Lighting, Without Lights: Designing The Look of Ava, Part 1
The look of the film was determined back when the first words were committed to paper in late 2019.
The film would be harsh, deeply saturated, and lit realistically. This meant darkness got really dark, and the highlights of an image are just a hair from clipping when outdoors.
How to light the film became one of the biggest considerations while in pre-production during Covid.
Short version: shoot near windows, use power windows in DaVinci for flavor.
Longer version: I spent a year testing practical lighting setups, styles of shooting, and more in the house where most of the shooting was planned to take place.
Once actors came in, we ran some preliminary tests:
The film tests gave me a good look at what the style of the film would be, and more confidence in using that style, but was only done over a few hours on a Sunday. The final film would have extreme lighting conditions, with no crew or equipment to soften or increase the available light.
Comparison of two “extreme” images in Ava. Click to enlarge.
The use of a bounce board would have helped, but with the lack of crew to hold the one we had, it left us in a tough spot. Basically, I had to choose what I wanted to clip, and do so carefully.
The dynamic range of the A7S is impressive, especially when compared to what I had been used to with the T3i, but it is not infinite, and more importantly seeing everything at all times isn’t realistic. While the human eye is pretty well adapted for the outdoors and daylight, night vision in humans is nowhere near as pristine as an A7S can be. So instead of trying to find middle grey in a pitch black room, I let the blacks fall to a neutral black (helped in post, more on that in a later article.)
By embracing the shadows and highlights of an image, I was able to get some pretty great looking (if contrasty) images.
Behind the scenes photo.
Final image.
The article is called “Lighting Without Lights” but that’s not actually 100% the case. For certain shots, either the emphasize a character in a spot of the house where lighting was unavailable, we would use one or both of my Neewer LED lights. For the pair of shots below, we used window and a bounce board, propping it against the actresses legs, or a nearby coffee table.
Bounce board used, balanced on actresses leg.
Bounce board used, propped on coffee table.
This is the part where post-production enters the lighting pipeline, and enhancing the available light with per-shot contrast and power-window adjustments. The adjustments are made independent of the color grading or film emulation pipelines, which will be covered in later articles.
Thinking of Post while shooting can be looked down upon, especially by those who want to emphasize the importance of the DP in the look of the image. I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive.
By using the tools available in post, and shooting accordingly, we as filmmakers are able to create images more interesting and engaging than either one could do on its’ own.
For example, let’s dissect an image where masks/power windows are used most extensively.
Unprocessed image.
Final (WIP) image.
The unprocessed image is hot, with almost clipped whites on the car and dress. The shadow information is preserved, at the expense of contrast.
The lighting on the white house and car are exactly as intense as the dress or actresses skin.
This is where the masks come in. Swipe through the gallery for info.
The shot above was done with the knowledge that I would be able to bring those highlights back, and keep the shadows clean for the eventual grade.
By directing the eye with leading lines and by placing Maggie on the left third of the image, I had an image to fall back on.
By using masks to emphasize rather than using them to create interest in the first place.
The power of DaVinci as a color grading software, paired with how fast and accurate the tracking is, has led to a huge increase in my use of them for subtle effects, and building contrast.
For more on contrast, I highly recommend this series by Cullen Kelly.
Another example of a subtle mask used to bring our attention to one place.
A subtle look, that would have taken at least one well placed flag to create on the day.
By having the options to use such techniques, it allows for more forgiving shooting conditions. I wouldn’t be able to relight this shot in post, but I can bring the lighting that’s there to it’s best level.
Takeaways
There is no such thing as over planning. The worst that happens is you’ve got a knowledge base to fall back on.
Keep post production in mind during your lighting plans. (Just be aware that Post is not going to “fix” anything.)
Test footage is an incredible resource. By getting your actors (or just an actual human) in front of camera before the day, and by testing lighting, you’re able to better adapt on the day where time is precious and decisions need to be made quickly.
This article, and the advice therein, and based on an audience of filmmakers with 8-bit footage, maybe 10-bit GH-series footage. The rules and limits of RAW are an entirely different conversation, and until I have shot a feature film on RAW I will not be discussing it here.