I am trying to find a good lighting setup for a cabin with natural looking light. equipment we have is: aire kit. HMI 1200w, KinoFlows 4ft, reflector, hard surface reflector. CTO, CTB. All help would be apprieciated.
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lighting a cabin.
- Thread starter makproductions
- Start date
oh right sorry... day and interior. the problem i'm running into is the light being to spotty with lots of hot spots or to flat. Like i have a 6x6 silk for defusion but it just looks flat. 
For the flat from the diffusion..
scrim or flag so the BG is darker? (book knowledge only)
scrim or flag so the BG is darker? (book knowledge only)
well there is depth from foreground to background just on the face it is flat and spotty.
you have exceeded the shallowness of my book learning..
Im just guessing now..
is it just possible that you have the diffusion to CLOSE to the subject? Try changing the distances between the light, the diffusion and the subject.. Flat to me suggest that the light is hitting the face dead on, move it more off axis. Get some shadows on the face..
Im just guessing now..
is it just possible that you have the diffusion to CLOSE to the subject? Try changing the distances between the light, the diffusion and the subject.. Flat to me suggest that the light is hitting the face dead on, move it more off axis. Get some shadows on the face..
Is your 6x6 your key or your fill?
Also, is your talent edge/back lit to separate them from the b/g?
Also, is your talent edge/back lit to separate them from the b/g?
yes my 6x6 was my key light and no i didn't set up hair light.
If you've only got a big soft key light I'm not surprised it looks flat. As David says, you need a hairlight or kicker to pick them out from the background.
If you want people to look less flat, do as wheatgrinder says and light them from an angle - the further away from being straight on, the harder the shadows in the other side of the actor are.
I'm not sure I understand your flat and spotty problem - I understand flat to be evenly light with low contrast, and spotty to mean having very bright highlights. Not sure how you can get both at the same time, maybe I'm just getting mixed up!
If you want people to look less flat, do as wheatgrinder says and light them from an angle - the further away from being straight on, the harder the shadows in the other side of the actor are.
I'm not sure I understand your flat and spotty problem - I understand flat to be evenly light with low contrast, and spotty to mean having very bright highlights. Not sure how you can get both at the same time, maybe I'm just getting mixed up!
chiliepie,
I miss read that the same way, but upon further review, the OP state Spotty OR Flat, not spotty AND flat. Which makes sense.. spotty with out diffusion, and flat with..
I miss read that the same way, but upon further review, the OP state Spotty OR Flat, not spotty AND flat. Which makes sense.. spotty with out diffusion, and flat with..
[QT]http://www.darkcrimes.com/movies/copcar.mov[/QT]
This was done with seven lights. You can actually see one of the
instruments in the upper left of the frame.
Three 1000w Arri’s - one on the side of the cabin (the one you can
see). One hitting the end of the driveway where the car stops. One
behind the cabin lighting the trees.
A 650w Arri under the balcony.
A 500w Omni to the right of camera to hit the car as it crosses
and another just off camera left illuminating the ground.
A 750w Tota in the cabin.
[QT]http://www.darkcrimes.com/movies/lighting%3Aexample.mov[/QT]
A total of six lights to get this shot.
There is a light in the corner (right at the ceiling) to the left
of this shot - a bounce board just under the camera to fill some
detail in the shadow.
A light outside shooting through the window on the side wall.
A light with a "slash" made from black wrap on the back wall.
A light in the room that can be seen through the door
A small light on the woman in the doorway and another behind her
aimed at the back of her head.
This was done with seven lights. You can actually see one of the
instruments in the upper left of the frame.
Three 1000w Arri’s - one on the side of the cabin (the one you can
see). One hitting the end of the driveway where the car stops. One
behind the cabin lighting the trees.
A 650w Arri under the balcony.
A 500w Omni to the right of camera to hit the car as it crosses
and another just off camera left illuminating the ground.
A 750w Tota in the cabin.
[QT]http://www.darkcrimes.com/movies/lighting%3Aexample.mov[/QT]
A total of six lights to get this shot.
There is a light in the corner (right at the ceiling) to the left
of this shot - a bounce board just under the camera to fill some
detail in the shadow.
A light outside shooting through the window on the side wall.
A light with a "slash" made from black wrap on the back wall.
A light in the room that can be seen through the door
A small light on the woman in the doorway and another behind her
aimed at the back of her head.
Yeah, I had the same interpretation problems as WheatG and Chilli - wasn't sure how you managed to get flat and spotty at the same time.
Okay, now we're kinda getting somewhere. First let's go over your gear:
Forgive me for asking, but what is an "aire kit?" You mean like an Arri Kit, the ones that usually have a couple of 300s, a 650, and occasionally something small like a 150 (all Fresnels)?
You have a single 1200 HMI, or more than one? I will say that is a pretty big light to use indoors in a cabin - unless it's like a giant cabin, or maybe you are putting it through the window to simulate daylight? Or maybe your DP wants to shoot a really low ISO?
How about your Kinos? You have 4 footers, are the Fattys (4 bulbs) or Skinnys (2 bulbs)? Also, do you have tungsten bulbs, daylight bulbs, or are you lucky enough to have both? Also, how many do you have?
Without seeing a layout of your location, or blocking of your scene it is hard to tell - but here are some general things that should help you:
These are to very basic diagrams to give you an idea on "3-point" lighting:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/3_point_lighting.svg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/4_point_lighting.svg
My apologies if those are too remedial to help you. It does sound like your image issues were a result of lighting placement.
Let's see. I would get that 1200 outside a window and behind your 6x6, no reason to use a frame that big inside, unless you are working in some amazing giant cabin with a grand ballroom or something. This will simulate a nice shaft of sunlight.
I was going to try to explain the whole smart/dumb side key lighting thing, but here, read this instead:
http://books.google.com/books?id=Ef...148#v=onepage&q=rembrandt cheek patch&f=false
Should help a lot. For anything more specific, I'd need to see the layout of the building and know a little about your scene and blocking. Hope this is at least somewhat helpful.
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David, et all, you have certainly helped ME, but IM not the OP... thanks anyway..
Damn, you do nice work!
Is the gobo-like effect on the wall the "slash" you're referring to? I love how it breaks up that flat area.
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Welcome.
And x2 on the shots Rik, very cool, I think you posted those as I was typing. Didn't see that until just now.