Night for day? at DVinfo.net

Joe Riggs · January 29th, 2007, 01:42 PM

I will be shooting a scene of a medium shot of two people sitting in a living room. The scene is supposed to take place in the day, but it will be shot at night. I did a couple of tests and I wasn't convinced it was daytime.

I do not have much experience outside of 3 point interview style lighting. Furthermore, all I have for lighting are two old videopro 500w lights that a friend gave to me. They are similar to http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation

Any help is greatly appreciated.

PJ Gallagher · January 29th, 2007, 08:09 PM

That's not a lot of lighting to work with :-)

Off the top of my head, I think in that situation I'd probably aim one of the lights through a venetian blind (or something similar) with very little diffusion, to give the impression of sunlight through a window. Then bounce the second light, either off a wall, or a reflector, to add soft fill on the non-window side.

David W. Jones · January 29th, 2007, 08:20 PM

The easiest solution would be to just shoot the shot during the day.

Joe Riggs · January 30th, 2007, 08:27 AM

Thanks for your input, I hope to shoot it in the day but we will see.

Brian Drysdale · January 30th, 2007, 09:45 AM

I don't think you've got much chance with the lights available, unless you're just shooting in corner of a room.

Basically you've got to recreate the effect of daylight coming through a window, usually this is quite soft unless you're in direct sunlight. You could punch both lights through a trace frame (to simulate daylight coming through a window) and use flags to shape it and use reflectors for some fill.

Unfortunately, you've only got two small lights and this rather limits you.

January 29th, 2007, 01:42 PM	#1
Joe Riggs Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 189	Night for day? I will be shooting a scene of a medium shot of two people sitting in a living room. The scene is supposed to take place in the day, but it will be shot at night. I did a couple of tests and I wasn't convinced it was daytime. I do not have much experience outside of 3 point interview style lighting. Furthermore, all I have for lighting are two old videopro 500w lights that a friend gave to me. They are similar to http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation Any help is greatly appreciated.

January 29th, 2007, 08:09 PM	#2
PJ Gallagher Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Canberra, Australia Posts: 78	That's not a lot of lighting to work with :-) Off the top of my head, I think in that situation I'd probably aim one of the lights through a venetian blind (or something similar) with very little diffusion, to give the impression of sunlight through a window. Then bounce the second light, either off a wall, or a reflector, to add soft fill on the non-window side.

January 29th, 2007, 08:20 PM	#3
David W. Jones Trustee Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Little Rock Posts: 1,383	The easiest solution would be to just shoot the shot during the day.

January 30th, 2007, 08:27 AM	#4
Joe Riggs Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 189	Thanks for your input, I hope to shoot it in the day but we will see.

January 30th, 2007, 09:45 AM	#5
Brian Drysdale Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Belfast, UK Posts: 6,151	I don't think you've got much chance with the lights available, unless you're just shooting in corner of a room. Basically you've got to recreate the effect of daylight coming through a window, usually this is quite soft unless you're in direct sunlight. You could punch both lights through a trace frame (to simulate daylight coming through a window) and use flags to shape it and use reflectors for some fill. Unfortunately, you've only got two small lights and this rather limits you.