Need help with Lighting scenario...

I'm shooting a rather elaborate shoot this weekend and would

love input from anyone who can help in regards to my lighting

setup. I will give a quick description of the shot list.

 

All locations will be the same in all shots. I am building a set 8

feet high and 12 feet wide... I wish it could be taller but it just can't

be. I have flooring of 40 sq ft tiles, again due to expense it can't

be any larger, so consider my models need to be at least 3 or 4

feet off the wall sitting or standing. From stage right I want light to

stream in as if from a window with a tree outside blocking some

of the sun.

So there is my first question. I have aproximately 6 or 7 feet to set

up a light at stage right, what light modifier do i use to create this

window light? and how close should the cuculoris or branches

need to be to the light or set to give the effect i'm looking for?

Also, how can i simulate different times of the day using this

same light source?

 

Inside the set i have a wall light (actually set into the wall about 6

feet up with a torchier(sp) style glass lamp housing that directs

up like a bowl with a bulb inside. Second question is how can i

simulate this lamp light?? from above using grids directed into

the housing? Although the lamp isn't threaded into the wall

electrically i might try to connect it to some power source and just

use a slave strobe bulb.

 

What sort of fill should i use? a broad bank from above with a

grid to give all over directional light?

 

What gels should I use to create moonlight? midafternoon light?

morning light?

 

I have an idea of how i will accomplish these tasks, but I really

just want imput to see if there are things i'm not already thinking

up.

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

 

V

Vanessa,

 

Sounds like an interesting shoot. Here's a couple of thoughts that might help.

 

With only 3-4 ft of distance between the models and the rear wall you'll have to be careful creating your dappled sunlight so that is hits only the wall and not the models. So your outside sunlight source needs to be fairly flat to the wall. Unless you want that light hitting the models which I don't think you do.

 

To create that dappled light on the wall you could use a cukuloris or real tree branches. The cuke might be easier to position. In any event I'd position the cokoloris just outside the frame if you want a harder pattern on the wall. Remember that the farther the cukuloris is from your light the harder the penumbra (shadow edges) will be. Conversely the closer the cuke is to the light the softer those shadow edges will be until at some point they won't even show. I'd use a bare flash with small reflector to simulate a point source like the sun. You will have to gobo or flag that light so it only hits the wall if that's what you want. With your limited space it's going to be difficult for the cukuloris light effect to remain clearly visible across the reach of a 12 ft. wall but that's OK it wouldn't happen naturally anyway. You can cut your own cukoloris out of foam-core, the type that is white on one side and black on the other would be ideal.

 

You can simulate the time of day with this light in a couple of ways.

A lower light position would simulate early or late time of day. A warming gel for early or late day and less light with a slight blue gel if you are after a moonlight effect.

 

For the light fixture on the wall you could easily use a slave strobe bulb but its intensity would peg your lighting scheme to the amount of light from that fixture. In other words the slave strobe bulb may be too weak or too strong to allow you to match it to the desired f-stop/illumination level of the rest of the set. If it was too strong, you could easily place a bit of diffusion over it which might get it into the ballpark. A tungsten buln might be easier to work with if you can drag your shutter enough for it to record. I suppose you could use a gridded head to simulate the light from the fixture but having the light source from inside the fixture would look most natural.

 

I would use a large lower powered softbox high in front for overall fill and another large soft soft box to actually light the set/people from the right to work the illusion of daylight coming in from the right which will help sell the illusion created by the cuke. A large reflective scrim on the left for fill might be needed also.

 

Midnight light : use a blue gel, try various intensities.

Mid-afternoon light: no gel

Morning light: a couple of bastard amber or stronger amber gels.

 

If I were doing this shot I'd use 3-4800ws packs which would probably allow an f-stop of f-11-16 on 100 iso film. I did a shoot recently similar to this and that's what I was getting I believe.

 

Have fun and please post the results and your setup.

I think that Brooks has given you very good advice, but I have an alternative, if it would suit this shoot.<br> I do a <b>lot</b> of furniture shoots and have built some 'windows' that can be moved around the set as required and which are included in the shots.<br>The glazing bars are made from electrical insulating tape, behind that I have Lee Filters 216 diffusion material stapled from the back. Behind that I have a small flash head, with no reflector to give a wide and even spread of light (I find that 800 watts gives me around f16)<br>The window then becomes part of the set, and a prop, and a light source, and justifies light coming from that direction.<br>The branch would need to be placed very close to the back of the diffusion material, you would need to experiment with this a bit, I haven't tried it with this particular diffusion material.<p>As far as your wall lamp is concerned, it is far easier to use an ordinary tungsten lamp and a long shutter speed, if this is possible with your subject.<br>Hope this helps<div></div>