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Edwardian Era Lighting


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Hi everyone,

 

So long story short, I'll be shooting an Edwardian era film this coming March.

I've been studying the era, and what it consisted of in terms of lighting, looks, color, etc.

 

I was wondering if anyone else has shot a period piece that was similar, and what kind of techniques they used to fit the style of the the era.

From I found out so far, a lot of the photos had overhead chandeliers and a lot of floor, and wall lamps. (candle light based)

 

From what I can think of maybe is a large soft source from above, and maybe smaller units to back light or edge characters for night

And for day just have large sourced windows to provide the majority of my lighting.

 

But I would like to hear other people's approach and ways that they tackled it.

 

Thanks!,

JJ

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Electric light was just beginning to be introduced by the end of the Edwardian era (at least in Britain), although it was only wealthy people who had it at first. If you're shooting in grand old houses, you could try looking at shows like Downton Abbey, which is initially set in 1911. I believe there is actually a scene where they get the first electric light in the house, but on the whole it's lit to look like candlelight.

 

If you're in smaller, poorer homes, where they wouldn't have had electricity until a few years later, then try to have as many candle sources in shot as you can, and reinforce them with tungsten units from off camera, maybe with some 1/4 or 1/2 CTO/CTS to warm them up, and some flickerboxes to get some movement in the light.

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I did a short a while back which was supposed to be in a 1910 photographer's studio. I'm not sure how accurate we really were, but it wasn't particularly complicated.

 

Password is fiddlesticks

 

Unfortunately, you'll have to go to the vimeo page (click here) to see it fullscreen; this is an interaction with the forum software that I can't do anything about.

 

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I did a short a while back which was supposed to be in a 1910 photographer's studio. I'm not sure how accurate we really were, but it wasn't particularly complicated.

 

Password is fiddlesticks

 

Unfortunately, you'll have to go to the vimeo page (click here) to see it fullscreen; this is an interaction with the forum software that I can't do anything about.

 

 

It's good, seems accurate, down to the man's haircut. Not sure if the Asian woman's presence is anachronistic, but it might make sense in the context of the film.

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It happened quite frequently, especially when British colonial administrators went out single and came home married. Many of these women were expert social chameleons, spoke English as if they'd grown up in the home counties, and sat around drinking high tea in polite society without too many unpleasant comments being made. Bhav and I discussed several interesting examples of this while preparing the piece; it's far from implausible.

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It happened quite frequently, especially when British colonial administrators went out single and came home married. Many of these women were expert social chameleons, spoke English as if they'd grown up in the home counties, and sat around drinking high tea in polite society without too many unpleasant comments being made. Bhav and I discussed several interesting examples of this while preparing the piece; it's far from implausible.

 

 

I did this myself.. a very popular pursuit to this day sir

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