cinematography interior bathroom challenge

D

dvdguy

Hey everybody!

Scene: INTERIOR/ 7:30 A.M. / BATHROOM/ MEDIUM SHOT ....
Using ARRI fresnel 650w, white bounce board for now.

Anyway.. :D.... I have a little issue regarding a scene in which the main character is in front of the mirror. Its a tight bathroom, limited space so I am forced to light the scene a bit from the door (2-3 feet). The scene HAS to portray sadness, afterall, the character is sick of life and wants to reform into a better one. It has to be a darkish scene. I hope thats enough info.

I would just like to know what I could do to make that display the emotions I mentioned? (sadness,
sickness, anger).

How would you go about it? Would love to hear different opinions :)
 
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The color of the room could do a lot for you. For instance the color of the shower curtain. and

instead of lighting the scene, why not use "real light". What I mean is light it so it

looks "normal everyday hum-drum". Or even have the light burn out when he turns it on ?? The clothes of the actor could go a long way. If you could

arrange it, maybe have a fly land on his tooth brush. That's kinda depressing:) IDK Hope that

helped some.
 
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These guys are on it. The 650 off a bounce board is going to give you too much overall light in the scene - er at least I think. You want something more selective than a big soft source will give you.

Lots of ways to give it the look you want, and in this case I think you're looking more at dressing the bathroom to convey the emotion, then lighting it sparingly.

One more tip, if the bathroom has a mirror that is hung on a cabinet door (like a medicine cabinet) you can often angle it so that you can cheat a close up on the guys face while the camera is outside the room without giving away that you are shooting the mirror.

Much like placing a mirror on the ground to imitate an extreme low angle when it's not physically possible to put the camera there.
 
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Is there a way to make the scene look that dramatic using real day light? No overhead fixtures etc. Just so I portray everything I mentioned using my lighting kit. I mean, its morning and theres no need for any overhead light, know what I mean? :)

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. I wouldn't add the fly to the toothbrush cause the character is a rich dude, seperated in his mind. By that I mean he's choosing between capitalism and socialism, so I gotta do something else. Forget the fly hehehe. :D Good idea though. I'll try something..

Maybe I'll post a picture of the bathroom later to help.
 
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Could you describe the nature of the overall project?

Is it supposed to be a legit docu-drama, hand held shakeycam expose?
Is it supposed to be silly, over the top, hard-sell?
Comedy? Dark comedy? A farce?

Is the actor not capable of emoting sadness, consternation, situational perplexation?

Strip out any warm tungsten lighting and use just sickly fluorescent lighting and watch your white balance controls if not outright monkey with them until you get a "ill cast".

Me?
I'd put in a really tight shot of his eyes as he deadpan questions himself in the mirror.
Give your actor two cans of Monster/RedBull, wait thirty minutes and get a close-up of his jittery hands fiddling with the toothbrush cap.
Suspect calm face + jittery fingers = BS hide of some internal conflict.
I fluoresce him but otherwise not make it too ridiculous.

How would Paul Greengrass shoot it? Or the Farrelly brothers? ;)

Like asked, how's the overall tone of the piece?
 
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One way to get a dramatic look is the manipulation of light and shadow. Naturally, where there is light from a light source (in the case of your bathroom - a ceiling fixture, fluorescent(s) above the sink/mirror and/or window) there is usually also a shadow. So to get a more dramatic look you want make the contrast between light and shadow stand out, make it pronounced. Google/research/search low key lighting to get an idea of what I mean (I'd get into it here but then any mention of three point lighting tends to derail these types of topics... but hey, since you are researching low key lighting might as well look up three point lighting too, it can’t hurt).

Let's really examine what it is that you are trying to achieve (we'll get to the tools in a sec). Go into the bathroom and study the pattern of the shadows that are cast with various light sources - just the window, maybe the window and the ceiling fixture, whatever. Just see which light source gives you the shadow that you think works best for your scene. Can you see it now? Excellent! Now let's beef it up and make that contrast stand out...
Lighting needs to be motivated, so use your tools (lamps, etc - though that 650 is a bit much it can be managed with some diffusion and some flags) to beef up the practical(s) (did you go with just the window, or the ceiling light or both?) and by extension beef up your shadows and now we are talking CONTRAST. Use your imagination and creativity to place the lights in the right place to mimic those practicals. Point directly at the talent, or bounce it off a surface – anything that helps you get the look you are going for. You could just go "au natural" too but would that be enough light to get you the amount of contrast that your dramatic scene calls for? This is where the art comes into this process - the amount of light/shadow/contrast you create should ultimately be a function of what your story calls for...what your scene needs. So you be the judge of how much contrast you are getting from your natural or artificial light sources.

Finally let's talk about spill. What kills a shadow? Light. Funny the strange tango we must dance to use these two enemies to dramatic effect. So use whatever you have - professional flags, cardboard, black poster board, etc - to block any light spill and keep it from killing your beautiful shadows you worked so hard to create. Be mindful of what material you use to flag you lights to control spill and how close it is to the lamps – because that 650 most likely run hot and you don't want to start a fire.

I rambled, sorry, but I tend to do so when talking about lighting a scene. I hope I was of some help with some of the stuff I said, sorry for any confusion caused. Good luck.
 
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I appreciate all the helpful comments and I'll see to it that I experiment. However, heres a short clip of my bathroom (lol), I was going to post a picture of it, but, I think this is more practical and you'll get a deeper feeling of space View My Video ... any changes to your thoughts? :D and dont comment on how the bathroom looks!
 
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Was that interlaced footage?

The bathroom could be a problem. Is there a mirror light above the sink?

Maybe try and light it from that one point? Or mount a spotlight just above there with a narrow beam to keep the light off the walls. I'm assuming the character will go near the mirror/sink and not be taking a dump.

Keeping the light off the walls will be the way to go. Barndoors and a controlled source. Maybe a big plant with leaf shadows for mood.
 
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polfilmblog said:
Was that interlaced footage?

The bathroom could be a problem. Is there a mirror light above the sink?

Maybe try and light it from that one point? Or mount a spotlight just above there with a narrow beam to keep the light off the walls. I'm assuming the character will go near the mirror/sink and not be taking a dump.

Keeping the light off the walls will be the way to go. Barndoors and a controlled source. Maybe a big plant with leaf shadows for mood.
Click to expand...

I like your humor. Yes, that was interlaced, just a quick shot I took.
Well, yes, actually there is a mirror light above the sink, but Im not really planning on using it and am more focused on using "window light". Yeah I was thinking about that too regarding controlling the spill and all. I'll have to think about it.. tough one. :)
 
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