Low Key Lighting Shoot/Innovative Lighting/Using 'Barn Doors'

Low Key Lighting
Monday 15th October


We had decided that we needed to a little more in the way of lighting techniques, as we had only done a couple of shoots which had included lighting experimentation. This time we opted to do a shoot that was primarily based around the use of low key lighting (we incorporated this into a shoot in which we shooter footage specifically for editing - see 'Editing' page).

Equipment List

• Camera - 1 Cannon 500 D DSLR, 1 Lumix 
• Tripod
• Small Studio Spot Light (including Barn Doors)
• Back Drop Sheet
• Extension Lead

OH&S

When doing a studio lighting shoot, as with any shoot in fact, we must consider any health and safety issues that must be addressed before started the shoot. Being that this was a studio set environment, we must apply accurate health and safety checks and procedures to ensure the safety of all crew members and equipment.

Main Potential Hazards:

• Cables not being secured down correctly - this could cause harm to a crew member as they may trip on the cable, cause injury and also may cause damage to the equipment the cable is attached to. To prevent this, checks must be carried to out to ensure any wires are taped down to decrease the falling of tripping over them. 
• Heat from studio lights - All studio lights will get very hot when left on for any period time, this is something that cannot be stopped but if correct procedures are carried out any problem due to this can be avoided. All crew members must be made aware of the heat that the lights will emit, perhaps warning signs on the lights and around the studio would help this. Then when packing away, lights musts be left to cool, this decreases the risk of injury while also preventing any risk of fire that may come about if lights are packed into bags before cooled. 
• Equipment Incorrectly Set Up - This would not only end in damage being caused to the equipment but also may end in harming a crew member, if not set up properly equipment could fall. This would be prevented by through checks of equipment set up but also ensure al crew members handling equipment are correctly trained and competent in setting up, avoided any unnecessary problems. In this case, it was the lighting set up that was most important.
• Back Drop Falling - As we were in a studio, we were using a backdrop being the subjects we were filming. The hazard with this is that the back drop sheet could fall if not correctly caused (this is something that occurred during our previous studio lighting shoot). This problem must be solved as it could fall on a crew member causing them an injury. not only this, but it would also disturb the shoot, wasting time putting it back up again. 

By trying out low key lighting technique for this shoot, we have been able to experiment now with several forms of lighting. This one proved to be particularly interesting as it allowed us to experiment with new ways of lighting and creating the perfect image.
In particular, when shoot the doll (that you can see in the above images), we began by using the small studio lighting and sitting in on a chair to get the prefect angle for the light to hit the subject that sat directly in front of the camera on a table, we initially found the lighting was too bright, the light source must have been to big. But by experimenting with the use of the barn doors* fixed to the light, we soon found that by closing them slightly, we were able to find the right amount of light that suited the image. However when reviewing the footage back on the camera, we became aware that the light was causing too much highlighting on the back drop sheet (this sheet was white, we feel black would have been far better our shoot), as we did not have any other back drop sheet. We attested different ISO setting to see if altering the amount go light entering the camera made any difference, but this proved to be ineffective. We had to improvise to improve the quality of our footage, this led us to attaching four large sheets of black card (would have been preferable in a matt finish to stop the light reflecting but what we had worked well enough for us to achieve the look we were after), this stopped the highlighting and gave the image a far more professional look, bettering the focus of the foreground too. We used the same technique when filming the bowl of soup on the table, the blacked out background gave a brilliant saturated colour, the yellows and blues of the table cloth were brilliant and vivid.

When it came to filming the human subjects at the table, we again continued to use the black card to create a good backdrop, but this time we found that even by closing the barn doors on the light closer together, the light source still seemed too big for the subject. This again led us to improvise somewhat to achieve the right amount of light we needed to achieve the hard lighting effect we were after. Therefore, as we did not have a candle or torch light, one of the crew members suggested the flash light app that you can get on an iPhone, though this is clearly not the conventional method it proved to be fairly successful (as you can see from the images above).

Using a method like this, which may seem unusual, in fact adds to the idea of comparisons to the French New Wave. Unconventional and low budget techniques, making use of sources readily available to the film-maker. Especially as we found it effective and useful, using cheap, low budget techniques can be proven to pay off. An example of low key within the new wave films would be the majority of the scenes shot in the flat of the family in Truffaut's 400 Blows.

The clip below, is a shot reverse shot edit of some of the low key light footage that we shot. You'll noticed a few more New Wave references within the edit. Firstly, the lack of continuity here is very reflective of the new wave movement, you can see this by paying attention to the bowl of soup placed in the centre of the table. The spoon often shifts position and is sometimes in the hand of the subject, other times it is not.
There is also, a quick but noticeable jump cut, that flashes up an image of a doll part way between one shot. This also adds an element of surrealism, branching out our new wave references further, by incorporating slight Czech references as well as the French.


Kuleshov Effect -Table Scene from Sammie Masters-Hopkins on Vimeo.


* Barn Doors - Are four 'leaves' attached to the spotlight used often in film, television and theatre. These 'doors' allow the user to direct and shape the light, giving the user more control of how their subject will be lit, moving it away from where it doesn't want to be.