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Help actors to keep eyes open


Maxime Sabin

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Hi guys, 

I'm asking myself if some of you have some good tricks about how we can help the talent to keep their eyes open. In a blown-out-sky or very sunny day, it happens often to shoot actors with half-shut eyes...

I try to place black flag, or shoot later when it's possible but is there any other options ? 

 

Thanks, 

Max from France

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This can be a challenge.  Really, the only thing technically one can do is to cut some of the light off the actor's face.  But, I think there can also be a psychological component to this and just using a single net might be enough effort to help keep the eyes open, without cutting so much light that it's obvious.  Of course, if the actor is doing a lot of moving around, this might not be possible.

As a last resort, ask the wardrobe department for... sunglasses? ?

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You can soften the key light with a diffusion frame, or move it higher or more sidey out of their eyeline. Often, just reducing the specularity of the key light can help. On day exteriors, try shooting into backlight and just keying with a bounce card. You can also try putting a 4x4 floppy behind the camera. 

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One thing I've seen actors do in bright conditions is to stare at the sun with their eyes shut before a take, so that when they open them they are already adjusted to the brightness. Whether this works is a question for the actors themselves.

In the past, I have put up 8x8 or 12x12 solids in the actor's eyeline, but just out of shot so that any super hot backgrounds or reflections are flagged off. Other than that, there's not much you can do.

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