[Dennis Size]

About 3 or 4 feet is all that was required …..literally the space above the cameras (which were almost touching the ceiling).
One only needs to position the bounce material over the amount of surface area covered by the beam of light you’re bouncing off of.

[Dennis Size]

I actually clamped grip arms out from the sky box balcony above our suites, and hung 150w fresnels on them as backlight onto our anchors.

DS

[Dennis Size]

What about when your ceiling height is 6′-6″ in a tiny space with 3 cameras …..and 3 anchors standing up talking to cameras?

DS

[Dennis Size]

Sometimes one just doesn’t have the room to direct a softlight source at the subject being interviewed, and bouncing the light is the only solution. I recently had to light a few skyboxes at the Pepsico Center in Denver for the Democratic National Convention in which the ceiling height was 6′-6″. I had 3 major network anchors to light —- being shot LIVE by 3 cameras crammed into a space that was only 9′-0″ wide. With that height and width, and a dozen people getting in the way, there’s no room left to place fixtures and stands.
Ingenuity being the mother of invention (with no money or time as an incentive), I bought a few boxes of simple aluminum foil and adhered it to the ceiling and walls. I placed my stands and lighting fixtures (a mix of Kino Flo Divas, Arri 300’s and 650’s) behind the cameramen and their big “brownies” and bounced the light off the walls and ceiling over their heads. The end result was a nice, successful, soft wrap of light shooting around and over the cameras that seemed to bathe the anchors in a lovely wash of north light.
DS

P.S. There’s a reason some people call me the “McGyver of Lighting”

[Dennis Size]

John is 100% right. If your subjects don’t instill confidence, professionalism, and a strong sense of education, the best lighting in the world will only reveal them as phony.

You could do an in depth study of the psychological aspects of light and color however. It will reveal many things that studies have shown subliminally affect people — and the audience in an environment.
For example if you study theatrical conventions, lighting theory has always dictated that comedy needs to be “lit funny”. Lighting for comedy requires a bright upbeat stage, lit with warm “happy” colors …such as ambers and pinks. Drama and suspense, on the other hand, requires dark, shadowy lighting ….using cool colors such as blues, purples, and greens.
Similar pyschological principles apply in television (ever watch any soap operas?). If you light your videos very darkly, with textural shadows that make your subjects look like they’re in an Alfred Hitchcock movie, you will have failed in your goals.
You want your subjects to be bright, lively, and well lit and without distracting ominous shadows. You wouldn’t want them to look like “thugs” now, would you?

Sometimes the answers to questions about achieving the right mood in lighting just involve thinking through your goals….. and using a little simple logic.

DS

[Dennis Size]

FERNANDO: Definitely add a little backlight — as Rick suggests –and use any of the following colors to reduce green “pollution” on your yellow clothes: ROSCOLUX #33, ROSCOLUX #333, or ROSCOLUX #3313 for better results.

DS

[Dennis Size]

The cost of trained, experienced professionals to consult on this project will more than outweigh the mess you will be in if you attempt to do it alone.
This is a MAJOR undertaking involving several disciplines that you obviously have no experience in. It goes far beyond bringing in just a DP and gaffer. You need consultants versed in systems, facilities, rigging, electrical engineering, scenery, lighting and make-up designers, etc. If you don’t have at least $100.000.00 (just to accomplish modest results); you should abandon this pursuit….just because of the liability factor, should something go amiss.

DS

[Dennis Size]

This has been one of the wildest — and I think longest threads — I’ve seen in the FORUM in years….. and I would have thought the greenscreen lighting “horse” would have been long since beaten to death.
One thing it certainly does prove to Mike is how many different ways there are to light something.
That being said I’ll throw my two cents in…in the form of a question. Doesn’t anyone use the good old fashioned inexpensive scoop anymore? It’d only take three 10″ fixtures to nicely light the greenscreen – or bluescreen – and they can be bought used for probably around $50 apiece. Mike could just use the ARRI fixtures he already owns, and diffuse the hell out of them to light his talent. If he wants to go wild and put in a couple backlights/sidelights he could just buy a couple of cheap PAR 38’s and he’s off and running.
The other option is to spend a lot of moneyand buy a few Divas, Image 80’s, Parabeams, Brightlines (or whatever) and go wild. Normally when I light something I base it on the space, the client’s needs, his ability to pay for the job, and the abilities of the in house crew to maintain it. Did everyone look at the “studio”? It’s not exactly the Sony Sound stages.
One word of advice Mike….keep it simple until you get a complete understanding of lighting and it’s uses. You’ll be happier.

DS

[Dennis Size]

I’ve even printed graphics on these acetates and used them in the gate of a Source 4 Leko (lamped at 375watts, of course) to sucessfully project “quick and dirty” gobos. As long as there aren’t too many large expanses of black they won’t melt that quickly, you can even get away without a fire if you keep the intensity down.

DS

[Dennis Size]

WOW! What a daunting task you’re undertaking. Good luck.
Don’t forget to include ARRI’s Studio Cool fluorescent fixtures, and Desisti’s De Lux unit, not to mention the fluorescent units of Brightline and Videssence.

Will you be including a list of LED fixtures also?

DS