Jump to content

How to get a similar lighting style to this still from Mother of George


Recommended Posts

Hey everyone, been poking around on Shotdeck lately. I came across these stills from Bradford Young's gorgeous work on Mother of George and was wondering how to get a similar color effect? I've seen this coolish grey look on dark black skin a few times recently and thinks it accents that skin tone beautifully. Is the key to this using a soft daylight-balanced source and setting the camera's white balance to something around like 4300K? 

motherofgeorge.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bradford Young had custom kino rigs that bounced the bulbs upward and back down....so super super soft quality top light. I believe that is how he achieved the reflective look in the skin.  Now days with litmats would be a lot easier! 

Edited by Albion Hockney
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

As ever it depends how large an area you want to cover.

You could create the effect shown in that shot with a smallish softbox on a smallish light. If you want people to be able to walk around a huge exterior location and maintain that effect consistently, then you're into very upscale rigging.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mother of George got me hooked on Bradford Young. It's a great film!

According to Cybel Martin, using color on black skin is a beautiful choice for cinematography. You might find some good insight and inspiration from an article she wrote: https://shadowandact.com/2014/02/04/the-art-of-lighting-dark-skin-for-film-and-hd/

I agree with Albion, the above frame is easy to get today via litemats and gels. (I think there is even an RGB litemat now)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...