10.03.2011

Lighting "Something Strange"


     This weekend we wrapped up shooting the feature film "Something Strange," written and directed by Bryan Kramer. The film is a series of interviews which will be intercut with various imagery. Each personal story is told by an individual in the first person. What ties these stories together is their intention to explain the unexplainable such as coincidences, phenomena, pure chance, and scientific theory.
    Since these stories are all conducted in an interview style with the character seated speaking into the camera, we decided to keep the lighting identical for every character. To create interview style lighting, I went with a simple three light set up of a key light, fill light, and hair light. Instead of going for a realistic, even, and flattering look, I lit the subjects to emphasize their human qualities. Considering the film will be in black and white, the facial shadows will help bring more dimension to the final look.
      Compared to my usual lighting experiences, this project felt like I was designing on a very micro scale. Usually I am working with the look of a scene with multiple people rather than focusing on the type and placement of catches in one person's eye or the shape of the shadow from their nose. I very much enjoyed this new challenge, and found that this experience greatly appealed to my tedious nature. The film will begin editing stages soon, and is expected to be complete after the new year. I had a great experience working on this project and I am very eager to see the completed film.