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High Key Commercial Look


M Joel W

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How is the lighting style achieved that I see in most sort of blandly high key (tastefully so, not too flat) ads that take place in say a living room or kitchen. Maybe like a prescription drug ad?

I imagine it's a huge soft source as the key and then filled at a high key ratio but are there any other tricks to getting this look.

Now the tricky party... any ways to get this look on a budget? If I just have an astra or two and a 200w HMI through a soft box, let's say, am I hopeless to even get close? I don't mind if the windows blow out a bit. Would the best approach then to be bouncing the astra or heavily diffusing it?

Is this easier than I think?

Also, any tricks for lighting on cycs? Just turn the space lights on to light the cyc and add fill and then add a soft key?

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Theres nothing bland about high key, it its just another style. The trick is choosing a location with bright walls and making sure the make up is on point.  If people have shiny foreheads with specular highlights, theres nothing you can do with the lighting to fix the problem.  The ratios aren't that specific, you usually are just keying 1-1.5 up. The fill and background can be pretty flexible depending on the look.  Without a lot of firepower, your gonna need to do tighter frames or ISO up, or choose a location with ample natural light.  You don't have enough output to booklight, and bouncing may or may not work.  If you have the space going through heavy diffusion might be easiest. Going up on the ISO might give you a thin negative, but it will capture the feel.  Its also a personal preference how much the windows blow out.  Going up on the ISO will help with the highlight rolloff.

Light the cyc separately from the talent.

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Thanks so much, that's really really helpful. "Bland" is the wrong word, I just meant whatever the conventional high key look is. I really like that look, actually.  Good point about natural light, that will be something I look more for when choosing a location. I'll also look for off-white walls, which generally I avoid.

I could probably get my hands on a couple 575w HMI pars. Is the fastest "book light" I could make with them bouncing into a 4x4 bead board and then hanging my own 8X8 of 250 from a c-stand? Or would I do better just handing heavier diffusion and punching straight through with the widest lens?

These are basically "sketches" sort of like SNL or something (but a little more meta) where it's meant to mimic the look in an identifiable without requiring the actual level of polish you'd get on a "real ad." But obviously aspiring to get close. Thanks again! I'm kind of impressed how good the production value is on some of the new fake SNL ads.

And makes sense about the cyc. I assume the space lights are also working as fill on the talent, though?

Edited by M Joel W
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It can be easy to conflate the look of lighting w/ other production elements (PD/Art direction, Good Casting, camera angle etc). Not all high key commercial's are lit super soft, although book lights or larger sources through windows are common. 

I would look for specific references that are similar to your project and analyze all the elements that came together to give the look you like.  There is definitely no one size fits all approach.

If you are matching daylight outside of windows your light sources are too small to come through the windows. shoot at a time of day you like the look of the background and then just lift your talent up with the sources you have. If you can get your hands on them Skypanels, 800W joker's,  Light panel Astras, or even Kino's can do this. You just need bright, soft, daylight balanced lighting. 

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Thanks. That's good advice about looking to specific references and considering more than lighting. I sort of assumed the sources I have wouldn't be bright enough to put out a window, but hadn't considered that light coming through the window would be something I could deal with just by waiting for the right time of day. I assume backlit afternoon light is usually best?

Looking to specific references is an even better call because I'm trying to mimic something pretty specific, but also just curious about how to approach things generally (if I'm in a rush I'll shoot a tighter frame so I can fill brighter/softer, etc. but want to have the right principles).

Anyhow, thanks again.

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