Lighting Blackout Studio + Questions about Snow + Lighting a Pool

[Jason Chua]

Hey again!

 

I'm looking to shoot a short film this coming April and, being as inexperienced with lighting as I am but faced with a really ambitious (at least for me) lighting setup, I was hoping to consult the expert advice of you amazing people on the forums for some advice and help.

 

1.

Most of the film will be set in an abstract black space (blackout studio) and while the studio I've gotten has got white floors, I'm looking to cover that with black duvetyn cloth / black bedsheets - would this work? Here's what the studio looks like:

 

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/okuqt7sr8c8iov3/12499541_10206199476526021_995253027_o.jpg?dl=0

 

2.

When the main character first appears in this black abstract space, I am looking to create a shaft of light that comes through what should be big double doors (in this case, they are those doors in the above image - and I will probably black wrap the exit sign) and shines on our main character.

 

There will be 2 shots to this set up:

 

1 is a high angle shot from a jib, creating a sort of almost german expressionistic look with a sharp beam of light across the floor

2 is a tracking shot from behind our character, with the light from the doors serving as a really intense backlight and casting him in silhouette (although I might also have the option to bounce some of that light back to fill him in). If possible, I'm looking to do a hitchcock zoom with this move as well. **See lighting diagram below as well as reference images . ***Btw, I am shooting on a micro 4/3 camera so lens lengths are for that format.

 

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/su7gt5hjcrztg5t/129854724.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pi7lzeczvyj7vdt/4x07-Cold-Grey-Light-of-Dawn-true-blood-24392755-1024-576.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/e3h2xofvy6ypjwt/139486149.jpg?dl=0

 

My question is, what is the lowest wattage light source I can use to achieve this shot, bearing in mind that I am unfortunately on a shoestring / absent budget. I was initially thinking of a single 1.2k HMI or a PAR64 to get that focused beam of light but what do you think?

 

3.

Following from that question about lighting in a blackout studio, I am looking to shoot a couple shots in such a way that the talent walks into a pool of light and becomes visible as he does so, disappearing again into the darkness as he leaves that pool of light - see diagram

 

 

Now, I'm thinking of suspending a 1kW Jemball chinese lantern light to achieve this. The studio does have an overhead grid already rigged up and perhaps this might allow me to use more focused lights like a 1kW fresnel?

 

 

4.

This is a question about photographing snow from a snow machine in the blackout studio. I'm having a frontal shot of my talent as a snow machine blows straight at him as well as another overhead shot of him on the floor while some snow slowly falls onto the ground (see reference)

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/e517fpdn9lbjo2l/movie-inspired-fashion.gif?dl=0

 

To have the snow show up, I'm thinking of having a light on either side of the camera punching through some diffusion such that the middle area where the snow is travelling can be seen (as well as the talent). But what do you think?

 

 

5.

Finally, this is a question about filming at a swimming pool. Basically, I have the character falling into a pool of water and I will be underneath with a GoPro capturing this (unless I can wrangle an underwater housing for my A Cam, a panasonic GH4). I understand that anything to do with filming underwater is a huge pot of health & safety dangers but ideally, I would like to be able to shine a light where my talent will be falling into the water, such that from below where I will be filming, he would be cast in a silhouette.

 

It will be sort of like this image: http://il5.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/8623750/thumb/7.jpg?i10c=img.resize(height:160)but the talent will be partially obscuring the light source.

 

Would be great to hear from you all if anyone has any experience doing a similar shot?

 

 

Thank you so very very much for your help and sharing your knowledge!