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the difficulties of lighting in a house

Dutchboy

Dutchboy

After experimenting with my new light kit inside of my living room I've realized that shooting in a studio must be a much more reliable location. Especially in my small living room, it's very difficult to backlight actors, almost impossible actually, as well as establish a key light without overexposing. I guess the answer for now is more diffusion? Any suggestions? I am new to lighting, but I am learning...

I have a softbox, however I don't have a bulb for it yet. I'm guessing that it would be very helpful in this scenario?
 
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Every single moviemaker has had to light in practical locations. Very few
get to use a studio. And we all figure out how to light it - you will, too.

lightingexample.jpg

This was shot in a small bedroom using 4 lights and
two pieces of foamcore. A light outside with a homemade "cookie" to cast
shadows and break up the light - a light in the living room behind the woman
standing - a small light behind the woman in the foreground - a paper lantern
just above the woman sitting and a piece of foamcore just under her to fill
a little of the shadow on her left (camera right).

It's difficult and leaves very little space for crew to move around. But it
looks pretty good, don't you think?
 
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my biggest constraint with small rooms is not the lighting but simply their is not enough room for the lens I want to use.

The problem with small rooms is you always end up having to shoot wider then you would like, and often times lower then you would like. see like Directorik, wouldn't it be a lot nicer to have your shot with a longer focal length, that way it compresses the background so the second actor would take up more of the frame, that's normally how you can tell if it's in a studio or not, lots of people shoot really wide indoors simply because you can't get far enough back. such a pain.

You should check out some little portable lights. Those ones people keep in their closets. the ones that you push the top to light up. Get a whole bunch of those and you can use them for accent lights, put them on shelves out of the shot and you can warm up all your corners. they are even good for quickly checking out a room, you can see where you want light then move in the bigger lights for the actual shot when you have it all worked out.
 
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Thanks for the info.

1. Where can I get foamcore?
2. What are these "portable" lights groot speaks of?
3. I really need some softer light in my shot. I have a softbox I wanna use but I don't have a bulb for it yet. What type of bulb do I use? I'm new to lighting (obviously) and I've heard about different types such as fluorescent and halogen. And where can I pick these up? Walmart? or do they only sell household bulbs?
4. I feel as if my lights are way too powerful in my shots, especially because my walls reflect light easily. I'm thinking maybe I should be reflecting light off of the grounds and ceilings? What are the gels for that came with my light kit? I've never seen them before. I take it they are used for diffusion?

Also, good point about the wide shot. I like to use longer focal length as well.
 
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1. Set shops.
2. I believe he is talking about those silly tap lights the guy with the British accent sells on TV. I would not use those for any film lighting.
 
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Dutchboy said:
1. I live in FL... no set shops anywhere close to where i live. Is there a low-budget way of finding foamcore? Anywhere to purchase online?
Click to expand...
FOAMCORE is used for backing pictures. All art supply shops will have it.
Tell me where in Florida you live and I'll get you an address close by.

Bradley_groot said:
my biggest constraint with small rooms is not the lighting but simply their is not enough room for the lens I want to use.

The problem with small rooms is you always end up having to shoot wider then you would like, and often times lower then you would like. see like Directorik, wouldn't it be a lot nicer to have your shot with a longer focal length, that way it compresses the background so the second actor would take up more of the frame, that's normally how you can tell if it's in a studio or not, lots of people shoot really wide indoors simply because you can't get far enough back. such a pain.
Click to expand...
There are always compromises, Bradley. Not only would it be a lot nicer if I had more
DOF in that shot, it would have been nicer if I had been on a soundstage, had a full
crew, a Panavision camera and Scarlet Johannsen as the lead. But since I can't have
those things I can either wait until I do, or make movies using what I have.

Such a pain, is right. Making movies with no money is a pain.
 
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I found a campaigning sign in my sisters room that looks like it will reflect light well. Also, yesterday, while shooting in my living room I took a white pillow case and draped it over my softbox for even softer light... worked very well.
 
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Dutchboy said:
I found a campaigning sign in my sisters room that looks like it will reflect light well. Also, yesterday, while shooting in my living room I took a white pillow case and draped it over my softbox for even softer light... worked very well.
Click to expand...

That is the right mindset! Great solutions. The old Hollywood types used pieces of plywood as bounce that they had found lying around the set as a solution to the same problems. (I heard an interview somewhere with an old hollywood westerns guy). You use what's on hand to get the results you need. You don't think outside the box, you cut up the box and use it as scrap wood to build a solution to the problem at hand :)
 
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I heard just a cardboard piece wrapped in aluminum foil will do the trick of a "fill" light or "reflector". You can color it over with orange marker to give it a warming effect.

Would that work?
 
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Does it reflect light? Yes is the short answer. An old hollywood cinematographer mentioned that on one shoot they had just used a sheet of plywood to fill on set when they needed to get the shot quickly. I have 2 4'x6' white foam core sheets, the reverse sides I've spray painted, one silver and the other gold. They work like champs... barely fit in the car, but I have used them on almost every shoot I've been on to redirect light in difficult places and to warm the light on the fill to make people seem more alive.
 
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You have the right idea but some of the methods are not the best. You would not want to cover a silver bounceboard with an orange marker, could you imagine how long that would take? :lol: But there are some other ways you can get a warmer bounce of light. Just experiment. You can probably buy copper spray paint at Wal-Mart for 99 cents.
 
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If you go to an arts & crafts store, they'll sell foamcore boards in a few sizes.

The ones I get are 2' x 3'. White on one side, and you can get the other side in a variety of colours (including more white) I got a stash of red, blue, green, orange & yellow.

Like $3 each, or something... and no painting involved. :)
 
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I, too, shall go buy foamcore tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestion. Someone else said I could go "expirement" and therefore waste money...but why do that if there's the knowledge of the crowds here? If anybody has a better suggestions than foamcore, please list it.
 
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