Hello! For a short film i'm producing I would like a scene to be lit by candle-light. Any tips?
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Filming Candle-Light
- Thread starter Goodauragirl
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Some tips for still photography, but helpful: http://digital-photography-school.com/14-tips-for-great-candlelight-photography
Oh no, here I go again..."borrowing" someone's thread for my own question 
I want to film in a darkened warehouse (very little residual light) with a single candle-I'm assuming I will need at least one "light"? The character will be walking around and looking at things, so I'm guessing there isn't enough "candle power" for a video camera to capture by that little light?
I want to film in a darkened warehouse (very little residual light) with a single candle-I'm assuming I will need at least one "light"? The character will be walking around and looking at things, so I'm guessing there isn't enough "candle power" for a video camera to capture by that little light?
A single candle? Nope.
That's an interesting challenge though. Is your character walking around carrying the candle?
Candles are kinda funny. I want to say that are a small soft source, but the more I think about it they do occasionally give a fairly well defined shadow. Of course there is also the flickering and movement.
You could try having the character walk around holding the candle, and have someone fly a china ball attached to a boom pole (or just pvc pipe) above the candle, out of frame, and following the character around. I'm not certain that would look exactly right, but it might be worth testing.
That's an interesting challenge though. Is your character walking around carrying the candle?
Candles are kinda funny. I want to say that are a small soft source, but the more I think about it they do occasionally give a fairly well defined shadow. Of course there is also the flickering and movement.
You could try having the character walk around holding the candle, and have someone fly a china ball attached to a boom pole (or just pvc pipe) above the candle, out of frame, and following the character around. I'm not certain that would look exactly right, but it might be worth testing.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Yea, she's going to be walking around a bit...so this could get interesting....
I'll see about the China ball-or maybe attaching some sort of light to the camera base?
Well, or you could get one of these great new DSLR cameras that can shoot in very low light. Check out the second episode of the zacuto shootout, they talk a lot about low light with DSLRs: http://www.zacuto.com/shootout
You might not want to use the DSLR for the whole film, but renting it for this one scene would probably be an option.
You might not want to use the DSLR for the whole film, but renting it for this one scene would probably be an option.
"Barry Lyndon" has a famous scene shot only with candle light and reflectors on the ceiling. Interesting interview here:
http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/sk/2001a/bl/page1.htm
Bookmarked for me to read more thoroughly later. Probably not what you were thinking of, but might help folks who want to do this. DSLR, if it's available could be an option, but with other rigs there might not be enough light.
Of course you could always try this:
Ah yes David...it was Kubrik I'm talking about...this is exactly the example I meant to bring up. Thank you.
Also, related to this story...I can't remember who, but someone finally said to Kubrik, 'Why don't you just fucking light it like it's a candle! It's a movie!'
He was being stubborn.
Also, related to this story...I can't remember who, but someone finally said to Kubrik, 'Why don't you just fucking light it like it's a candle! It's a movie!'
He was being stubborn.
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I think you mean AWESOME. Have you seen those images? Have you seen them on the big screen in a darkened theatre? You'll weep from their beauty. Lyndon's candlelit scenes are absolutely stunning. Beautiful is too weak a word...
You're both right. The man was a singular genius who would have it no other way than his way.
x2 on the "in a darkened theater." I won't let my gf watch 2001 (she's never seen it) until we can see it projected. I'd say the same for Lyndon as well. All of his work deserves proper projection, but those two in particular suffer from the small screen experience. So does The Shining, come to think of it.
All of his work deserves proper projection, but those two in particular suffer from the small screen experience. So does The Shining, come to think of it.
And Spartacus.
"Everybody pretty much acknowledges that [Kubrick]'s the man...I still feel that underrates him." (Jack Nicholson in A Life In Pictures)
Keep in mind, I don't want to see ordinary...I want to see extraordinary. Real life isn't something that necessarily needs to be captured...we want to see something more than that...
A simple candle lit scene would not be as beautiful unless it was captured on celluloid...or would it? A flame will only do so much for your artistic direction or desires...but if you lit the scene 'as if' it were candlelit, you might find even more beauty there.
Just being the devil's advocate.
A simple candle lit scene would not be as beautiful unless it was captured on celluloid...or would it? A flame will only do so much for your artistic direction or desires...but if you lit the scene 'as if' it were candlelit, you might find even more beauty there.
Just being the devil's advocate.
Maybe you've not seen the film or any of the stills...because it's not ordinary by any stretch of the definition. It's not one or two candles on a dinner table, it's HUNDREDS of candles. It's how mansions were lighted before electricity. Hundreds of candles on tabletops and dripping from chandeliers. Something no one alive today has ever seen before. Extraordinary is exactly how it is. Compare Lyndon to the artificially lighted "candle" scenes from Coppola's "Dracula" for example.
Right, read that article, where the heck am I gona find NASA left over lenses and a technician to tweak my focal plane.. and custom view finder.. its great that people can try these things, proves that the DIY attitude is a good asset no mater your available assets.
I recently re-watched the Kubrick doc A Life in Pictures and they talk about the Barry Lyndon cameras. Not only were highly specialized lenses used, but the engineer who adapted them needed a particular type of camera body in order to make them work. Warner Bros. happened to have two such cameras. They were very old, practically antiques, and were gathering dust in the studio basement (everybody was renting Panavisions by then). Kubrick called up one of the studio head honchos and asked if he could have them. The guy didn't see why not, so he had somebody pack up the cameras and ship them to Kubrick.
A little later on, the studio guy was contacted by one of the Warner Bros. technicians, who inquired as to the whereabouts of those cameras. After hearing the response, the technician informed the studio guy that those cameras were the most robust, reliable cameras ever manufactured. Their equivalent would never again be seen and they were basically priceless.
Kubrick knew his stuff.
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Absolutely.
Problem solving is a large part of cinematography. I want to achieve X, what do I need to get there. Works at all budget levels.
Sometimes you have to improvise, sometimes you get the right tools. But even when money largely isn't an object (Kubrick), there are still times where outside the box solutions are needed.