Rick Wise
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COW Coin
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Less is more.
What’s implied is often much more scary than what is seen.
Splashes of very hot light that illuminate body parts/sections. Possibly very, very low intensity overhead soft light to bring up hints of details in the shadows. Sometimes silhouettes as in lightning flashes. Lights that go on and just as abruptly turn off. Etc.
Should be lots of fun.
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
A strong second to zooms look “unnatural.” It is, of course, possible to hide a zoom move if you combine it with either a pan/tilt or a dolly move and best of all with a mix of both. Just make sure the zoom stops exactly when any other moves stop or the viewer will see the stop. Takes practice.
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Dan,
I have not yet tried out the fluorescents. I believe they have a CRI of 87, which strongly suggests that they do have a green spike. Almost every fluro other than Kinos do need treatment — and even Kino Divas need some gelling help. How much varies a lot: 1/8, 14, 1/2.
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Thanks, Dan. Going to their site I see that now. Be great if they did the same thing for their fluorescents.
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Do you find you need to add any minus green gels?
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Ancients, such as myself, have always preferred to set the look in camera. When I was a young pup I was ga-ga over filters and couldn’t use them enough. Over time I came to the opposite view: other than color-correcting filters, use sparingly if at all. HD reinforces that as it’s very easy to muck up the image with some filter in front of the lens. Whether film or video, I now stick to a light (1/4 or maybe 1/2) classic soft, and only when skin issues call for it.
If the scene calls for fog, then a light fog filter might be appropriate.
Leaving it to post has never been my preference. Maybe it’s because I want to control the image…. And that’s why I always go to film-to-tape transfers. Alas, haven’t been to one of those in many years. Video now rules. At least we’ve now got the Alexa.
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
And for the situation Todd describes, soft light is your friend — as it is every time you have significant contrast between dark and light.
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
You have put your finger on one of the key aspects of lighting well: every face is shaped differently and has different colors, including hair, skin, and wardrobe. There is only one answer to that predicament that I know of: look.
Look carefully. You can light following general guidelines, such as placing the key 45º further away from the camera than the subject’s look, and 45º above horizontal. But that is just a beginning point. When the real subject sits into the shot, you may way to move the key even further than 45º left-right, up-down.
Because of the hair color — or lack of hair — you may want to increase or reduce the intensity of the back light, if you have one.
Because of the darkness-lightness of the clothing you may want to add or reduce light on that part of the body.
Because of the quality of the skin and the tone of the subject you may want to add more fill, or reduce it.
And so on. The more you do this, the more quickly you will find a good solution almost every time.
Looking so you actually see how the light plays on this face in front of you is one of the joys of lighting.
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
In Oakland, you can go to DTC lighting and Grip. They will have everything you need. (Google them for the phone and address.)
I’m not sure how big those windows are. It sounds like a “thin panel” is pretty small, so either CTO them, or black them.
Your three lights are going to provide precious little quantity of light. You may have to boost gain on the camera. Without seeing the space, I’d suggest you consider bouncing your 3 lights into foamcore or white showcard. If the ceiling is white, you could bounce one or two off the ceiling. But keep one or two to create light that reaches into the dancer’s eyes. You can tape white showcard in a curve to bounce light back into the room. Or tape up foamcore (also available at DTC) or hold in place with with a c-stand and a platypus (also available at DTC.)If the windows are on the left, place your lights on the right.
By the way, I find that if you half-blue your tungsten lights the resultant look is pleasant when mixed with daylight. Full blue actually over corrects. Obviously, half blue chews up less light, but still a lot.
Remember, 99% of the time the worst place to place your key light(s) is next to the camera.
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Beautifully done. The guy is terrific — he is always seeing what he is doing in a very real way. The woman less so. She is “acting,” not living the story.
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com