Forum Replies Created
-
Replies
-
There is a lot more involved than dynamic range when it comes to a camera’s performance but wider dynamic range does have a substantial impact on the image. Now, whether your particular scene needs that kind of range is another question and one only you can answer.
Yes, the space faced North East and we shot on two evenings. Luckily for us the weather matched pretty well. I did have extra lighting outside the window on two scissors lifts. This was very low level bounce light using simply 8′ x 4′ sheets of polystyrene. The lights running along the promenade are ones we had rigged and were set to dimmers between each set of lamp posts. And, yes, I chose the yellow window gel with our Production Designer.
I do. Although I like a film to feel naturalistic I have still used inspiration from films of the 40s and 50s. Some of the lighting in films from ‘Homicide’ to ‘The Man Who Wasn’t There’ is not exactly natural but, hopefully, appears natural. I feel the same when watching ‘Kiss me Deadly’, one of my all time favorite ‘B’ movies, the lighting was part of the whole and in that sense felt completely ‘natural’.
There were LED tubes in those ceiling panels and no additional sources. The lamps I used to bounce were Geminis 2′ x 1′ panels, or an equivalent style of LED to make up the number.
The rest area was part of the composite set that included the lobby and staircase to the screening rooms. The whole thing was built on location in an empty lot, where a prior building had been demolished. These particular scenes were the most difficult for me as there was only a few feet of clearance outside the windows and, although I wanted to make daylight the primary light source that was impossible. The ‘fluorescent’ fixtures were a compromise but I felt they would make the area look like a work space and make a contrast with the more elaborate lobby. About five feet from the windows there was a ‘stage wall’ and I had this painted white with some texture on the area we woudl see in picture. Then I used the higher part as a bounce.
The practical lighting would really depend on the kind of club it was. If its an old place a bare bulb could work or a simple fluorescent tube. If you use a tube you could justify it being an odd color, which may or may not work for the scene. As for the club other than its toilet, I would always look at what exists and then decide if I want to use it or not. That really is a personal choice and a financial one as well.
Your idea of using mirrors to lessen the falloff should help. You might want to try silver stipple and a lighter diffusion, such as a brush silk, which will make the source a little softer but somewhat directional. A heavy diffusion near the window will tend to spread the light wider.
The light level imbalance can be reduced by pulling stop but it could also be nice that things fall off into deep shadow away from the windows. That really depends on the scene and the location and impossible to make a judgement from here!
First, the interior of Stephen’s flat was a set as the location we liked was too difficult to hold on to for the length of time we needed it. We shot a number of scenes in this set which did not end up in the final cut.
The overhead was all that lit the wide when Stephen and his mother are watching television. For the dinner scene I wanted the foreground table light to be stronger in relation to the background, which was not important.
I always work closely with the production designer as well as the set dresser to make sure the placement of the windows, light fixtures and furniture work for the scenes and for camera. It is particularly important to work with a set dresser to choose practical lamps. We probably looked at dozens of different possibilities before settling on the ones in picture.
Looking at a still like this makes it seem unrealistic as the artificial light effecting the characters is so much brighter than the sky. Nor is the same light present on the fence or building in the mid distance. However, in the run of the scene this is not something that draws the attention.
That I can’t answer without knowing the script and the scene. Mine is not a ‘one plan fits all’ approach. It could be a rainy day or a sunny day, the blinds might be closed or the room could be flooded with sunlight.
There are directors who are very controlling of the image, specify camera placement to the millimeter and the lens length etc.. It is a personal decision whether, as a cinematographer, a purely technical contribution is enough.
The first image was done ‘in camera’. There may be a little extension to the set in the lower portion of the frame but it is basically there.
The second and third images are CGI. We shot exteriors of the spinners in various lighting and we did shoot some models, but it proved more cost effective and efficient to work in CGI and, besides this, we found we had more control over the look of the image. I think if there is one element of ‘BR2049’ that works it is the consistency of the CGI work with the live action.
