Joel.Simone

I worked on some lighting test for The Doorway today. We canceled this Saturdays shoot because of a little flu I picked up on Wednesday, and the shoot is rescheduled for next Sunday. These tests were originally for the previously scheduled shoot, and we were aiming at a 1pm shoot time, but that’s OK; now I have more time for additional tests leading into next Sunday, scheduled for a similar time.

The purpose of the test was to confirm what I expected from the lighting at that time of day, i.e., given it’s a clear day, there will be harsh and stark shadows. I also wanted to use the camera and lens set for production, (a quick technical reference) a small Sony trv900 camcorder and a 50mm Nikon lens mounted with a Red Rock Micro M2 lens adapter. Following are a selection of shots to demonstrate the process of acquisition and the intensity, direction, and feel of the light.

First, I set-up the camera on a tripod and simply used myself as the subject. As initially pictured, I was listening to music on my ipod, and in this image you will notice the shallow depth of field (DOF); DOF is the range of area in an image that is clear. It’s what makes the background blurry and brings out the face in portraits. The first image shows before I’m in DOF, and the second image displays when I’m in the DOF:

There is a softness to the images above too. This is partly due to the old lens I’m using, the small image size of standard definition video, and the fact there is no one behind camera to confirm focus. In addition, this was done on the fly without measurements from the lens or footmarks to confirm distance, and the softness will be through out all these images.

This next image gives a good idea of how strong the sun light is. This is because the sun is close to its higher point of day. The sun light is passing through the earths atmosphere in a more perpendicular fashion compared to earlier or later times of the day; this means it has less atmosphere to pass through, and it makes the light more intense. Look at the dark and sharp shadows cast from my glasses and hair:

You will see that this contrast translates into an intensity in the piece, emphasizing a dramatic or direct expression. Jordan, played by Jay Hitchings, will not be wearing glasses, so I removed my glasses to showcase the face itself in the following images:

Notice the intinsity accentuated in the depth of my brow; not only due to my prominent frontal skulk, but because of the strong light cast down upon the face. This next picture is a variation of the last one above that puts the lower cheek bone in additional shadow:

I confirmed what I expected and wanted for The Doorway’s street scenes, set for Antioch California, and that is stark and intense facial lighting for Jordan’s current challenges. I may do additional location tests this Sunday, depending on how my recovery goes.