-
Outdoor Steadicam shot
I’m racking my brain trying to figure out how to light this. It’s one shot, of a person shooting an arrow into the distance. The steadycam starts 12 feet directly in front of our talent, follows around the left side of him, and lands with an over-the-shoulder shot from 3 feet away as he shoots the arrow. It’s shot outside, in the middle of a field with a high treeline 50 yards in the distance in all directions. How do I light this properly and avoid shadows and seeing instruments in the shot? Even possible?
-
4 Replies
-
I think we might need just a little bit more information about the shot, to learn exactly what problems you think you might be facing.
Try not to mentally get bogged down in the fact that it is a Steadicam shot. That makes no difference… its the same issues as if it were a dolly shot arcing around the talent, or even a non-stabilized handheld shot. In fact the Steadicam may make it easier, by eliminating some equipment you’d have to avoid framing (i.e., dolly track, etc).
What do you anticipate your lighting needs are? If this is a daytime exterior on a cloudy bright day, there may be no additional lighting needs. A few more clouds, and you might be able to get away with nothing but a grip walking with a white board for a bit of bounce. Full sun and you might have to put up a butterfly. It would only have to be cantilevered if the sun was directly overhead. If the sun is on the camera side, it would be easy to place.
If I read it right, you are only shooting in 180° of the area, and don’t need a 360° view of the location. These kinds of shots happen every day… all the gear and instruments just go in the unseen half of the location.
Or… am I completely missing something? (likely)
T2
__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
-
I’m going to be seeing the ground in the shot, so I want to avoid a massive shadow from a silk – and we’re going to be seeing sky, so I want to avoid bringing my foreground light levels down too much to cause my sky to be blown out.
I’m almost thinking that your white card bounce (or maybe even a gold reflector), which could be above the arc of the camera, could reflect a bright overhead sun (or possibly a sun that’s slightly backlighting our talent), and give me the foreground light I want. Clouds, and we bring in an HMI. It’s gotta be more complex than that though, right?
Thanks for the quick reply, BTW, Todd.
-
This is something you can quickly mock up in the fre Google Sketch-up, BTW. Low-rent no-budget pre-vis.
-
You need nothing more than a flex fill — and if you have a cloudy day, you need nothing.
DS
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up