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Cinematography challenge - nowhere to hide (lights)

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Sam Goldwater

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Hi all,

I've got a project coming up - 2 min comedy short. All takes place in an unusual bar. Shooting on Epic.

First page is two character dialogue, sticks - wide master two one shot mids, simple.

The second page is a 40 second steadicam shot through the bar. I've laid it out in a simple assembly from the recce the other day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEMF4_khrGU&feature=youtu.be


Everything seen here is 7D/16mm/5.6/800ASA


The steadicam shot starts with the same two characters, then follows one after another with carefully timed actions to the furthest wide by which time all twelve 'featured extras' will be visible.


My question is this: how to light the scene for the steadicam shot? There's virtually nowhere to hide lights - ceilings are visible, walls are curved, the floor is visible too.

The only place I can see to put anything is behind these walls, where the camera won't see. Either one Diva on the left to boost natural light from the windows (left), or both for a more even exposure across all the extras that'll be seen in this final composition.

wide_anno.jpg


The room is two stories up with no budget to get 2Ks through the windows.

-----

I'm thinking maybe there's a way to have people pop up behind the bar's central column with litepanels on batteries to pick out key figures before ducking out before they come into shot. There's a day of dress rehearsal before shooting so I'll have time to test this, just wondering how other people deal with this kind of setup.

Last question - remote FF is a must, right? It looks to me like it is.


Thanks for reading!
 
If you can't afford to fill from the windows, i'd put more powerful sources in the practical lights and have someone follow aside the steady rig with a litepanel or a china ball on a boom. Cool location.
 
Then don't hide them. Add some attractive practicals, and see them.. If they have shades, and they are too bright on the to lens side, add diffusion or nd gel inside the shades on the camera side of the instruments.. think about strings of lantern LED lights from Target.... look into strings of china balls, or making china ball practicals on tables... look at modern floor lamps.. get photoflood lightbulbs into play...

Did you actually need to see the ceiling in the steadicam shot? if not.. Ribbonlight may be your friend...
 
I'm with Christopher with the concept of adding light into the set dec. Based on what you said Sam there are likely opportunities to use some lights on the floor and bounce them on to your subjects with cards/bounce boards/reflectors. But it's a tight space and those panels may have to be small.
 
Suggestions on lighting :

For the main room, above the door is another location. ARRI Pocket PAR with light tube or equivalent.

Behind the bar, flagged bare Kino bulbs to create some depth (or some Dedo's), Kino mini's behind some of the bottles to accentuate.

In the hallway - very diffuse HMI's - perhaps a couple of 200's - one with a Chimera lantern overhead, the other frontal to balance the look.
Soften them like crazy - no moving shadows allowed. How to track them with the camera accurately? Would you consider a dolly instead?
Using a Matthews Round -D-Round or an Elemack Spyder (preferred) would be far more controllable while providing a lighting platform to boot.
Add a UBangi and you can get over part of the shot.
Need control over the vertical movement too? Check into a Elemack Cricket or a Panther...

Just some quick thoughts...
 
Thanks everyone for your top notch suggestions - a lot of this is new to me, my background has been mostly doc or super low budget drama. Many of these tools I haven't used before.

A dolly may well make things easier but considering the proximity of some of the action, especially in the corridor section beside the bar - I don't think a Spyder or equivalent could be fit.

The total cam/lighting budget is around $1,100 - after body/media/lenses/wireless FF/wireless monitoring there won't be room from our sources for much. More practicals sounds like a good bet, and in the darkest area, in the corridor around the bar, a string of LEDs could be the best bet.

The kit list is away now, I added a Litepanel Ringlight to the order besides three 2x4 Kinos and two 1x1 litepanels. I'm thinking maybe I can have assistants pop up from behind the central column of the bar with the 1x1s handheld at the right moments.
 
some suggestions:

I'm definitely on board with everyone else practically lighting the set, like someone said above, those Target LED string lights, or christmas tree lights would be a great alternative.

You have a lot to work with in the bar area, if it's supposed to be a bar, you could always throw up some colorful lights, (and does this have to be shot during the day? the space between the walls seems small enough you could fit in an autopole, and hang china balls, arri 150s, practicals, whatever from it. In situations like the one you're in, I always try to look at the situation as a way to make a kick ass, unique shot, it's unique, and a really awesome location. It'll look great!

I know you're going to cringe when I mention light from the outside, but a 2k at the exterior, or

You know, you have those bar glasses hanging from the bar, if throw a few higher intensity practicals on the bar side, you could get some pretty refractions through the glass onto the characters as they walk...

If your fill on your characters (as you steadicam) is kind of weak, someone mentioned hollywooding lights, the LED light panels that are dimmable are great; a grip or gaffer, can adjust accordingly (but subtly) on the fly, and you can get some sweet stuff. You can always gel it, or diffuse it to to make it look great.

Go walk around a party store, you'll find all kinds of goodies. Fill it with some fog, some killer movement in your lights, you'll be rockin'.

Go crazy with practicals, and for fill; rig it above or below, and bounce. Remember you can bounce light onto a mirror with 0% light loss.... Kubrick did that in the shining hotel scene because it was such a tight space... Bouncing light on practical mirrors, or even rigging a shiny somewhere could help...


I hope some (or any) of this helps!


Best of luck and happy shooting!

-Joshua Lassing
 
The ceiling within the bar area appears to be raised, with space above the hanging glasses. The moving shot works its way around the bar, so I would make the bar the main "source". Shine lights through the glasses and use it to send light into the rest of the space. Remember that you don't actually have to light the whole room, just the parts you see or wish to appear as lit. Go ahead and let certain areas drop off as this can create some depth and drama to the lighting. I would suggest hiding a hard light source up in the bar ceiling such as a Source 4 or Leko and then using small mirrors or bits of shiny board (foam with a shiny metallic cover on one side, available from your local Home Depot) taped or otherwise rigged up in the bar ceiling to direct the light precisely where you want it to go. A little bit of fill from behind the walls as you noted for the end of the shot and a floating China ball to get you though the hall and you can have an interestingly lit scene for not too much cash.
 
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