LIGHTING DIAGRAM #68 – JUSTIFIED

            Timothy Olyphant’s U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens mixes it up with Michael Rappaport and his roster of fellow baddies…

            This short clip of a much longer scene illustrates how easy it can be to turn relatively static – and easily boring – shots into something interesting.

            The lighting of this set couldn’t be simpler – a single source key and some low-level fill to open the shadows a bit and illuminate the eyes.  The secret is in maintaining a certain level of contrast so as to avoid a flat-lit situation.  Watch the shadows…  There’s always something black in the frame.  It contributes a richness to the image and brings some depth to the proceedings.  Many flags and nets were used to achieve the effect by attenuating the 10K fresnel.  And note well: there’s always only one shadow on the wall.

            Keep in mind that this scene was covered at all times by three cameras shooting simultaneously from three different angles (and often jumping the editorial line); this all but guaranteed that sacrifices would be made in the lighting.  But most of it works out reasonably well here.

            Try this method the next time you’re faced with a long dialogue scene in which nothing much happens except an exchange of words.

11.12.2021

2 thoughts on “LIGHTING DIAGRAM #68 – JUSTIFIED”

  1. Looks great — I’m just surprised a 10K through 250 plus 216 plus sheers over the window would create a hard cut on the wall like that!

  2. Hey David – You’ve got a good point…and I could be mistaken on the amount of diffusion (it’s been a few years!). But I do recall the sheer curtains being very thin…

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