All language subtitles for 20-TheaterShootMotivatedLightingConsiderations.mp4

This is the first shot

that we

tried to create.

And so

we will go ahead and show you

begins to look like we're here at the
5th avenue theater in Seattle.

And we've run the hazer for a little
bit.

So you should be able to see a little
bit of the atmosphere and the lights

to a degree.

But I do want to take you through a
little bit of my considerations as far

as kind of, what I'm thinking, where
the lights are going, how things are

going to be placed and how we're
actually trying to create this

motivated light.

So when we came into the theater,
obviously it's an incredibly beautiful

space.

And we have some practical lights
already in place.

We have a little bit on the ceiling,
two, a degree, a little bit on the

walls and a little bit on the far back
of the wall.

And those are the things that I really
like.

I think they add character to the
space.

And so I want to keep those.

I want to utilize those.

We also have a few lights in this
backstage area around as well, and some

of them were already on.

We turned a few of them off because
they were starting to interfere a

little bit with how it was going to
shape the light in the image.

So I came in, I saw the space, and the
first thing that I did was I set down

my tripod

and I tried to figure out roughly what
I wanted the shot to look like.

And I tried from a few different
angles.

The first one that we were going to go
with is the corner shot, where we see a

little bit of the backstage space.

And we see we are shooting out at the
theater.

And so we have the theater in the
background.

That said,

there are a few different
considerations that I've got to contend

with from a photography standpoint and
some obstacles that I've got to

overcome.

Specifically, this is a very dark
space.

I'm going to be shooting at a pretty
high a, so probably something like a

1600 or 2000.

I'm also going to be shooting at a very
low aperture, like a 28 to a four.

And I'm going to be probably shooting
at a pretty low shutter speed, so that

I can drag it, and I can get a lot of
these ambient lights in the shot.

That being said, I am still using
strobes with that, so we have to make

some considerations for that.

So the bulbs that are already in place
are tongues and bulbs they're very,

very warm.

So for the most part, with all of the
strokes that I'm using to balance to

it, I've added a cto gel to all of the
strobes and the sets, and they balance

together a little bit more
consistently.

We're not really

creating, totally different color,
temperature of light, so it doesn't

jump out in any

unusual way.

We want them all to blend together.

So I set it down, I use my tripod, and
I could start balancing the scene.

So in the background, I really wanted
to have spotlights.

In the shot several of the inspiration
images have spotlights.

And so I really loved the whole idea of
shooting in a theater.

We can create that entire
theatricality, the cinematic, cinematic

style.

So I wanted to get some lights in
place.

Now there are some considerations that
we have to make for that.

For example, we can't get into the
catwalk.

We can't put things up particularly
high.

So what we've done as kind of a kind of
compromise, we've set up lights across

the mezanine in the back, and I've got
two lights back there.

For the two lights in the background
we're going to be using two multi spot

heads, which are fernell heads

for the pro photopath.

We're going to be using the multi spots
with

a datalight attachment.

So it's a lens on the front of it.

It basically gives us that spotlight
effect,

gives us a little bit of a harder edge
and a little bit more shape.

The light, which you're going to see,

you'll also notice, as I mentioned
earlier, we have the haze machine

going.

That's adding a little bit of an
atmosphere.

We don't want to go too much, because
obviously, when you turn it on crazy,

it makes the whole thing really smoky
and foggy.

We just want atmosphere.

And so we run it for a bit, we turn it
off, and we kind of cycle and work our

ways through that.

Now

the subject is going to be facing the
audience,

the audience.

And what we're going to do is, for the
most part, light her in that way.

So her back's going to be to me, I'm
going to have a little bit of fil, but

I'm also going to add a key light

over to one side.

I'm going to add the key light to the
side of the face, in which she's

turned, in which case it's going to be
the right hand side.

So that's where the light's going to
be.

That being said, I'm still going to put
it a little bit more to the side, so it

feels almost like it's the spotlight
wrapping around a little bit, and

doesn't feel like I'm adding too much
of a drastically different light source.

We've also added a couple of lights
across the seat, so that it rakes

across the seats

and gives us a little bit of texture to
the environment in the back.

We've also are going to add one to the
stage left side of the stage, which is

going to be the audience right side of
the stage, so that it also gives us a

little bit of interest

from the left side.

And I actually like how the

current backstage lights

have that.

And so I wanted to build up on that a
little bit more and really augment that.

That being said, I think

that generally covers

the lights as we are aiming to have
them done today.

So for the most part it's

not so much about

lighting the subject as the main.

The main light, it's about building
this environment of lighting.

And so we've

added the spotlights, we've added the
backstage light, and it's really all

about just trying to build that.

We also, the models try on a few
different dresses that they're going to

be wearing today, and had to make a few
different decisions based on that.

So

the ones that we are likely leaning
toward are going to be the ones that

are a little bit shinier and show a
little bit more texture.

So we have a white slash, gold, very
sparkly dress, which is going to pick

up all the light and she's going to
kind of glow, it's going to be really

beautiful.

And the other one was, we were looking
at a couple of red dress options, and

one of them was a little bit more
Burgundy and had a little bit more of a

satin finish,

and so it didn't quite pick up on light
as much.

And I thought she blended would have
blended in a little bit to the background

too much.

And so what we ended up opting for is
something

that's a little bit of a shinier satin.

And so she's going to pop out a little
bit more.

I came into the space, I put my tripod
down, and I really loved the frame of

the stage as a frame of the shot,
almost like a frame within a frame.

And so we're going to use the
proscenium as a way to

give a little bit of depth

to the image.

Now unfortunately, the only way I can
capture that in the shot is to use

either a very wide angle lens, which I
have with me,

or I can use kind of like a medium
length lens.

And I can stitch images together.

Each lens has its own benefits and
negatives.

So for example, my white angle lens
allows me to get that

wide perspective in the shot, but it's
only enough four.

And so it means

it's something I have to consider when
I'm in this very low light environment.

I'm also not going to get as much
compression between the background and

the subject.

So what's way back there, is going to
look even smaller

with the medium length lens.

And I'm using a 55 millimeter on a
medium format, so it's about a forty

millimeter on

a full frame.

So what I'm going to do is shoot,

shoot this as a stitch.

So I'm going to shoot my model and
subject as the mainframe, and then I'm

going to go off on both sides to fill
it out a little bit more.

And it's going to give me the
perspective

of the wider, the wider angle lens.

But I'm going to get the compression of
the 55.

And I'm going to be able to use

the lower aperture of this particular
lens.

28, and so that's what I'm going to be
using for the lens choice.

In addition to that,

I am also likely going to be taking
several plates of this scene.

I'm going to do shots

without lights.

I'm going to do shots without the stage
lights

on.

So that I have everything that I need
when it comes to bring this into post

production.

I can very easily layer stuff on top.

And I'm not worried about trying to
reconstruct things

that I don't have parts for.

So the first shot is always by far the
longest one to try to set up and

achieve, because we have to build an
environment

before we can really get things
rolling.

With a lot of the other shots, the rest
will be much, much faster.

But know that going into it, the first
one always takes quite a while.

And when I'm doing a really big
environment, something like this, it

generally will take several hours to
get this set up, fine, tune how I want it.

And all of the different ingredients
and the elements so are working

together in a way that just really

feels complete.

So don't necessarily think that you're
going to come into a shoot like this

spend ten minutes, and it's going to be
ready to go.

This is a very long,

involve process.

Let's take a question from online.

Let's start there.

Do you go into the chute like this
theater shoot, with the expectation of

getting three shots?

How many shots did you take to get this
three?

You said, I don't shoot a whole bunch.

I focus on the setup.

But can you talk us through?

It really depends on

what the need of the chute is.

So we were relatively

comfortable in terms of the amount of
shots we needed to get for this.

We originally had aimed for two.

I wanted to push that a little bit and
get to three

with the other shoot that we're doing.

We ended up doing two because the
logistics of moving the planes around

was way more complicated.

Here it's just a matter of making a few
tweaks to the lighting to maybe hide

things, adjust some things based on the
angle.

So once it was set up from the get go,
we knew that

there was,

for the most part, ready to go.

And so

this allowed me to get through three
different shoots.

Again, it's

totally about what you need to get from

the series of images.

So if someone were to say, hey, in the
same amount of space, I need you to get

eight different looks.

I can do that.

I'm not going to

do as drastic of changes.

I'm going to be able to just shift a
little bit, change some outfits a

little bit, and try for a different
shot based on a slightly different

location, or a slightly different
version of one location.

But know that it's really a matter of
just how much time you can dedicate to anyone

anyone set up.

We have to always be aware of

time.

And so I'm a big, big stickler for
staying on time and

how much time do we have left?

How much time we have left.

Always staying on top of that.

Because it's the one thing you can kind
of never get back, especially when

you're working outside once time a day
hits a certain place.

You're like, I god, like, there's
nothing else we can do once.

Maybe we lose daylight behind a
building or something.

So always, always be cognisant of what
your schedule is like, what you have to

get through by, when, through the
course of the day, and then know

reasonably, how quickly you're able to
move.

So if you've got 45 minutes left,

yeah, you can squeeze off one more
setup in 45 minutes.

As long as you're not doing something
that's a massive, drastic change

that just small shifts are good, or
maybe one light or two lights over

here.

So,

I mean, we spent

three hours setting up, I think the
first shot

and the last shot was set up, shot and
wrapped in 45 minutes.

And it was a totally different lighting
setup.

So know that, like,

if you're able to uncomplicate what
you're doing, like the idea of timing

is, obviously you can make certain
considerations across the board.

Is there best starting point to begin
with when considering how to create

motivated lighting in a space that big,
with so many practicals?

Oh man, I mean, i'll be honest, it was
a challenge.

It was a huge challenge.

I don't think I've ever lit a space
that big.

But, you know,

that's kind of entirely the point, as
the methodology is the same, no matter

if you're using a space that's a
quarter of that size or one that's even

bigger, is you just have to pay
attention to what the light is going to

look like, needs to look like, and
where you need to put them.

And so it's like, I would approach a
room like this.

No different in terms of scale,

obvious, I get to use fewer lights, and
it would take me way less time with the

theater.

There is obviously

certain things that we can use or
cannot use.

So the

ceiling, which looks great, and I
needed that to be lit up, because

that's, I think, one of the main most
beautiful pieces

of the environment, actually, you know,
what?

Can we switch over to the laptop really
quick, and i'll show you.

Ok.

So this

is a straight out of camera shot of
what the space looked like with no light.

This is what I walked into.

This was my frame.

And so I'm walking around, I'm scouting
the space,

I've got my lens on, and I'm seeing
what the space looks like through the lens.

And this is my white angle lens.

And this is really close to what that
final shot ended up looking like,

also really close to what my scoutshot
looked like as well.

And so you look at the outspace,

and this is really bright up here.

The stage itself

is really bright.

This, I think, has a really interesting
look, especially when it goes out of

focus.

I've got this light up here, which is
nice,

but for the most part, there's not
really

a whole lot of lighting dimension to
this scene.

It's relatively flat.

And I'm also missing the spotlight that
I wanted.

So I said, all right, why I need the
spotlights.

They've got to be behind my subject.

They have to frame mice.

I want them to frame my subject on both
sides.

So what I ended up doing

was we put a light

here,

and I put a light

somewhere, over here.

Because there is actually a string of
lighting here across the middle of that messin

that we obviously couldn't use, but I
know that's where the theater would

light it, also, way up here at the top.

But no way, shape or form will be
getting access to that.

So I knew that realistically, if this
were going to be lit in a way that was

somewhat similar, yeah, the lights are
going to be kind of around this string

right here

who's relatively high up, without being

unrealistic.

And so we got em kind of over here and
over here.

And that was basically me saying, all
right, if there were lights on here,

what would they look like?

And so that's why I plug those in.

You'll also kind of see back here it's

kind of a little bit challenging, but
they're like pieces of light on the

seats.

I actually really liked how that looked,

but

I didn't have it across anything in the
front.

So I had to add that a little bit in
the front, to add some texture across

the tops of those seats to give it a
little bit of dimension.

Also, this is really bright.

And if you remember from step one of,
what have we got to do it's, you've got

to darken it down.

And so as soon as you darken it down,
this all goes to almost a void of darkness.

This gets a little bit darker, but the
whole stage becomes very.

The whole house becomes a little bit
dark.

The stage is really bright.

So I had to turn that off again, about
controlling the light.

And so we basically turned off all of
the backstage lights,

except this one over here in the
corner, which I liked.

I thought it added a little bit of
visual interest to that left hand side.

So that was really

what I had to consider when I was
building this particular scene.

I thought, what would this look like if
it were a show?

And

I've seen a lot of shows.

I've done a lot of stage work at
theater, so I kind of know what it

looks like from that perspective.

You got lights blaring at your face.

It's very glowy.

So that was what I wanted to try to
create.

And during a show, this would of course
be off.

I also don't want it to draw a lot of
attention it's lit.

I want it to be like, it's a frame.

I want it to be a dark frame that you
just don't think about.

I wanted it to frame the subject and
the attention to go here.

And so that was my goal for

trying to light a scene like this.

How do I create texture across the
environment?

So if it's dark and it's flat, let's
throw some light across the tops of the

chairs to break that up, or let's
create some spotlights that create a

rim, like an angelic rim, around my
subject.

And then how do I kind of draw the eye
around through these different light

sources?

And that's kind of the considerations
that I'm thinking about.

I start with the main ones, and then
you start looking.

I go,

how would it look if there was a light
over there?

Like, maybe there's a space in the
scene that's just kind of dark

and it's almost like a hole of
attention?

H, o, le.

So you just don't just avoid, like,
there's nothing there it's like, okay,

great.

Let's throw a light across it to create
something visually interesting in the

back.

That's generally how I'm looking at it.

It's the same way I would compose.

If

you're composing a scene, you want to
have things that are interesting in the

frame and create balance, create visual
balance.

And so that was really what I was
trying to create as I was building the

practicals or the environmentals in the
scene.

How do I create visual balance with
light?

And so it's like, hey, this area over
here is not giving me enough attention.

Great let's

pop something on over there.

Hey, this area's given me too much
attention.

Great let's turn the power down.

It will be things like that.

Do you use a colorometer?

How did you know what chance to choose?

And what was your presence?

Then it's a very good question, and I'm
going to give you a knot

exacting answer, as I'm sure people
would like.

I had a handful of warm gels,

and I tried to keep them as consistent
as possible.

But there was a point at which I read
out of the same thing.

And so I used ones that were close

because it was better than nothing.

So I did not use a colorometer.

I know that a strobe

to a tongston, especially in a room
like this where the walls are very warm

and there's a lot of red tones and
orange tones and yellow tones across

this whole space.

I knew,

approximately that a full cto on a
strobe was probably more or less going

to get me really close to something
consistent.

And so if I'm looking at

going a full change, i'll start there,
and then i'll look at, you know, what,

it's a little too orange.

Let's put a half on it, or a quarter,
or whatever it is.

And so

I'm looking at the image, and I go,
that one over there, it's a little bit

too red.

What have we got to do while it's swap
it out, or

let's put a half on it, or let's change
the power of it?

Like there are all different ways you
can kind of tweak the density of these

colors.

And so that's why it's so important to
me that I tether and I sit on a tripod.

Because when the cinematographers do
it, they are looking at a video monitor

as they put it together, and they have
the benefit of it being constant.

And so I'm either going to

check how it looks with the strobe's
firing, or if I can use constant

lights, I'm going to get away with that
constant lights, the benefit,

obviously, they're not as powerful, but
you get to see what you're doing, which

is really nice.

This is also one of the very rare
instances that I use.

My live view screen.

I don't usually use it, but because it
was so low to the ground, it was just

easier because I was shooting low.

And again,

you get to see what it looks like,
which is really nice.

And so that was kind of where

that began for me, and then really
paying attention to what each light is

doing.

So once it's there, then I go, ok, how
is that one good?

How's that one?

How that one has?

And I just kind of systematically go
across everything that I can change.

And I want to make sure that it's
looking as close as I can get it to look.

So use your guys, your experience

and software, to help.

Are the tether dews lightroom.

I use light room yesterday.

Yes, I have to use light where my
camera doesn't work with capture, one

of them.

So my other question was, I didn't
notice in the video a lot of people

around, how big was your crew and what
were their roles?

Good question.

I have

had two assistants

Lindsay, Lindsay,

was an assistant

she was helping out as an assistant.

She's also a creative as creative
assistant, so she's very helpful in

that way.

And then I had another photo assistant
named Jonathan, who was doing a lot of

the heavy lifting for things.

And so

I recommend for something like this,
two would be minimum, but I would try

to try to execute this with.

One would be a nightmare.

And in no way, shape, perform.

Could I do this by myself?

You can't.

You have to depend on other people for
stuff like this.

So,

carry things, setting lights up,
putting octoboxes together.

I would say, all right, we've got to go
rearrange these spotlights in the back,

go run with the mesanine.

You stay up there and say, ok, now,
turn it.

Turn it to the left a little bit.

Turn it, point it down a little bit.

You try and see how it worked.

And then, once you get that dial, let's
go to the next one.

Ok, move it over three feet, turn it a
little more.

To me, face it down.

Just having that

communication.

people assistants have to wear a lot of
hats.

It's very humbling work.

I recommend that if you've never
assisted, you should,

because you'll learn how different
people work.

And everyone works a little bit
differently.

And it also helps when they can
anticipate your needs before you're

able to let them know what they are.

And that's always really handy

and a good assistant

yep.

So

you said you didn't take a whole lot of
shots to get these three shots, but I

do notice there's 690

photos on there.

So that

seems to me that they're, like, how
many shots?

It was, about 690 over two days.

Ok, it's, but half that.

All right.

So for any individual shot, like of the
person, the actor,

how many shots are you?

I will tell you.

So what'll also make this a little bit
more

to answer the question a little bit
better.

So I've got probably

let's, see.

So, just setting stuff up,

taking test shots.

I'm at 100 test shots.

Just kind of getting stuff warmed up.

I take it back.

No, this was one day.

I was lying to you 670 jots in one day.

But I also have a lot of stitches in
here.

And so I did several versions of the
plates.

So that also adds a whole lot of images
to it.

But

the other thing is,

to be perfectly honest.

When you are shooting video

four for educational content.

It's helpful when you have a lot to
work with.

So I shoot more of what you want to do
personally.

Ok?

So just to kind of give you a little
bit of an idea, once we started shooting,

was

probably somewhere around

here, that was about when we start
shooting.

And that by the time it was actually
shot,

139

frames, including plates,

including some of her plates.

So

not that much.

It's probably about double what I would
normally shoot,

but

there's not a whole lot of ryria d.

And, I mean, there's different poses.

And I was also shooting on two
different formats.

So I mentioned I shot it with a wide
angle to make sure that I got it in one

shot.

But I also did a lot of, I did plate.

I thought I would go with the plates,

because I liked the compression on it
better, but because it introduces a

whole lot of other variables and
potential problems,

I wanted to make sure I got it in one
shot as well.

And so

it was just a safety net for me.

And that was really my

main reason.

That's why there's twice as many frames,

so that I have it in two different
formats, just in case

we're just taking plates for something
like this.

How do you,

I know you went with the fifty si or
fifty,

but

were you concerned at all with
distortion when you're moving back and

forth, and where you warping that back.

So here's the thing,

lightroom

can do a really good job of stitching.

Sometimes not all the time, but like,
sometimes, it's always try to get in

light room first, then if light room
can't handle it, I try to stitch it in Photoshop.

But light room

is surprisingly

good

at

the stitch,

and based on the method that you use,
because I'm going to talk about this

when we do the post production portion
of it, but based upon, like, the

mapping method,

but it's not bad, like

you can make it.

So it looks distortionwise,

really similar to the wide angle lens,
just with more of a compression and

more scope.

And so it's really close,

and it's a lot better

than people you can eat, like on
tripod, it's even easier.

I've freehanded stuff, and it stitches
fine,

and it works.

And what we did here was,

the forty mill

was good enough that you didn't really,
I didn't really have a huge issue with

distortion.

I headed a little bit more

in the second shoot, the airfield
shoot, when I was doing some really

closer, wider stuff, but because she's

relatively far away

in the scene,

because she's relatively far away.

I didn't really get it as much.

But I did want to show, before we
actually jump into the lighting diagram.

This is what the light looked like when
we arrived.

This is what it just looked like, as is.

So obviously, the house is quite a bit
brighter, it's exposed a little bit

more properly,

and the light in her face,

not great looking.

I changed her,

I changed her dress.

This was just to kind of test and see
how the dress looked in the space and

everything else.

But man, the light was not

super great

as

a flattering light.

Just it's harsh, it's aggressive.

It's mixing

the backstage lights with the house
lights.

And so somewhere, warmer, some or
colder, it's creating all kinds of

weird shadows on the neck.

Just

not having it, not happy with it.

I got, by the time this was one, I
darkened it down, and I was shooting in

a more shallow depth of field,
something that was a little bit closer

to what the image was going to look
like in actuality.

So you can, this is obviously darker
than what this is.

This looks a lot darker, and the
background looks a little bit more

appropriate to what the final product
ended up being, but

she looks like, the lighting is just
not great.

So this is where it began.

And then those were the considerations
in the video that I was working through

as we were trying to solve the problem.

It was like to say that we, as
photographers, or we're visual problem

solvers.

And so it's like, how do you, how do
you execute?

How do you creatively think through
this?

How do you figure out

how to help us solve the problem?