Ask David Mullen ANYTHING

[David Mullen ASC]

Dynamic lighting usually has to be motivated, for example, rippling light from a pool of water, etc. In a bedroom, blowing drapes/sheers are a good idea but I'd probably add the extra element of blowing leafy branches in front of the light as well. A 2K is pushing it in terms of being a bright-enough light outside the window if this light-dark modulation is going to be the key light of the scene, but it may be enough for a night scene, as if from a warm streetlamp for example.

I find that skinny pepper tree or bamboo leaves to be better for dancing shadow patterns rather than a broad leaf plant.

[James Mixon]

Yeah the idea came from the trees outside my window, right around 6 ocklock the sun hits them and puts a great pattern on the wall, only I'm not sure my lamps are big enough to pound through that foliage and still reach into my room.

What do you think, if that setup fails, about some sort of practical in the room, like a lamp behind a fan--both practicals--that might do something interesting on the walls. I'll give it a test or something. There are so many scenes in here at night that I really want to change the lighting so the whole time we're in the apartment it doesn't feel like the same setups every time.

[Álex Montoya]

Hi there, David. What do you think they used here? It looks very naturalistic, almost only with available light but I guess there's quite some more to it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVeV5P5ppLY

[David Mullen ASC]

Hi there, David. What do you think they used here? It looks very naturalistic, almost only with available light but I guess there's quite some more to it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVeV5P5ppLY

First of all, you don't know if this is a set on a soundstage, so there may be no natural daylight at all. But odds are, either way, there is a big softened light outside of the window to create the soft back-edge on the wide shot, combined with the fluorescent over the bed as a key. In the close-ups, there is some sort of softlight just off camera, side-lighting them -- could be anything, a Kinoflo, a bounce off of white, etc. but it is lower than the overhead fluorescent over the bed in Matthew Fox's close-ups. But the fluorescent over the bed is also doing a lot of the work in these set-ups.

All the lighting may be daylight-balanced (which suggests a location, not a set) because the flashlight is much warmer in color.

Of course, it's possible that the soft edge light from the window in the wide shot is actually available daylight, which means that the wide shot is basically lit with available and on-camera practical lighting and only in the close-ups did they add a soft light from the side to augment the light.

[Álex Montoya]

Thanks a lot, David. I love how you broke that down.

[marasco ivan]

hi,
i have to realize a shaft of light in a theater for lighting 3 people in a localized position.
for now i can only use 6 theatrical lights 1kw PC light,.
do you think that this kind of light (used in group can help me to obtain a shaft of light?)
another alternative(we are in very low budget) could be changing PC light with VNSP PAR light and use in group.
another alternative is a single or two 2kw fresnel.
whic solution could be near the effect of light shaft?
thanks

[David Mullen ASC]

The more the light is coming from the back, the more you will see the shaft in the smoked air. The brighter, the better, so VSNP PARCAN would work. But what works best tend to be projected beams like from a 2K Super Trooper sort of "big" Leko design. I've used clusters of Source-4's with narrow lenses (like 18 degrees) for that effect too. But a bright PARCAN would work too.

[Ariel Weiss]

Hello David

I noticed you mention alot the source 4 in regard to light shafts. Do you mean this? http://www.k5600.com/products/jb800/accessories.html with the bug a beam?
Did you try the 4k alpha?http://www.k5600.com/products/alpha4k/index.html
Or do you think a par is a better choice? (I am trying to get some basic lighting package now, I have some fresnels and will get kinos)
Thank you alot,
Ariel

[David Mullen ASC]

I meant Source-4 Lekos, whether tungsten or HMI, but yes, a Joker 800 in a Source-4 is like a mini-Xenon. Here are some shots I took on the set of "Manure", with shafts of light:

Two Joker 800 Source-4's off camera right:


1K Xenon outside the window:

[Michael McVicar]

David you get what you need sometimes. You are fortunate man. Thank you.