On-Set Production – ‘One More Day’ Lighting Plan + Meeting
On-Set ProductionOn Monday 6th November, Alfie, Duncan, and I met at Craiglockhart to discuss a lighting plan. We had a meeting with Andrew scheduled for 2pm, but wanted to come to the meeting with a rough plan and ideas to discuss. We found trying to plan out lighting to be a challenge as our shot list had limited the placement of lights, particularly our wide master shot looking down on the room from a high angle.
Duncan mapped out the room in a floor planning software which helped to visualise the space. We found it difficult to decide what was motivating the lighting and whether or not to utilise the overhead LED tube lighting.
Lighting Plan Suggestions
During our meeting with Andrew he raised several options for lighting the space we hadn’t considered in our meeting.
I was concerned about the colour temperature of the overhead lights being unflattering or too white, but Andrew assured me we can alter the appearance of the lights by modifying the white balance in-camera. The best option would be to create a custom white balance once we find a desirable tone of lighting to select for each shot.
We mentioned the overhead lights to Andrew and how we initially planned to switch them off and use our own lighting. He suggested using black gaffer tape or black wrap to create a ‘skirting’ around the light itself to cut and shape the light in the room. We hadn’t considered this and it seemed like a great option, so we’ve decided to test it out on Saturday whilst we dress the set and get establishing shots. The aim is to have the light focused onto our actor Ben (playing Cam) and the falloff to back-light Robert (playing John). We can also open up and close the black wrap to control light levels in the room.
Andrew also gave us some helpful lighting tips:
- Lighting should always be motivated, otherwise it becomes obvious it is light coming from a film light off-screen.
- The side of the actor’s face closest to the camera should be in shadow for the most cinematic look.
- Measure the dimensions of any practical lights.
- Get as much safety coverage as possible for each shot.
Another option is to find white card to bounce a key light into which will then create a second bounce onto the actor’s faces. This can act as a light source that isn’t directional and softer than pointing a light like the Celeb Kino directly at the actors. Andrew mentioned that a fresnel light would be needed to provide a harder light source to bounce, as some lights wouldn’t provide a strong enough source of light to create a bounce.
The dark tones of the room work to our advantage as it will not create a light spill like a room with white walls and flooring would do. This is particularly helpful if we opt for the white card and bounced light method. The bigger the surface area of the white card, the softer the light will be. The Celeb Kino could also act as a key in closer/tighter shots.
Our main technical query was how to create a flickering light effect during the climax of the film in which Cam kills John. We will need to experiment with several different methods to find out which one is the most doable and effective, which will be done on the prep shoot on Saturday 11th. Andrew suggested moving a black flag in front of the camera instead of switching the lights on and off, but we are hesitant to do this as it might be obvious we are moving something in front of the camera. The Kino Flo has strobe effects but this is something we’d need to test.
Andrew told us the simplest lighting would be the best as our location already does a lot of the work for us.
Final Lighting Plans
Below are the final lighting plans as completed by Duncan following our lighting meeting.
