Few years ago we found the need for creating more than just a conventional set. Most budget today are not big enough to hire a large crew and a grip truck but the need for that style of quality is still there. It was in our best interest to come up with something in between.

The solution was extensive lighting, grips and a lots of imagination, creativity and know how.

Review the sections on Grips and Building Grids.

We will review two similar set-ups, both created for ESPN.

The first will be of the Jon Gruden QB Camp one of the most successful feature series on ESPN.

The second will be of the Urban Meyer’s Spotlight that run in the 2011 College GameDay. Unfortunately the series was short lived as Coach Urban Mayer made the decision to return to coaching.

On both shows it took us almost two days to build the set. Lights, grips and grids remained in place for the duration of the series.

The concept behind these shows was to depart from the traditional looking broadcast studio in favor of a location or work areas where the talents spend most of their time. This is not only a new concept but its also considering more economical for the broadcaster instead of having the talent travel to their studio facilities.

GRUDEN’S QB CAMP,  THE BEGINNING 

The ESPN “Gruden’s QB Camp” series that takes place between Superbowl and the NFL Draft has become one of the most successful show on ESPN. For us however the show has been a constant challenge.

In January 2009 the producer for Monday Night football asked if I was interested in being the Director of Photography on this news show idea. Having worked with Jon Gruden for a number of years I was glad to do it but had no idea of the challenges that were waiting for me.

The show had to be done in Gruden’s hidden place. One would expect a top sport personality like Jon Gruden to be working out of some luxurious office/studio space, but not coach Gruden. His office is a small place in the back of an old professional building a few blocks from his home. Inside there are some VCRs, a large monitor and a dozen of bookcases filled with thousands of video tapes of different formats of  pro football games dating back two decades and more. Every morning from 4:00 am to noon coach Gruden sits in the dark room reviewing plays and techniques of some of the best in the game.

The show was an experiment, nothing like this “on location series”  was done before. All these types of set ups are usually done in fancy and well equipped studio at ESPN in Bristol, CT. But coach Gruden wanted to do the show right where he worked.

This is where we had to create a series of video shows.

The first challenge was where to place cameras. The room is only 14′ wide and about 40′ long with a 9′ ceiling. We had to light it and place at least 3 cameras. To make things even more challenging this was a unique and new show idea and like all new ideas the budget was good but very limited for what it was required, we really had to work miracles.

We learned how to get the best out of the small room with each show and we learned as we went along. The set-up with each show was never the same as we keep coming out of ideas on how to make it better.  As the show became a success we were hoping for a larger place but the “down and dirty, think tank” look became the show signature and now we are stuck there.

The main (front) camera was the easiest, we had enough room, however, with the low ceiling and narrow room any wide angle shot would show lights and other equipment, we had to make the camera mobile for quick repositioning. We started with a simple dolly, we then used a flexible track dolly and the final solution was to use a jib on dolly tracks so we can also raise or lower the camera as needed to reposition it.

Placements for the two side cameras, the one on Gruden and the other for the guest QB, in a 14′ wide room was a bit more challenging.

We hidden the QB camera in the closet behind Gruden, then we placed a bookcase to hide the closet.

The camera for Gruden was a bit more complicated, there was no closet and no room to hide a cameraman or a large camera. We  bough a half size bookcase, placed a row of tapes on top to make it higher and hidden a Sony EX1 behind it.

The camera was mounted on a remotely controlled tripod head for tilts and swings and a remote zoom for framing.

Instead of recording on SxS on board cards we recorded the HD-SDI signal from the EX1 camera into a Nanoflash so we can sync time code with the two other cameras.

After all cameras were in place the next challenge was lighting.

Of course there was no room for stands or for a grid, the only way was to hang everything from the ceiling. Being an older building we weren’t sure on how the electrical system was distributed. Also the air conditioners was hardly keeping the place comfortable without introducing any more sources of heat. The logical solution was to use LED lights. We also had to make sure that the color balance match the color of the monitor, 5600K.

With white ceiling and white walls controlling the direction of the lights with barn doors was also very important in order not to overexpose the whites.

The only hot lights used were two small 150 Fresnels to light the two bookcases in the background. Althoug the entire set-up was balanced for daylight color the two 150 Fresnel lights were left at 3200K to give the back a warmer color.

GRUDEN’S QB CAMPS, 2012

Now on its third years the show is a success. The number of shows doubled for 5 to 10 and the budget also increased. But with a greater budget also come greater challenges as producer also want to do more.

The area was spruced up to give it a better signature look.

I also decided to give it a better look by replacing the LED lights with Kino Flo fluorescents. For the set we now use two Kino Vista single, four BarFly 200 and one Kino 4×4. This in addition to 4 150W fresnels.

All Kinos have honeycomb grids to prevent spills and allow better to better direct each light.

The heavier Kinos posed new challenges. A simple ceiling scissor clamp wasn’t enough to support the extra weight, we had to quickly come up with new solutions.

With aluminum pipes and connectors, the same type we use to build overhead grids but a smaller size, we built an “H”. We pushed one of the ceiling tiles on the side and inserted the “H” above the drop ceiling.

This gave us a steady support that was safe and allowed us to direct the light were needed.

Our newly created pipe system give us the freedom to use any type of clamping and allows us to mount any types of lights even the heavier ones.

Our pipe rail system also also allows us to adjust the height of a light. This is particularly useful on low height ceilings where every inch counts.

For the 4×4 Bank Kino we were able to recess the mount several inches into the ceiling by simply using a number of connectors.

We also used aluminum pipes to mount a high view camera from the drop ceiling. This time we used larger 2″pipes and grid clamps.

URBAN MEYER’S SPOTLIGHT, 2011 COLLEGE GAME DAY

This is an iPhone jpeg of what the room looked like before we started converting it into a temporary studio.

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This is what it looked like after we finished setting it up.

This is a time lapse of the two days setting up.

For this set we used a total of 11 lights

(6) 3 LED Cool Lights 600, 2 (on the right) as keys and one (on the left) to give an overall illumination.

(3) 3 smaller LED Cool Lights 256 as back lights

(2) (4) (5) 3 150W Fresnels

(1) (7) 2 300W Fresnels

Why LEDs lights?

Although LEDs are not a substitute for the quality of light created by more conventional fixtures, they are ideally suited for these types of set ups.

First and most important they are daylight balanced (K5600) so this entire set was balanced for daylight. This is also the same balance as TV and computer monitors. If this set up would be color balanced for tungsten (K3200) the picture from the monitor would predominately blue. LED also do not generate heat and have a very low power consumption. The cons with LED is that they are more difficult to control than conventional lights.

Indicated above is the lights placement, below we’ll see what each light does to the scene.

(Still frames from videos, cam.1)

From the top

(7) 300 Fresnel. This light had a CTB (blue) gel to match the color of the LEDs, plus the output was reduced by the use of scrims. It’s purpose was to give give an overall light to the wall, just enough to bring up details.

(6) LED 2 and 3. These are the two key lights, one per subject. The output of each light was adjusted to obtain a good even kin tone.

(6) LED 1. The output of this light was adjusted to fill the shadows on the subjects while maintaining a good modeling on their faces.

(4) 150 Fresnel. This light was mounted and hidden behind the monitor. It was left at its K3200 output to give us a warm spot in the background.

(2) 150 Fresnel. This light was to illuminate the bookcase behind the subjects, it was also left without gel at K3200 to bring up the warm color of the wood.

(5) 150 Fresnel. Also at K3200 this light was spotted on a picture on the back wall to add interest to the scene.

(Still frames from videos, cam.2)

(3) 3 small LEDs 256 Cool Light are placed on top of the bookcase for back and hair lights.

(1) 300 Fresnel with CTB and scrims to bring up the back wall.

(2) 150 Fresnel. This light was to illuminate the bookcase behind the subjects, it was also left without gel at K3200 to bring up the warm color of the wood.

Notice on the main set up that all the key lights are on the right side of the set. The reasons for this is to give the subjects a good modeling light on their faces but also to keep all lights away from the monitor in order to eliminate the risk of glare and reflection.

We also incorporated some available light in the set. We had the window behind the monitor completely blocked with black foamboards, however we felt that the shutter on a totally black window would look dead. We replaced the black foamboards allowing some of the daylight to filter thru.

Additional notes on this set up.

A total of 5 cameras were used for this show. 3 Panasonic HDX-900, one unmanned Panasonic AF100 and one unmanned Sony EX1. The unmanned cameras recorded on the new Sound DevicesPIX 240 recorders, all cameras were Time Code synced.

Cam 1

Cam 2

Cam 3

Cam 1 and 2 were mounted on dollies for quick repositioning and for slow dolly moves. Cam 3 was fixed for close ups.

Cam 4 was mounted on the grid for an occasional alternate view.

The fifth camera, the Sony EX1 was always pointed at the monitor and used only as reference.

All the equipment you see in these set-ups fit inside my  modified Ford 350 van. A lot of planning went into designing the interior. All racks are modular and can be rearranged to accommodate new equipment.

The basic lighting set up for an interview can consist of up to 4 lights on the subject and as many lights as needed or desired on the background.  This set-up is the most widely used but keep in mind that all the lights are not always necessary.  Depending on the desired results, quality work can be obtained by selectively placing a lesser number of lights.

 Now let’s look at the purposes of all the lights placed on the subject starting with the key Light

The first and most important light is the Key Light or Main Light in portraiture.  This light will not only provide the main illumination for the subject but correctly placed will create roundness, modeling and will bring the viewer’s attention to the most important part of the image, the subject’s features.

In order to create modeling on the subject’s face, the key light is normally placed at an angle; this will leave a good portion of the features in the dark (shadow).  For a dramatic effect this could be good but in most cases the shadow area left alone is just too dark.  The shadow area can be controlled by the next step in lighting, placing the Fill Light to reduce the shadow area.

The Fill Light

A Fill Light  can be placed near the camera and on the opposite side of the Key Light.  The placement, density and output of this light can be selectively adjusted to achieve the desired balance between the lighter and darker sides of the face.  This balance is referred to as Light Ratio.

Loolking at the image above we see that the subject is blending into the background, we need visual separation between the two planes.  This can be accomplished by using one or two lights, a Hair/Back Light and/or a Background Light.

The Hair or Separation Light

This particular light is referenced to as Hair or Back light and is placed high at an approximate 45 degree angle behind the subject and pointed downward.

The Background Light

The same separation effect can also be accomplished by selectively placing a light on the background on the shadow side of the face (see the Chiaroscuro chapter).  In most interviews both the Hair and Background light will be used.

The Edge Light

Although not necessary, in many situations an Edge Light will add a pleasant look to the image while adding additional separation and depth.

Summary

Each of the placements could be for creative reasons or as we’ll see below for specific needs or requirements.

Note that in all three placements the light is always directed from the far side of the camera therefore the wider portion of the face that the camera sees is in the dark.

When photographing people, being video, film or still photography, we must remember that the viewer’s attention will always be attracted to the lightest part of the image and when listening to somebody we want the attention to be directed to the eyes and mouth, therefore this is the area that our lighting should be directed to.

A full front light, which is actually placed slightly to one side, is more effective when less modeling on the face is the desired effect. The only possible disadvantage, or advantage depending on the situation, is the the front light will shine directly behind the subject and into the background making it more difficult to control the background if lighting is very critical.
As the shadow area when using front key light is considerably smaller, in most cases a fill light is not necessary. The drawback of this light is that the wide light area makes the subject’s face appear wider and therefore not very appealing to overweight people.

The 45 degrees, also known as the Rembrandt light because of the artist’s wide use of this technique, is perhaps the most popular of all the Key Light placements.Unfortunately it is also the most misplaced of all the Key Lights.

When placed correctly at approximately 45 degrees from the direction that the subject is facing and at a 45 degrees height the light will form a triangle of light under the eye on the shadow side of the face.

When placed incorrectly, normally too low and too close to the camera, the light will cast a nose shadow making the nose appear disproportionally larger.

The last of the Key Light placement is the 90 degrees light. This placement is ideal when we wish to give the subject a dramatic look.

The light is placed completely on one side and lowered to eye level. This technique comes in handy when the subject wears a hat, like athletes often do, as its placement will minimize the casting of a shadow from the hat visor.

Sometime a properly placed single Fresnel light can be effective in creating  a key light.

If we are going to use a single Fresnel then a full front position is recommended.  The only visible harsh shadow is below the subject’s nose. Also by closing the barndoors on the light we’ll create a narrow beam of light making the subject’s face appear longer and narrow.

Placing a single Fresnel at a 45 degree position will create too many harsh shadows.

A single Fresnel  placed below the subject will result in a theatrical and mysterious look.

Or other mysterious effects can be created with a minimum of gears.

In recent years lights have been replaced by reflectors as a method to fill the shadow areas. Using reflectors is an economical and fast way to create a fill light but is far from an ideal way to create quality lighting.

As you can see in the diagram below, the key light illuminates the subject’s features from one side, the spill of the key light is reflected back on the subject from the opposite (shadow) side of the face. Both sides of the face are illuminated but there’s no light at all in the front of the face.

The traditional and correct method is for the fill light to be placed as close as the camera lens as possible. Any light will do it as long as the light does not cast shadows in any part of the image. Using a small soft light would be preferable to a harsh light. In this illustrated setting a small Lowel Pro Light mounted on an XXSmall Chimera was used for fill.

On the images below we can clearly see the difference between a reflector and a fill light.

Even with young people using a fill light instead of a reflector will make a great difference

There are times when one light can perform double duty. In the image and diagram below only two soft lights were used. The second light was placed behind the subject opposite to the key light. Being a large soft light not only gave us a soft edge light but the wraparound effect also provided fill for the shadow area.

Some clients like ESPN Classic require that the shadow area on the subject’s features goes completely black. Often this might be difficult, particularly in smaller rooms where stray light bouncing around the room might affect the density of the shadows. In this case a negative fill can be created by placing a black flag or a black cloth on the shadow side of the face just outside the camera’s view to block any unwanted light from hitting the subject.

Most photographers use a small light such as an Arri 300 Fresnel mounted on a boom arm or a grip arm.

A better way to create separation is to use a large softbox as a hairlight

A large softlight will result in a softer shadow and more pleasant highlights

For subjects with thin or no hair the large softlight  in most cases will give  a more even light  while a Fresnel or any small light source  will show a more prominent hot spot.

Sometime when there’s no hair we don’t really need a hair light.(Below left) we can see that even a large soft light wasn’t going to remove the hot spot on the subject’s head.  (Below right)  by entirely removing the hair light we took care of the hot spot, however we also lost the small highlight on the subject’s shoulders.

    By tilting the light down and away from the top of the head we let the fringe of the light hit only the shoulders. This is considerably easier to accomplish when we use a fabric grid to control the output  of the light.

The easiest light to use for an edge is a small (300 w) Fresnel with a gel attached to the exterior of the barn doors and extend the barn doors by attaching two pieces of black foamcore (see the ENG/EFP Light chapter for more information on Fresnel lights).

The extended barn doors are important because in order to get a small edge the light must be placed almost behind the subject and directed toward the camera lens. After the light is in place, pan it in the direction of the key light until it shines just off the camera.

Having the knowledge of creating good camerawork and good lighting is important in this profession. A client who hire us expect that from us. However, the most important skill in this business is the ability of problem solving.

There are always problems in 90% of assignments, and I don’t mean something breaking down. Things don’t always go as planned or as we were hoping they would. There are always unforeseen and unexpected obstacles in most jobs that would cause the shoot to go behind schedule and add to the costs. It’s out ability to quickly resolve these problem that make us a valuable assets to our clients, and when we are valuable the client keeps calling us back.

It’s always a delight to walk into a place and find a very attractive decor ideal for interviews, the reality is that only one in ten assignments we find a place suitable for quality interviews. Anyone can create good interviews given ideal conditions, but what creates repeat business and makes clients come back is the photographer’s problem solving skills, the ability to create something out of nothing.

Interviews are an important integral part of most programs. The content of most assignments often hinge around interviews. Interviews are also a reference to measure the quality of the program against other programs. It is something that viewers see everyday and just like a good or bad portrait even an untrained person can tell the difference between a good or bad set-up in an interview.

This is a typical example of creating something out of nothing.

In the mid 90s ESPN started a new cable channel called ESPN Classic. The centerpiece of this channel was a series of one hour programs titled “Sport Century”. These programs featured the lives and accomplishments of the world’s greatest athletes.  Something else also was born with those shows, a new look and style of interview that has become the standard of high quality interviews across the video industry. It was new for television but in reality it wasn’t really new. That style actually was created by Italian Renaissance  artists back in the 14th century and is known as the “Chiaroscuro” (light and dark) technique, see the Chiaroscuro chapter. Chiaroscuro techniques have always been used in the motion picture industry, the best example of this technique can be seen in the movie The Godfather 1. It was however new for television.

Only a handfull of photographers were qualified by ESPN to create these interview. Over the 9 years and hundreds of these shows we all contributed in the continuos refining of this technique.

What we often had to do wasn’t easy. Not all the interview locations were inside the athletes mansions where everywhere you pointed the camera could turn into a masterpiece. Most of the interviews we did were with people who over the years were associated to the athlete’s career but did not share the wealth. Often the only available areas large enough to conduct interviews were garages, hallways and many times locker room showers. It was always a challenge.

The techniques we created, the equipment and props that we put together shaped the careers of those who were involved in creating quality out of nothing.  That hand full of photographers who refined these technique are today amongst the busiest in the industry.

Below is a selection of props we use to create high quality backgrounds where there’s none. When we buy something to decorate our own home we also think props. When my wife comes home and sees something missing she know that in a few days she’ll see it on TV.

Often we have to go outside the video industry to find what we need. Flex-out backgrounds have been very popular in photography but very few in the video industry have ever seen one. Built like giant flex-fills, collapsible backgrounds have been a life saver for interviews. They pop-up and stay open, are wrinkle free stretched on their built-in spring frame.  They are available in sizes up to 6×9 feet and in a variety of colors and patterns. They are also available as very realistic scenic computer printed backgrounds. Collapsible backgrounds can be supported by a light stand or simply leaned against a wall.

Collapsable backgrounds can really save the day. For this interview of an outstanding High School athlete, the producer asked that the student’s trophy case be included in the background, the problem was that the case was next to a hallway and in front of a light wall, not very suitable for a good visual. The problem was quickly solved by sliding the collapsible background behind the case and blocking the opening of the hallway changing the color behind the trophy case.

In the setup below the only available wall was one with the chair rail molding cutting right across the image.  Not a very attractive composition.  However we liked the picture on the wall so we slid a collapsible background under the picture, added a few props and in a matter of minutes we had an acceptable background.

Below you’ll see a number of similar interview set-up created in a variety of places. Also notice how the wall pictures were placed in the scene. We also have a selection of “painting” that we use as props. These are very inexpensive reproduction that we bought at store sales and never paid more than $20 for each one. They are clamped on counter-weighted  boom arms that remains just outside of the image giving the illusion that the collapsible background is actually an existing wall.

Below you can see in incremental steps how a garage was converted into a Classic set-up

Muslin Backgrounds

Another very popular ans easy to use background material is Muslin. For the most this fabric material is used as a quick solution and the main reason we use it the most is to block and hide unwanted backgrounds. It is not one of our preferible solution but often is the only solution.

Muslin is available in a large variety of colors, patterns and sizes. It varies from the very cheap to the very expensive depending on the weight of the material and how well it was stained or painted. It usually work just as well wrinkled, providing that the wrinkles do not form a specific pattern or straight lines, or wrinkles can be easily removed with a fabric steamer.  It works best if the background is out of focus.

Muslin backgrounds can either use stretched or clamped to form a drape effect.

Most of the interviews we’ve seen above are of a single person, this makes it much easier to build a set. When a large area need to be in the picture creating backgrounds from scratch becomes impractical, unless there’s a real big budget allocated to the job. For these situations when the existing background is not suitable for our purposes the we have to use large Muslin backdrops.

For the interview below because of different camera angles we had to cover a large area, had no other choice but to use a large Muslin backdrop . We enhanced by projecting an image into the background (see Lighting Backgrounds).

The most common rule in small rooms is to shoot corner to corner, this will give us the longest distance between camera and background.

Creating separation in a small room is not easy. Adjust the intensity of the lights so the lens setting will be at the widest aperture, this will give us the lowest depth of field. The best way to do this is to set the lens at its widest aperture and with dimmers, scrims or ND gels adjust the lights until you obtain a good exposure.

Using a dark background will give the illusion of a greater depth and make it easier to create separations in the image.    

For this situation we used a small grid to wrap two corner of the room with black cloth.Every inch counts. By using standard stands to support the background we just lost one foot of of valuable distance between the camera and background.Heavy steel bases used in pipe and base draperies are an inexpensive solution for supporting backgrounds or even small lights and brings the background flush against the wall.       

With floor space at a premium we’ll minimize the use of light stands by taking full advantage of the drop ceiling for hanging small lights with the aid of scissors clamps  and fly-in lights form outside the image with the use of booms.  

While getting good lighting on the subject is a matter of following fundamental lighting techniques, creating good lighting on backgrounds can be challenging. There are no specific techniques to follow and how well the background is created and lit will make the difference between a good or bad interview or portrait, no matter how well the subject is lit and composed.

Remember that most backgrounds are different  and each will require different lighting techniques. The demonstrations below are typical on what’s needed on an average background and  should be good starting points.

In the video below you’ll see a typical location interview set-up for ESPN. It take the crew about two hours to set-up.

In this particular locker room we trying to make something out of nothing by using the depth and whatever props we were able to use. to create separation from the background the camera was placed about 12ft from the subject.

The most versatile lighting kit for backgrounds consists of several 100 to 300 watts Fresnel lights, a variety of pre-cut diffusion gels, CTO and CTB gels and some small flags to control the light.

Backgrounds should be lit modularly by selectively placing one light at a time and only where needed. The accuracy of small Fresnel lights are ideal for this type of work.  Also remember that for quality work no area in the entire image should be lighter then the main point of interest, and that’s the subject’s features.

Let’s look at some examples below.
For this set-up four lights were used on the background, 2/100w LTM Fresnels, one  Arri 300 Fresnel and one Lowel Rifa-Lite 55 with fabric grid. All lights were on dimmers.

The 2/100w LTM Fresnels were used to side light the two shelves with trophies. ½ CTO gel was added to enhance the brass color.

(Above) The side placement of the two lights is giving us good modeling and depth.  Unfortunately good modeling also creates excessive dark shadows or too much contrast.

One of the many advantages of using small lights is that they can be mounted everywhere, especially in confined spaces.  Notice the second light above mounted on the same light stand with a Mattelini clamp.

(Below) The Lowel Rifa was pointed on the bookcase and the output was adjusted to reduce the contrast without effecting the modeling. Because the trophies are very close to the background a soft light instead of another Fresnel light was used to minimize shadows. The deep fabric grid on the Lowel is ideal for pinpointing the direction of the light without causing  unwanted spill outside the area that needs lighting.

(Above) (Left) Without the fill light  and (right)  with the Lowel Rifa as fill.

(Below) The last of the lights for this set-up is the Arri 300 Fresnel. The 300 is spotted to give us a small diffused circle of light to be placed directly behind the subject’s head, again, review the Chiaroscuro chapter for the correct placement of the light behind the subject.

The total set-up time for this interview was about one hour.

Above we discussed the visual importance of lighting objects from the side/back. This will create separation from the background and depth. The visual effect can be clearly seen on the three images below.

We built this background out of a garage (see the chapter in creating backgrounds). Now it’s time to light it.

 For this background a total of five lights were used. 3/300w Arri Fresnels, 1/150w Arri Fresnel and one 150w LTM fresnel. All lights were on dimmers.

Small Fresnel light give us total placement control of the lighting; additionally small lights can be clustered together and pointed in different directions as needed. This is particularly advantageous when space is limited.

(Below) When possible placing lights over and above with the use of boom or gobo arms have many advantages and eliminates many potential problems.  Shadows will be cast outside the image and in most instances reflection from shining surfaces will be minimized because of the reflective angle.  In this case the light was placed overhead in order to eliminate potential reflection and glare .

(Below) The first Arri 300 Fresnel is placed high above to illuminate the floor screen. Although there’s a distance of about 6 feet between the screen and the rest of the background,  without proper lighting to give us depth and separation of planes  everything looks bunched together.

 Too often all we have to work with are small areas and it’s very difficult to create depth when there’s no workable distances between the camera/subject/background.

As we’ve seen in the Chiaroscuro techniques, the best way to create separation and depth in the different planes of the image is to use a succession of light and dark areas.  Also the same technique works when we need to show the dimension of objects. This can easily be accomplished by placing the light on the side and slightly behind the object(s) to be lit. The shadow created by the light will show the shape or depth dimension of any object. Of course this technique will not work on a flat surface.

A good example of this modeling technique can be seen in the image below on the left.  In order to bring up the roundness of the floor screen and create separation from the back an Arri 300 Fresnel was placed on the side and behind.

This particular design of floor screen was chosen because it has see-thru openings. By seeing what’s behind this object we add a little more of dimensional depth.

On the next image (below-right), in order to prevent even a minimum spill to the background behind the screen, the barndoors were extended by attaching two lightweight pre-cut pieces of black foamboard.

In the images below we can clearly see how the back-light on the floor screen is being separated from the rest of the background. If we had used a front light instead of a backlight,  both the floor screen and the background would be equally lit and would defeat the purpose of using lighting to create separation.

Next (below) with the Arri 300 Fresnel we’ll add a small diffused spot on the bookcase background trying to keep a darker area between the edge of the floor screen and the bookcase.

Next is the dry flower arrangement (below).  For this we’ll use an Arri 150w Fresnel and also place the light side and back.

The last of the background lights is for the blue cloth that will be seen only thru and behind the floor screen. For this we’ll use a 100w LTM Fresnel.

And  here’s the finished product.

In conclusion when lighting and creating background always make your best effort to illuminate every object in its own plane by visually separating it from what’s in front and back of it by creating highlights and shadows.

In this two camera interview the background lighting was kept to a minimum. We did combine daylight and tungsten. Although we could have used HMI lights to balance with the daylight color temperature (5600K), we used tungsten light and set the cameras 3200K color temperature (standard indoor). This gave the background the bluish tint effect that we were looking for, and effectively created a good separation with warm and cold color tones.

Of course we did not want too much blue in the background  so we added a few Arri  300w Fresnel  to bring up some highlight and add some warmth.  In the image on the  left  we can see an edge light on one of the statues between the subjects. On the image on the right we added Arri Arri 300w Fresnel. One to add a warm area on the shadow side of the face and another to add some highlights to the two candelabra on the right. Again the lights are placed behind and to the side in order to add roundness or dimension to the objects.  Remember these are small details  and for some  might appear to be insignificant  or not worth the time. Quality work is created with the cumulative visual effect of small details within the same image.

Another popular method of lighting backgrounds is with the use of projected patterns.

The less expensive method is to use Cucoloris (Cookies). These are flat rigid material with shapes cut out, by placing it in front of a light, preferably a fresnel light we can project patterns on the background.  It’s easy for the do-it-yourself to make Cucoloris by cutting shapes out of a piece of black foam board. Always keep any material at a safe distance from hot lights.

The projection of accentuated patterns usually works best when there’s a plain and uninteresting background.

The most effective and controllable method for projecting light into a background is to use Ellipsoidal lights like the Altman or Source 4

Subtle undefined pattern projection can be beneficial to any background when there’s no other patterns or textures.

The beam of light can be focused and the shape adjusted

In addition of projecting raw light, Ellipsoidal are also made to project a large variety of available of shape and patterns (gobos).

An additional advantage of Ellipsoidal light is the Pro Slide attachment by Rosco. This gives you the ability to create your own custom images that can be projected onto a background effectively customizing the background to the subject.