I just finished our fourth shoot, which was a noir. I was gaffer on it, responsible for all of the lighting. It was shot on one of UCLA’s three soundstages, which gave me a lot of freedom to create some interesting lighting. A few things I learned from this shoot is that
- A D.P. should have a lighting plan, especially when working in created light environments.
- Lighting should always happen for the master shot, the shot that contains the majority of the actions.
- Before actors go into make-up and wardrobe, the director should always have them do a blocking rehearsal for the crew to see.
- Opening the face of a light, or removing the lens, will produce the deep shadows needed for things such as venetian blind effects
- Gaffers need a decent sized crew on a soundstage in this sort of environment in order to work quickly. Grips are important.
- A spot meter can be extremely useful for reading distant lighting.
An amazing book I have been reading on the subject is Kris Malkiewicz’s Film Lighting. Cinematography is a little more difficult to break into if you don’t have any experience. Sometimes I think that this year of film school is more about cinematography and production than writing and directing. I’m told that will change. It’s an amazing thing to learn about cinematography, I learned on this shoot how much I love lighting. Here are some stills:
