how to light a moving camera

[genesis]

hi am new to this forum, am thinking of shooting scene where someone walks from one room to another, using three point lighting, how can i keep that light setup with the character from one room to another with out shooting my self on the foot, thanks

 

[directorik]

hi am new to this forum, am thinking of shooting scene where someone walks from one room to another, using three point lighting, how can i keep that light setup with the character from one room to another with out shooting my self on the foot, thanks

So you want three point lighting in each room? That means you need
a key, fill and back light in each room. You'll need to hang the lights or
hide/disguise the light stands within the set decoration and with careful
framing. Backlighting a moving actor has its challenges so in some of
the rooms you may not be able to use only three lights. This is fairly
standard and not as difficult as it seems. Carefully block the camera
and the actor so they each hit their marks exactly.

A great challenge!

 

[genesis]

thanks! that should help

 

[Gonzo_Entertainment]

As Rik alluded to, a good chance to try using lights hung from the ceiling if there is a way to rig that.

 

[genesis]

thanks

 

[jax_rox]

Using a combination of magic arms and super clamps will help you, just make sure you don't load too heavy a light onto the end of a clamp/arm.

 

[trueindie]

this is a great question. Does anybody have any links to making ofs where the lighting crew moves around with the lights as the actors move? I'm wondering if watching anything like that would help our understanding.

 

[jax_rox]

If you look at BTS footage of lord of the rings, you can see in a lot of the shots there's someone following the actors with a fluro tube, likely a Kino tube.

The other thing to consider is what emotion you want to evoke with your lighting? I've lit large sets where we've put lights along the characters pathway which means rather than having flat light the entire trip, he walks in and out of pools of light which can be a lot more interesting, dramatic etc.

 

[ngoforth]

Forget the three-point lighting. Try to source or motivate the light from windows or lamps along the way. If there are no lights, invent them (oh, look, there's that chandelier we didn't see!). Don't be afraid to have your characters go through shadows. Typically in the case of moving lights, it's one light that move to provide additional fill as needed, or a glimmer in the actors' eyes, the other lights being anchored in the set. Wall spreaders can be useful here, if you've got that kind of resource; you can put the lights up and away, wherever you need them.

 

[jax_rox]

A DP once said to me: Don't light with key, fill, and back simply because that's the traditional way - hell, that's a mainstay from the black and white days when we needed a backlight to seperate people from backgrounds. Do what's right for your story, sometimes we only need a single key, sometimes our backlight is our key. Stop thinking about light as a way to get an exposure, and start thinking about light as one of your main storytelling techniques as a cinematographer; it's one of, if not the only non-camera technique we have available to us as cinematographers so make sure you're using it to it's full extent.

So, now I sit with Directors when I come onto a project and we discuss the ideas and the themes behind each character and each scene, and I light the thing with all of that in mind. Sometimes that means under-exposing quite a lot, sometimes that means harsh lights with contrasty shadows, sometimes that means soft lighting, or faking day time.

 

[trueindie]

A DP once said to me: Don't light with key, fill, and back simply because that's the traditional way - hell, that's a mainstay from the black and white days when we needed a backlight to seperate people from backgrounds. Do what's right for your story, sometimes we only need a single key, sometimes our backlight is our key. Stop thinking about light as a way to get an exposure, and start thinking about light as one of your main storytelling techniques as a cinematographer; it's one of, if not the only non-camera technique we have available to us as cinematographers so make sure you're using it to it's full extent.

So, now I sit with Directors when I come onto a project and we discuss the ideas and the themes behind each character and each scene, and I light the thing with all of that in mind. Sometimes that means under-exposing quite a lot, sometimes that means harsh lights with contrasty shadows, sometimes that means soft lighting, or faking day time.

that is just such an AWESOME way to think about lighting. You just made my morning jax. I wish you were in Toronto with me this weekend.