As a one man crew, or almost one man, do you not bother to use stand ins?

[harmonica44]

When it comes lighting a scene before the actors come to the set, as a one man crew, or just me and a couple of other people at most, it is difficult to light a scene without any stand ins available. Should I be my own stand in, even if my height or look does not match the actor at all?

A DP kept telling me way before, that he needed to light each actor's face individually, and needed the actor to be there for it. But if the actors show up for shooting and that's it, and cannot come before for that, what do you do if you have no stand ins, or what is the best option?

Thanks.

 

[jj4vr]

I have been using an incident light meter. I walk the set and check contrast ratios and where the actors are going to be, I take a reading and adjust the light.

Granted I am still learning a ton about being a DP but using a light meter has really helped me understand lighting and light ratios.

 

[harmonica44]

Okay thanks, but some people in the business want each actor to be lit specifically to what makes each of their indivdual faces look good. For example, a guy wanting to be a DP told me that he would have to light a certain side of an actor's face, cause every actor has his or her bad side.

How does a DP light the good side of a face or bad side, if the actor's haven't shown up yet? Do they light the actor's before, and then memorize it? Or what's the best way?

 

[sfoster]

Here's an idea.. ask the actor if they have a good side.