Hey,
Ive just written the script to a black slpastick comedy, and i was wondering if anyone had any tips on lighting it cheapy and effectivly?
Im still a real amateur but id like to create a more professional film
ta
Printable View
Hey,
Ive just written the script to a black slpastick comedy, and i was wondering if anyone had any tips on lighting it cheapy and effectivly?
Im still a real amateur but id like to create a more professional film
ta
depends depends depends.... on what you need, and where you need it, and what you are filming on.
In my opinion you cant go too far wrong hiring 500 Watt halogen work lights for your shooting.
Hire 4 of them, but dont use them all all the time. Dont light all your scenes evenly and equally. Change them around, light from above, below, the side...whatever. So long as the light positions are consistent for each scene.
If you are indoors, even if you dont NEED light for an exposure (say you are using video) still stick a light in there. It will make your scene look much better.
Good luck
PS: dont worry too much about lighting, so long as your comedy is gripping it wont matter too much. Concentrate on composing shots instead.
Take a look at Evil Dead 2. In most most of the outside shots of the shack you can clearly see all the lighting rigs and lights. Ive never seen that in any other film and its pretty shameless, but doesnt matter remotley, because the action, acting, and storytelling is so good.
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 02, 2003 07:09 AM: Message edited by: eidde ]</font>
Here are some simple rules. Faces look best with soft light (hard shadows look....hard) The larger the source, the softer the light (the hardest light is the sun, a small source making hard shadows. Compare that to an overcast day, where the whole sky is the source, and there are practically no shadows). Use a 2x3 white board and bounce light into it. Use it as a source for your closeups. Another test you can do is to see what a light looks like aimed directly at your subject, and then hang a white silk or sheet in front of it and see the difference the diffusion makes. The soft light wraps around the subjects face with no hard shadows, and gives a large reflection in their eyes. Experiment with the soft key light, and a back light (hung overhead behind the subject aimed at the back of their head). I could go on and on, color temperature, types of fixtures etc., but I'll save that for my next how-to video.