The look of TV Drama

[Gregory Sheffer]

Got a narrative scene to shoot of four ladies in a living room. I want to get the look of most TV dramas like House. What are they using for all those soft light effects on walls and background. Seems like ever shot has a nice soft light and vignette across the backgrounds. I guess what I am asking is what is a basic light set up for a room with soft light?

 

[David Mullen ASC]

Sort of depends on a lot of things -- where are the windows & practicals? Where are the women standing? Do they walk around? What is the mood? Where are they facing? Where is the camera in relation to the women and the light sources? Does the camera pan or dolly around?

There are dozens of ways to create a soft light in both tungsten and daylight, there is no single standard technique. And some choices require more room to work than other choices. The women maybe lit with a big soft light from one side, like an 8'x8' frame of diffusion with a light behind it. They may be lit with a big soft overhead light, they may have a strong backlight from a window, let's say, and be light with some soft frontal bounce on their faces, etc.

It would be easier if you posted a particular frame and asked how it was lit, and even then, it would only be a guess because soft light can be created so many ways.

 

[Marc Wielage]

Greg, don't forget that a good portion of the look of the show also hinges on the work of the colorist doing the final color-correction pass. Many, many times we add vignettes and other effects as power windows to enhance the original photography (under the supervision of the DP). The raw footage may look drastically different. A show like House typically goes through at least 13-14 hours (two full days) of color correction before it airs.

But as I often say, it all depends greatly on the skill of the cinematographer. A good colorist can make good lighting look better, but we can't make bad (or mediocre) lighting look good.

BTW, I believe that House is all still shot on film. For my money, the best-looking show on TV at the moment is Boardwalk Empire, a phenomenal-looking show. If this thing doesn't win an Emmy for best cinematography (or at least get nominated), I'll be very surprised. Also shot on film.

 

[Liam Hall]

BTW, I believe that House is all still shot on film.

Not the series finale - that was shot on Canon 5D, even my pet cat knew that thanks to the blogosphere; and there-in lies part of the answer to achieving nice soft backgrounds - shallow depth of field, though lighting is key.

 

[M Most]

Not the series finale - that was shot on Canon 5D, even my pet cat knew that thanks to the blogosphere; and there-in lies part of the answer to achieving nice soft backgrounds - shallow depth of field, though lighting is key.

That was one episode, and it was the season finale, not the series finale. The new season is on film, just like every other season.

 

[Liam Hall]

That was one episode, and it was the season finale, not the series finale. The new season is on film, just like every other season.

I know it was one episode. No need to be so pedantic, in the UK a season is called a series.

 

[Gregory Sheffer]

When you say "power windows" are those shadowed shapes like vignettes?

 

[Sam Eilertsen]

When you say "power windows" are those shadowed shapes like vignettes?

Power windows are basically the DaVinci equivalent of the vignette in Apple Color.