Industrial Commercial with Contrast
One of the perks of this business is being exposed to really interesting talent. Murray Carter of Carter Cutlery is the only Japanese Yashimodo bladesmith outside of Japan and he lives right here in the Portland OR area.
I was invited by West Bound Filmworks to light inside of the production facility for the day and watch the master at work!
WHERE TO START
When I was brought onto the project I was given location photos and reference images. These images are so important and i find it’s really hard to come up with a plan if you don’t know what situation you’re walking in to. It’s very important to look at images with your collaborators- I’ve found that having conversations about the look of a project is so subjective is inadequate unless you are also able to look at references.
THE LOOK
The director wanted to go with a dramatic look which was going to be easy to pull off in the space since with no windows. I suggested that we create a soft overhead pool of light and use a hard back light with some color contrast to add some separation. We have an open oven in our scene so I thought it made sense to let the back light be warm to play off of the practical elements in the scene. We also had a hazer to add some depth to the space but it really plays well because the oven is such an integral part of the scene.
THE MAIN SETUP
I didn’t have any over head rigging points for our key light so it had to go on the floor. I used a LiteMat 2, full daylight intensity, boomed out over the action with a skirt to keep it off of the background.
I had a classic ARRI 650 tungsten as our back light. That was on a dimmer so it actually went warmer than 3200 which worked well for us! It’s really important to know the ins- and outs of your gear. I could have used wire to control the intensity of the 650 but knowing the look I made the choice to use a dimmer and to let the lamp go warm.
One thing that wasn’t planned ahead of time, but ended up making a huge difference in the shot was hiding a Quasar Science Crossfade on the floor right behind the oven. It adds more depth and separation and I feel almost goes un-noticed because the oven is such a bright glowing orb in the frame that you assume it’s related.
We were looking good. I remember the DP coming up to me and saying something along the lines of “I know I asked for contrast, but I’m afraid it’s took dark.” NO PROBLEM
I had a lot of tungsten fixtures on this job. The last thing I did was to take a 1K, clip 1/2 CTB on the front and bounced it into the wall next to us. It was just enough fill to lift the shadows a little bit, but didn’t change our look.
FINISHED PROJECT
