Making Better Movies with Moviestorm Vol 3: Sound and Light

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REALISTIC VS UNREALISTIC LIGHTING Film the scene, making it look as much like real life as possible. Think of it as if you were shooting a documentary and were simply trying to catch what you see in front of you. Film it again, but now use much more stylized lighting. You may need to adjust the choreography to take advantage of the lighting setup: move characters so that they make best use of the light. Review Which version works better, and why? How did the lighting affect the storytelling – what effect does it have on the mood? In what ways can you use lighting to change the audience’s view of particular characters or events? What else did you have to adjust to take advantage of the lighting? When using a realistic lighting design, what did you have to “improve” to get the shots better, i.e. eliminating shadows, adding contrast between foreground and background, and so on. Which version was more complex? Do a quick budget and shooting plan – what extra costs would be involved in using more complex lighting? Consider setup time, equipment, and so on. What reasons would you have for picking your lighting design – is it purely an aesthetic issue? Followup exercises Film several consecutive scenes using the same stylized lighting design on different sets. How easy is it to keep the same feel across the different locations? Do they cut together successfully, particularly when intercutting between them? Film several consecutive scenes using different stylized lighting designs on different sets. Do they cut together successfully, particularly when intercutting between them, or do they clash? Try the same exercise on different scenes and genres: what lighting setups are appropriate in different cases? 28
FAKING LIGHTING CONTINUITY Technique Shoot a scene with several different lighting setups, but make it look consistent. One of the lighting crew’s favorite tricks is to relight the scene for each shot. This is much more common in film than television. The aim is to make every shot look as good as it can, and create a pleasing visual composition. In some scenes, a character may be lit from completely different directions, or may have different colored lighting on them. If it’s done well, the audience will never notice the lack of continuity. In The Lord of the Rings I: The Fellowship of the Ring, at the scene in the inn, the master shots are all lit from one direction, with the light appearing to come from the fireplace behind the characters so they are mostly backlit. This creates a strong visual image. When we cut to close shots, the light now comes from the opposite direction, in front of the characters, so that the viewer can see the facial detail better. Most of the audience won't notice this lack of continuity, as they are focused on the characters and the story. When you're shooting television, you rarely get the opportunity to change lights between shots: it is common to shoot the entire scene in one take. Film, on the other hand, tends to be filmed one shot at a time, which allows for much more care to be taken over getting each shot just right. It's one of the main things that differentiates film from television - and of course, this is reflected in the budget and shooting schedule. In this relatively subtle example, the character in front is lit with a strong front light to help him stand out from the background. When we cut to a close shot on him, one side of his face is in shadow, and we lose detail. By adding in an extra back light which isn't present in the master shot, we enable the whole face to be seen while preserving the shadow. Take a scene in a single location – preferably interior. Ideally, it should include 2 or more people. You can use either an action or a dialog scene. 29
Page 2 and 3: CONTENTS FOREWORD .................
Page 4 and 5: This excellent series of books will
Page 6 and 7: EXERCISES How to use this book The
Page 8 and 9: Once you start thinking about the s
Page 10 and 11: FOLEY OR NOT? Film the scene, and r
Page 12 and 13: AMBIENT NOISE Film and edit the sce
Page 14 and 15: REALISTIC AMBIENCE Go to a busy loc
Page 16 and 17: EMPHATIC SOUND Shoot the scene base
Page 18 and 19: USING MUSIC AS LEITMOTIF Shoot the
Page 20 and 21: USING SOUND TO BRIDGE A SCENE Shoot
Page 22 and 23: CUTTING & DIRECTING TO MUSIC Film a
Page 24 and 25: MUSIC VIDEO Film the piece in five
Page 26 and 27: Lighting a virtual movie scene is a
Page 30 and 31: FAKING LIGHTING CONTINUITY Shoot th
Page 32 and 33: MOSTLY DARK SHOTS Shoot the scene a
Page 34 and 35: DAY VS NIGHT Film the scene in dayt
Page 36 and 37: MOVING LIGHTS Shoot the scene with
Page 38 and 39: HANDHELD LIGHTS Start in a dark set
Page 40 and 41: SILHOUETTES Shoot the scene convent
Page 42 and 43: FILMING SHADOWS Shoot the scene con
Page 44: Matt Kelland is one of the founders

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