When we are lighting a scene, there is more involved than making it look great. First of all, speed is important. Time on the set costs money, even on the smallest production. How fast you are can be a critical consideration in getting hired on most productions. Beyond that, you must consider get- ting the look you and the director have agreed upon and you must maintain editorial continuity.
The Process
All of these considerations will be facilitated if you use a logical thought process as you go about lighting the scene. All DPs have their own ways of working; you will develop
your own way as you continue your education.
Think about these things:
1. What are the requirements? 2. What tools do you have? 3. What’s the schedule? 4. What are the opportunities? What Are the Requirements?
This one may seem too obvious to think about, but it is surprising how often it gets lost in the process. It is easy to get so caught up in making something look pretty, or in try- ing out some new technique, that we simply forget what we (a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
FIGURE 3.5 Eff ects of overexposure and underexposure. (a) A badly overexposed image. Exposure is always important, but in HD and SD video it is especially critical. Proper setup and monitor/viewfi nder calibration are crucial. (b) In this image, we see that overexposure cannot be satisfactorily corrected. (c) A badly underexposed image. (d) In this image we see that underexposure can be corrected, but the image suff ers from a lack of tonal range and terrible grain/noise.
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Fundamentals of Lighting 41 need to accomplish to tell a story visually with the lighting of
the scene.
Here are the requirements you need to consider:
1. What is the look that you and the director have
decided to go for on the whole project?
2. What is the dramatic intention of the scene: to shock,
to make the audience laugh, to frighten them?
3. How does this particular scene fi t into the overall
visual fl ow of the project?
4. How does this scene fi t into the overall fl ow of the
day’s work?
Here are some other questions you want to ask:
1. Is it interior or exterior, a combination of both? Are
there large windows or other sources that can’t be controlled?
2. What time of day is it (in the scene)?
3. Where does the action within the scene take place? 4. How many people in the scene? Do they move around? 5. Do we see the ceiling? Do we see the fl oor?
6. Are there any practical effects—such as turning on a
light?
7. Is there anything that we have to balance to that
can’t be changed such as a TV set, neon lights, or monitors?
8. Do you need to establish lighting continuity for future
scenes, cutaways, or product shots?
FIGURE 3.6 Lighting can both reveal the texture of the subject and add texture of its own, as with this venetian blind pattern.
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42 Motion Picture and Video Lighting
9. What is the ASA of the fi lm, video, or HD camera? 10. What is the slowest lens (usually the zoom) you
might use?
11. Any high-speed or macro work? What Tools Do You Have?
What you plan to do with a scene is ultimately shaped by what tools you have available. What you can do with a 10-ton lighting truck is substantially different from what you can do with a minimal lighting kit. This is not to say that what you do with a few small lights is going to be worse than what you do with a large array of gear; it just means you have to plan things differently.
It’s not just about the lights. What gels and diffusion do you have? Do you have some practical bulbs? How much grip equipment is available? What size crew do you have? What is their level of experience? How tight is the schedule? Except when you have a generator on the job, the limiting factor is often how much power is available. Lacking a generator, you are most often limited to what you can plug into the wall. In many cases, there might be only a few 20-amp household circuits you can get to. If there is already some large appli- ance such as a refrigerator on that line, then what you can plug in is very limited (and keep in mind that the refrigerator might not have been running when you tested the circuit).
Once you can get a genny on the job, you are not necessar- ily home free. Generators are expensive, and the larger they are, the more they cost. When the budget is tight, you might well be limited to a 100- or 300-amp generator (or even a 4K putt-putt). This will certainly affect the size and type of units you can run, thus affecting your overall approach to light- ing scenes for the day. It’s all part of what you need to think about as you develop the strategy for the day.
What’s the Schedule?
How much time you have is a major consideration. It is determined by the schedule, which is made by the assistant director. Good ADs will ask the DP how much time she thinks she needs, but even on large productions, the amount of time is fi nite and considerations are nearly always beyond any- one’s control (locations, sunsets, permits running out, etc.).
Ultimately, you will have X amount of time to accomplish your task. Also, the AD will often ask you, “How long will it take to light this scene?” This estimate is actually one of the most important things you will do during the course of a production day. It’s not a casual question. A lot of things depend on it—not just scheduling the other scenes, but also deciding when to put actors “into the chairs” (makeup and hair), when to plan on breaking for lunch, and so on. Being
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Fundamentals of Lighting 43 able to provide an accurate estimate of the time involved is
also a matter of your credibility as a DP. It takes practice. When you are really on the run, it often pays to have a Plan B and a Plan C. Thus, if the clock simply runs out, you have something you know will (at the very least) work. Often there are variables you just can’t plan for: a change of weather, an irate neighbor, a crying baby….
But let’s move on to the physical lighting of the scene. There are dozens of ways to light any particular scene; but where do you start?
What Are the Opportunities?
Almost always, one of the fi rst questions you will ask yourself is, “What are the opportunities?” What is there in the location, the set, or the situation that offers you some interesting ways to deal with the lighting? It might be the windows, or a desk lamp, or even a large palm you can hide something behind. It might be an existing streetlight that you can imitate by hanging something from the pole.
You may fi nd some architectural element you can empha- size or perhaps a white rug you can bounce something off of to give the actor a nice underlight. This survey of the opportunities will most likely happen during the location scout as you walk around with the director and your gaffer. In the case of a built set, it might occur in conferences with the production designer or while looking at the drawings of set designs.
OK, so you’ve got a basic strategy. Having considered your resources in equipment, crew, and time, you have a basic plan. Be careful: a couple of traps are waiting to snare you at this point.
The main one is “lighting air.” This happens when you don’t see a proper rehearsal and you don’t have stand- ins. Sometimes, on smaller projects, the director will just describe the scene to you and then go off to attend to some- thing else. What usually happens is that you make the set look great, but there is no guarantee that you are properly lit for the action of the actors.
You must insist on seeing a proper rehearsal. It is impera- tive that everyone remember that rehearsals are NOT just for the actors: they are for everyone. They are for the AC, so she can set marks, they are for the DP to judge the lighting, they are for the grip to set any dolly marks, and so on.
It is not usually important that the actors go through the scene with full acting intensity. For you, the focus puller— and for the gaffer, the grip, the sound recordist, the boom operator, etc.—it is enough that you see where the actors are going to be; whether they are sitting or standing or moving and the timing of “gags” (say, switching on a TV).
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Another thing inexperienced directors will do is turn this blocking rehearsal into a full-on exploration of the acting values of the scene. The blocking rehearsal is for blocking. The acting rehearsals come later—right before the camera rolls. Insist on a rehearsal!
Once you’ve seen a full blocking rehearsal and the actors are in the process, the set is yours. The AD will often say “DP and crew have the set.” It’s yours, and you should insist on having it completely. This is also the point at which the AD will usually ask, “How long will it take?”