri M18 1800W HMIs and KinoFlo 4 banks as well as various practicals in the form of industrial fluorescent lights and festoon lights. The practicals will be gelled red and yellow and dotted about the clearing. I am planning on rigging the HMIs above the clearing on our tallest stands as the budget doesn't allow for a condor or similar. I am hoping this will give a nice toplight and was wondering what I should be diffusing these with?

 

I will bring in the Kinos with egg crate and diffusion for close ups and may also use small battery powered LED panels for background interest and tight spots. I would just appreciate any general advice or suggestions on this.

 

 

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It's such an interesting topic as there is no right answer since you can use the light as you wish, you don't have to be realistic at all so you can play with it.

 

I would recommend that you see this video, part of it shot in a forest with practicals, fluorescent lights and etc.

 

 

There is one thing I love doing in big exteriors, place your HMI's with 12x12 frames in the background, far away but where you can still see them, put a lot of smoke and use them as a soft back light.

 

Hope it helped a bit!

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You're welcome Josh,

 

The silk would depend on what you are trying to get.

Although almost all silks make light softer, there are some silks which are more directional than others.

For example Grid Cloth would be more directional than a thicker one without the little squares and etc.

 

If you want to have a nice toplight, you could place a 16x16 (that's 6 meters by 6 meters right?) white frame over the set (the highest you can place it) and bounce 1 or 2 M18 from the ground or from a stand, that way you will have a base light.

 

If you are looking for a softer toplight, do that and then diffuse it with another silk to create something like a soft box.

 

Take a look at the article "The Wolfman" in the ASC magazine

http://www.theasc.com/ac_magazine/February2010/TheWolfman/page1.php#

 

Kindest regards.

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Thanks again for your suggestions and the reference to the ASC article, Miguel. I think I will hang the largest frame of silk I can from the trees and then bounce the two M18s from some Mombo Combo stands. That way I've got a nice base light to work from and can bring in the Kinos for close ups.

 

Best, Josh

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You are more than welcome Josh,

 

I would recommend that you get some different silks beforehand to test them if you are going to hang it:

 

- Ultrabounce / Cinebounce

- White

- Bleach Muslin

 

They all have different characteristics and you might find that you like one of them more than the other ones.

 

Kinoflos work super great for close - ups, and as you know, if you want to get softer light from them, bounce them off a polyboard or put a frame or even depron in front of them so you will have a beautiful light for your close - ups too!

 

Kindest regards.

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