Lighting a beach scene + campfire + car scene

[MaksimSobolev]

Hello everyone,

I am a student at a cinema school, and in April, we will be shooting a 10-minute short film on a beach about the relationship between a dying father and his daughter, as they spend an entire day camping on the beach. It might remind some of you of the movie Aftersun. I have a lot of questions, so if someone could reply to even just one of them, I would be very thankful!

I am a DOP for the first time on a “big” project, and I would love to receive some tips or inspiration on how to make the lighting look good. We have 4 days of shooting, and my main concern is that the sunlight might appear “flat” for most of the day, especially around noon. I am pretty much limited to using diffusors and reflectors, as we don’t have an electric point nearby for projectors (though we do have some battery-powered LEDs that last around 2 hours).

I also want the lighting to reflect the relationship between the two characters: at the beginning, they are afraid to talk about the father’s illness and are distant. Throughout the day, they gradually become closer until the campfire scene in the evening, where they openly discuss the father’s illness. Do you think I can achieve a sense of progression by playing with the contrast on their faces or the hardness of the sunlight? Or should I focus solely on reflecting the time of day? As I mentioned, we have 4 days of shooting, so I need to maintain continuity between the scenes, as the story occurs throughout an entire day.

My second concern is the campfire scene. We are not sure if we have the right to make a campfire, so I am already working on plan B. One of my teachers suggested using an Astera LED tube with a fire simulation. Do you think this will be enough and believable? I also thought of using a small projector with a diffusor to strengthen the light.

Finally, we have 2 car scenes: one at the very beginning, and the other at the very end. Both have morning light, but the second one should be REALLY beautiful to show the evolution between the characters. How can I make that difference between the two? I thought of using a pinkish morning light. Can I achieve that with the few projectors we have?

I’ve seen many references to inspire me, but I always have to deduce what lights are used, and I am afraid of being wrong (also, we don’t have permission to test projectors outside of school, so I have to prepare everything mentally, hence all my questions).

If someone wants more information, I would be happy to discuss it! (and pardon me for my bad english).

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