ACADEMY LIGHTINGMASTERCLASS
Tom, “and the stairs below them are dropping out into darkness, andmore of a threatening, hellish look that’s chasing themup level by level. It’s muchmore red, and a completely different texture.” For the stairs below, Tom and George used the Rotolights’ CineSFX features, including “the fire flicker setting which was very useful. There’s somethingmore ominous about lighting when it’s not static and you feel it’s not consistent, which is why lights in horror movies are oftenmoving. We also added a flicker to the cold lighting above, but that was more like a failing bulb. Flickering light doesn’t feel safe.” Making the grade There’s a real benefit to doing these effects physically, says Tom, explaining that “though there’s always going to be an element of grading, that should usually be more about tweaking little things – lighting is something I can use to get the actors into character and emotional. They can react to
them. These kind of visual tricks that are hard coded into us and in lighting they can easily be used to ‘sell the feeling’.” Flicker following These changes needed to be made in a gradual way, says Tom, “as it had to feel they were coming from a place that was room temperature. And because we also had tomake sure we didn’t clash with the stylised blue look of the war zone.” So while the blue of the exterior came from colouring, in the stairwell it was solely practical. “We used a lot of subtle tricks, like using the Rotolight to pick out elements of the set that would be warm, and we’d use the barn doors to create shafts of blue light on those areas, like the actors’ faces. And also to have people running into areas with bluer light, so you get that progression.” Conversely, on the floor below the characters, a different look was needed. “The filmhas this constant idea that the characters are moving up,” explains
ABOVE The size and weight of the Rotolight units meant Tom could achieve different effects in different locations
what they’re seeing on set, so it’s a bit like avoiding green screen as much as possible. I’ve got a background in visual effects, but I try to use that stuff sparingly because I want to put the actors in situations. They have to feel something if they’re going to convey it to the audience, so I want to give them lighting that makes it happen.” “What makes this easier,” he continues, “is that we weren’t beholden to big heavy HMI lights. The Rotolight LEDs we used can be moved around somuchmore easily, and also controlled from an app, and that means you can be more creative. So really,” he concludes, “you should always go into your filming with a good lighting plan. You should knowwhat your palettes are going to be, what kind of atmosphere you’re trying to create and how it fits your intentions; if it’s wrong, no amount of grading is going to dig you out.”
MANFROTTO LUMIMUSE 8 BT
LITEPANELS GEMINI 1X1
£95/$109 manfrotto.com
£2340/$2517 litepanels.com
A fully featured, bi-colour LED that provides all you need to add atmosphere in the studio or on location. As a ballast-free light it’s easy to transport and adjust, coming with a standard yoke. FullyWi-Fi controllable, the light is tunable in output, from 2800K to 10,000K with green and magenta fine adjustment, and an HSI mode for total control over hue, saturation and intensity from 0-100% brightness.
Produces a lot of high-quality light for a small package, but now adds full Bluetooth wireless control via an iOS app. So for instance while dimming on the unit is in four steps, via the app it’s 0-100%. The light
has an output of 550lux at 1m, and is balanced at 5600 with a CRI of >92. Colour modification is by clip-on filters which are easy to fit and optional kits add a huge range of colours. The unit weighs just 160g, is easilymounted on camera or on a tripod, and it has a built in lithium polymer battery.
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PRO MOVIEMAKER SUMMER 2019
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