Django, Inglourious and Pulp Fiction signature lighting effect?

[Scott Welsch]

I saw Matt's breakdown of some of the shots on color and possible lighting techniques, but what kind of lights could be used to replicate something like the shots I linked below? HMI's? Pars? I have 2 litepanels I have been using don't create a lighting effect even close to this at 100% power.

I need something more directional and possibly more powerful? It seems like the RED Dragon with skintone olpf seems to be a bit of a light hog compared to DSLR's from what I'm used to using.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

I need something more directional and possibly more powerful?

Yes.

You need a hot punchy light. Now if the camera is sensitive-enough, a spotted-in 150w Dedolight over a table might give you the effect that Richardson is getting with a 1K PARCAN with a narrow spot lens on 200 ASA film. But in general, most of that signature Richardson nuclear hot top/backlight is coming from PAR's, usually tungsten but in the case of that scene in "Inglourious Basterds" he had to use an HMI PAR because he shot part of the scene on location with windows and doors open to daylight and then finished the coverage on a soundstage.

For bigger sets and shots, he might use a bigger light than a 1K or 1.2K PARCAN though, like a 20K or a Dino or MaxiBrute, etc. for a bigger spread but spotted in for intensity.

You may find a 1K PARCAN with a narrow spot globe too insanely bright for your needs though -- something like a spotted-in 650w Tweenie might be enough, or even smaller.

 

[David Battistella]

Could source 4's be an option? Depending on the scene.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

Source-4 Lekos can also get you a bright beam but you won't get that spotty effect with a fast fall off around the edges as with a spot PAR or a fresnel at full spot, though you could at least throw a narrow beam from a Source-4 Leko out of focus or put a light diffusion on it.

 

[David Battistella]

Theres some nice examples of this style in JFK as well, but it seems there is diffusion used as well. Is the return on their faces only from the table? It looks like it's practically coming from lens height.

I really like this style.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

I think the front fill can be a mix in his movies, sometimes it seems to be just the bounce back from a table or other surface, other times I wouldn't be surprised if there were some white muslin or cards around the camera to catch some of the back / top light, and other times, I'm sure there is a separate super-soft light added (he often likes to book-light by bouncing off of muslin and then that bounce goes through more muslin.)

Keep in mind that sometimes you have to do the opposite and use black cloth for negative fill if the bounce from the back/top light is filling in too much.

 

[Scott Welsch]

What are the cheapest closest type of lights that I could use to pull this off?

 

[Nick Gardner]

You could use par64 par cans, they are cheap as hell. Also ETC source 4 PARS, not the lekos, would work just fine. They are brighter than a 1k par 64 but use only 575w tungsten bulbs.

nick

 

[Mark K.]

What are the cheapest closest type of lights that I could use to pull this off?

PAR cans are as cheap as things get lighting wise.

 

[Scott Welsch]

You could use par64 par cans, they are cheap as hell. Also ETC source 4 PARS, not the lekos, would work just fine. They are brighter than a 1k par 64 but use only 575w tungsten bulbs.

nick

What is the best way to focus the beam?

 

[Nick Gardner]

Par cans take par64 globes. They come in flood, medium and spot (also VNSP, very narrow spot if memory recalls). You change the bulb to change the beam angle. Lights with multiple banks of bulbs arranged in a grid are generally called maxi brutes.

Par cans -

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stage-Light...358?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20fe817c86

Par bulbs -
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FFP-1000W-P...142?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43d1ed5676

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wide-Flood-...740?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1ea13f37ec

Nick

 

[Scott Welsch]

Par cans take par64 globes. They come in flood, medium and spot (also VNSP, very narrow spot if memory recalls). You change the bulb to change the beam angle. Lights with multiple banks of bulbs arranged in a grid are generally called maxi brutes.

Par cans -

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stage-Light...358?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20fe817c86

Par bulbs -
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FFP-1000W-P...142?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43d1ed5676

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wide-Flood-...740?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1ea13f37ec

Nick

Awesome! Ty for those links!

Are there any HMI lights that are cheap?

 

[Tony Mac]

Awesome! Ty for those links!

Are there any HMI lights that are cheap?

There are cheap Chinese HMI lights, but you probably don't want them!

 

[Scott Welsch]

There are cheap Chinese HMI lights, but you probably don't want them!

Haha! Probably not, I'd like it to last longer than 2-4 uses. I don't even know the beginning cost of HMI's

 

[Tony Mac]

Haha! Probably not, I'd like it to last longer than 2-4 uses. I don't even know the beginning cost of HMI's

They're usually a rental item for most people. Likely if you're in or around a major city there's a lighting and grip rental house in the area. The Joker 800, a pretty versatile light for general uses starts around $6.6k

 

[Eric M Hurt]

One observation... the source (in these examples) is not DIRECTLY over the actors but above and slightly behind them to keep the top light from the front of their faces and tops of noses.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

Yes, I call it a "toppy backlight"...

If you want to experiment on a smaller scale, just go to a hardware store and find something like a 75W narrow spot screw-in lightbulb.

 

[David Battistella]

Yeah,its definitely tippy back and it created the rim. In the inglorious example it looks like front fill from large white reflective sources at or just below camera level. Nice.

 

[Patrick Tresch]

But the glass shadow indicates there must be another light close to the table from slightly top in front of the actors (closer to camera). But there are little or no "two shadows" effects. I think the light must be really close to top frame, probably using an "array" of cans sticked together, with the beam crossing the same focus point? I would love to see how you ASC folks work on set.

Pat

 

[Ulf Krentz]

These are two lights, the one from the back and one from top above, the latter not directly hitting the actors. Center of that spot probably even more in front just feathering the glass and table creating the soft bounced light in the actors faces. Wouldn´t use multiple lights here as this won´t result in this nice clear shadow.

Cheers,

Ulf