How can I light this scene?

Ok here's the scene: a three people sitting at a picknick table next to a bonfire at night. I have a bonfire, and two halogen spotlights. Any ideas?

I read a great (if somewhat flippant) quote by a cinematographer - can't remember his name though and it was something along the lines of:

"Point a light at the subject: if you like it, shoot it, if you don't like it move the light."

The moderator of this board, Nigel, is actually a professional cinematographer and he may be able to give you more specific and detailed suggestions. But, I would just try and emphasise the natural light generated by the fire, but you'll probably need some fill light on the faces.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ January 12, 2004 06:28 AM: Message edited by: Justin M. ]</font>

Hi there

Are you shooting this on film or video?
I assume video, if so then I would film it at nighttime. Experiment....
I think halogen lampos arent really powerful enough to stick a gel over the front of, but you could try a red gel, and a blue one?
Why not just light the actors up straight with the lamps, maybe no one will ask where the light source is coming from?
You could try filming it during the daytime, and just take the brightness down? Add a bluish filter to make it look like nighttime....?

I'd consider bouncing the light off a silver/gold reflector. If you use a material you'll be able to shimmer the light(have someone manipulate the surface of the silver) so as to give the impression that the light is coming from the flames of the bonfire.

hard thing to explain I hope you understand

I wouldn't plan on just using the fire to light the scene. We tried that last summer and the footage was unusable.

Since you have 2 lights, you have some options to play with. Place a blue gel over one light and hang it in a tree to simulate moonlight. You'll want to use this light to create that infamous halo effect around the actors to seperate them from the background. Watch a few movies that have a nighttime scene and you'll see what I'm talking about.

For the second light, put a red (or orange) gel in front of the second light and place it next to the fire.

Something else to consider is that fire is very dynamic. If you have an extra pair of hands, you may want to try having someone place their hand between the "fire" light and the actors and wiggle their fingers around to break up the light that gets projected onto the actors... sort of a dynamic cookie. It sounds ridiculous, but it will look much more realistic.

Good luck with the shoot. Remember to bring a lot of flashlights. You'd be absolutely amazed how many batteries, sets of keys, tripod plates, etc. you can lose in the dark.

Hope this helps.

I am a fan of using light to--Light. It doesn't have to look real to look good. Watch "Boys Don't Cry", to see what I am talking about. There are some great night scenes with light that wouldn't exsist in nature.

It is kind of hard to say exactly what I would do in your shoes but I can tell you that take the lights and create "pools". Perhaps one pool behind the subjects off to one side, then one pool on the subjects dim enough to get light the subjects but not so hot that you get to much light. Then the fire can be a practical. Fire will only light itself.

Don't be afraid to use gels and make the lights cooler or warmer depending on what you want. I don't shoot much video--with film you can let the latitude pull out the details. The reflector sugestion is good too.

Remember it is night time--Things are supposed to be dark.

Good Luck

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ January 12, 2004 01:06 PM: Message edited by: Nigel ]</font>

I would also suggest not to light for just the shot, but for the scene as a whole, keeping in mind lighting continuity as you cut from shot to shot. This requires an overhead lighting plan.

Actually, this should be done for all scenes in all films, not just the situation you're describing.