Question about multiple light types

Peter deWit · March 21, 2004

I'm working as DP on a student project. We are going to one scene in an office with large bay windows. A large portion of the light for the scene is going to be coming from those windows. I'm also going to to be using additional tungsten lights for fill as well. I was considering not correcting for the daylight to give the scene a more interesting look. I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice as far as setting up my lighting goes. I'm going to be using Vision 200T film.

Malinko · March 21, 2004

Gel those windows. Otherwise it aint gonna mix well. Unless you use HMI's.

Leon Rodriguez · March 21, 2004

I'd suggest you focus on what's happening inside because you can always blow out the window to brighten the blue daylight. Can be quite an interesting look. What's important in the scene? There's the priority. How much of the window ends up in the shot is also an impotant blocking choice.

Peter deWit · March 24, 2004

Well basically this scene is about a job interview. The person being interviewed is a compulsive liar who's entire identity is a fasade. Thats why I thought visually it would be interesting to have different kinds of light on both sides of his face.

Michael Nash · April 1, 2004

Just be careful that your mixed color temperatures don't end up looking like a mistake, or sloppy production. Very easy to do with mis-matched color temps.

Whenever I mix color temperatures I try to motivate the colors from practical sources as much as possible. It's an easier leap for the viewer to think that an orange or green glow is coming from a nearby lamp, and not just due to sloppy or bad production.

In an office interior that practical lighting might mean soft overhead ceiling lights, and maybe desklamps. Perhaps an ugly toplight on your liar character might put him in a "bad light," so to speak, instead of just warm fill opposite the window. The color-correct sidelight and yelowish toplight could be interesting together.

There was a scene in "Hannibal" that John Mathieson talked about in American Cinematographer where they did something similar. Hannibal is playing a delicate passage on a piano while lit by two different types of light, subtly suggesting the different aspects of his personality.

Peter deWit · April 3, 2004

Thanks I'll have to go check out Hannibal and see how they did that lighting effect. It might be tricky becasue of the very limited window(sorry bad pun) of time I'd have to shoot with the natrual lighting coming into the room.