Brazil (I think we’ve lost him)
Sven February 9th, 2010
Okay, so this structure isn’t quite as dramatic as the cooling tower at the end of Brazil, but I like it. The intention was originally to work up some kind of dehumanised interrogation scene, but things took a more abstract turn.
Jon’s proved his throwing prowess, and soon after arrival, we had a light suspended from the wooden framework of the building. Despite a light breeze, it hung fairly steadily, and despite being cheap, low-rated discount store material, the fishing line did not snap under the weight of its burden. So, that at least provided an interesting starting point for lighting things up. Getting the rest of the structure visible in an exposure was another matter, though.
The RGB proved particularly useful for general lighting, with the broad diffuse beam, and it would have been handy to have a couple more of them, to deploy for even and balanced lighting. Instead, Jon made use of the two relatively similar Fenixes we had between us. Obviously it’s a little difficult to light paint while trying to stand still in a photo, but I did manage to do it once, with the RGB behind my back. Jon and I did take turns at painting the surrounds during exposures, though, which was somewhat easier, but of course it’s never quite the same as arranging the lighting oneself.
If nothing else, we did light this much better this time than last time. It’s worth noting that the reddish-orange shot with the light beam was originally painted green, with the RGB, but I hue-shifted it for reasons I don’t quite recall now. There was some deliberation over whether to go with the bright, punchy colour, or to tone it down with a subdued steely blue. I’m still not sure which I prefer, personally.
I did contemplate some steel wool experimentation in here, but given that this world war two structure is entirely wooden-framed, not steel, was most recently used for commercial fuel operations, and contains a maintenance bay soaked in oil, I thought I might just play it safe…
- Excursions
- Comments(2)
Is that top one the one you can see multiple copies of my feet in? I am a terrible mobile light painter, I really do prefer the lights to be fixed or flashes.
Yes it is! I could have removed that, but I don’t mind the way it looks (at least not at web resolution). I managed to do the same thing with my feet in one shot, too, when I wasn’t paying due attention to what I was doing.