Volumetric light in interior – cinematic techniques

during our offline Master Class my team and I shot a short story based on the video materials and the resulting short film I want to share a couple of techniques we used on set to achieve two things properly and beautifully expose the skin and save time on lighting setup in this video we'll dissect three shots where you'll see how intraframe exposure works on the character skin and the environment I'll also explain the principle behind how I light wide shots to make them look as contrasty and cinematic as possible ideally when working indoors on wide shots all lighting fixtures that provide key light or enhance natural light should be placed outside the window but there's a catch it's expensive because the light source needs to be powerful and large enough to cover the windows radius plus anything above the ground floor requires a Sky Lift This is a problem that needs to be solved and it's solved quite simply but it requires sacrificing space and sometimes abandoning distant shots and room panoramas in this case the light sources are placed near the main natural light sources such as Windows or floor lamps alternatively they are maximally concealed behind curtains near the windows in this shot the light source is positioned right by the window Illuminating the Contour of the character additionally a secondary source provides s side light creating additional definition on the character's face to prevent excess light from bouncing around the room and to create a shadow side for the character there's a frame with black fabric positioned to the left facing the camera the floor lamp in the background was reinforced with a p tube 30xr directed towards the wall on one side and towards the back of the character on the other using the Nan link app we matched the shade and temperature of the floor lamp's light to that of the pava tube the side light was achieved by reflecting light from the floor using a nanlite fc 500b fixture imitating a sunlight we used a few exposure stops on the character it allowed us to create a range of tones Shadow midtone and highlight it's a simple yet effective technique when you have at least three different exposure values on the subject how however two details require attention when lighting the skin it's crucial to be cautious with highlights they should match the same exposure as the light source in the shot which in this case is the window the Highlight on the skin and objects outside the window should reflect light at approximately the same level I use false color to verify this the second detail the skin in this case Falls at around 18% gray on the light reflection scale some areas of the skin are slightly lower by about one stop I almost always use this reference value to maximize information on the most crucial subject in the frame the character could I overexpose the character here sure if that's the video style go ahead but I wouldn't overexpose the skin as I would lose information and detail on the character's [Music] face by the way in the online master class we will break down and demonstrate the simple principle of working with intraframe and overall frame exposure which helps understand the logic of using different fixture intensities to achieve a cinematic image by exploring classic techniques like the 18% gray 10 stop tonality by enil Adams we'll share how many stops of aperture to work with to properly light the skin a couple of hacks for underexposure and a bunch of tricks to add cinematic feel and density to the frame I'll be delighted to have you in our training let's examine another shot to create such a high contrast image I used the nanlite pisame 120c and let me tell you it's an amazing light firstly the fixture is incredibly lightweight yet powerful for its size we achieved this highlight with the fixture at 100% power while making exposure for the window where the sunlight was shining on the buildings of background when working with intraframe exposure and identifying the main lighting source for control measurement it's important to match the temperature of the internal fixture with the external light the sunlight outside was around 6,000k so we set the fixture inside to the same value no filters everything is adjusted on the fixture's panel the lighting scheme is roughly the same employing the same multi-layer technique highlight midtone and negative fill the key light values on the character's skin remain at the same 18% gray for expressive eyes I added additional Illumination in the form of a reflector which is visible in the character's eye reflection for a touch of Mystique and added softness we used Haze our lenses were vintage Soviet Lomo okos similar lenses like the Helios which have exactly the same Optical design were used in the filming of Dune and the Batman by Greg Fraser cinematographer I love classic English cook and Soviet Lomo optics for they are maximum softness and expressive bouquet as the use of soft filters became mainstream it makes sense to experiment with classic lenses that provide stunning imagery without additional glass it's a nighttime scene or more precisely a daytime scene with blackout we covered the windows with black Fabric and began setting up the nighttime lighting scheme I admire the way interior lighting looks in fin films notice how despite the light colored walls in the room the light appears as a gradient inspired by this technique I used a China ball attachment for the nanlite FC 500b fixture to create maximum diffused and soft light from above but to ensure that the light didn't flood the entire room but instead focused solely on the character at the table and created a gradient effect on the walls we hung a black skirt that comes with the China ball attack attachment the skirt cuts off excess light and creates stage lighting helping to avoid flat and flooding illumination across the frame this gives us a gradation of Shadows and Light ultimately adding volume to the frame to motivate this warm light I needed additional sources in the frame in this case it's a floor lamp that we covered with several layers of white paper to avoid overexposure points in the frame continuing the logic of light motivation in the frame we added additional SEL light on the character from the right side using the polim 120c through a soft diffusion fabric I rarely use direct light without reflection especially on characters in closeup and medium shots but in this case the shape of the fixture it size and the density of the diffuser created in my opinion an amazing pattern avoiding the need for additional Frost frames on the camera side we placed a floppy four Deep Shadows since the number number of fixtures was reflecting in the room and creating excessive fill on the shadow side of the character the floppy helped to deepen the Shadows we were limited by a few hours of location rental so I tried to thoroughly prepare for shooting each shot the small number of fixtures helped speed up the process of rearranging between scenes another key detail is pre-production I already knew how the camera would move what shot size would be and how many shots there would be in advance also during the Scout I took a bunch of photos which I later reviewed at home thinking about which angle I would use for the scene how I would light the wide shot and where to hide the fixtures thank you for watching see you next time

Channel: ANDBERY (Andrei Beresnev)

Views: 59,061

Keywords: Cinematic light techniques, cinematic lighting, Cinematic light, cinematic lighting techniques, lighting, cinematic, cinematography, cinematic lighting setup, filmmaking, cinematic film look, film look, lighting tutorial, cinematic look, film lighting, 3 point lighting, videography, film riot, lighting tips, how to light, cinematography lighting, lighting setup, epic light media, red komodo, komodo, nanlite, pavoslim 120c, lomo oks, volumetric light

Id: mTckxuQIvoQ

Length: 8min 16sec (496 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 28 2024