How can I cheat at lighting

[Integers]

Hello,

some friends and i are about to start shooting our first 'propper' film set entierly indoors and we want to try and make it look as good as possible. the script is prety poor, but we dont plan on doing anything with it so thats not important.

does anyone know any 'rules of thumb' as such for indoor lighting, just to make it look decent and less like a home video.

we're using a hi-8 cam-corder and we can get our hands on a few portable lights

any help much apreciated

Cheers

[GREATwarEAGLE]

Probably have better luck in post. Altering contrast and saturation, etc.

[belovedmonster]

doing it in post would be a nightmare!

One of the golden rules of shooting footage is that it doesnt matter what you do it afterwards if it starts of **** its always gunna be **** . Lighting is one of the most important factors of having a film look good. You dont need to be able to do anything fancy, just be able to light a subject so the footage is rich in colour and not grainy **** .

Your best bet is to read the simple guide on lighting on this very site, maybe try and find some more info online.

When it comes to actually getting lights, Screwfix direct (and other leading building suppliers) sell things called "sitelamps", they are basicly those big security flood lights you can get but they are sat on top of tripods, and at ?25 each a few of them would make a world of difference. Other cheap tip is to get tin fiol and cover some cardboard to make a reflector.

[Filmmaker58]

Robert Rodriguez shot El Mariachi with two clip lights from a hardware store, and a couple of photoflood bulbs. Here's a good cheat. Shoot any wide shots with available light if possible, then shoot closeups, and I mean closeups (head and shoulders) with a clip light (they are the ones with the large aluminum reflectors) with some diffusion material (if you can't get pro diffusion gel, large dryer sheets work) clipped to the front of it (use a lot to really diffuse the light) close to your subject. This will create a subtle, soft light on their faces and a good glow in their eyes. Another thing you can do is bounce the light into a white board and put that close to their faces. The secret is to shoot big closeups because you don't have the fixtures to properly light a two shot. Watch the interior dialog scenes in El Mariachi, and keep in mind that he only had two cheap lights, and that the actors were seldom in the same room when he shot their dialog. It's amazing how good it looks.

[belovedmonster]

tracing paper makes for a good diffuser to put infront of the camera

[Integers]

Cheers guys

we've been experimenting with home made reflecting boards this afternoon and we've found it looks good, especially as we now no longer get a shiny white patches on faces.

the plan now is to just continue experimenting so we have a good idea of what techniques to use for when we start shooting

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 08, 2003 01:27 PM: Message edited by: Integers ]</font>

[elmariachi]

in regards to el mariachi, you're completly right.. look at the bar shots with domino mainly coz you'll notice he uses one light off to the right and one on the background thru some stained glass or something.. looks great.. just experiment with like, 2 or 3 lights.. nothing big
post wouldnt be such a good idea..