We are back at it this week looking at a recent commercial and doing a little breakdown.  

Normally a job like this I wouldn't highlight the approach but after talking with Elliot Nieves on a recent episode about this series I thought it might be beneficial to look at what works and what doesn't work when you are constrained for one reason or another.

Hopefully if you are ever in a similar situation this will give you a good idea of what to expect and how you can deal with the challenges on the day.

Enjoy!

Cinematography Course: Mastering Exposure

Mastering Exposure is out now.  It is the latest course in the line up and so far the reviews have been awesome.

In the course I detail how I learned exposure and I share how I would get up to speed the fastest way possible if I was starting over today.

Cinematography can seem incredibly complex but underneath it all there are some fundamental decisions that must be made if you are going to get images you are happy with.  Exposure and understanding how to best manipulate exposure and why one way is better or more efficient than another is absolutely essential if you are going to work with a crew and on schedule.

This course is my attempt at sharing my exact process so you don't have to struggle to find answers like I did.

If you are interested you can check out the course here:

Mastering Exposure - The Language of Image Creation

Shot #1 - The Wide

The Shot

Wide shot of husband and wife in a bedroom.  The husband is running all over the room quickly packing his bags to leave.

The Lighting

We used Titan Tubes everywhere for this spot.  They were outside for ambient moon light.  They were inside using the bed as an overhead rig.

They were floating around on the floor to help wrap the top light.  It was Titan Tubes everywhere.

The Result

Shot #2 - The Insert

The Shot

Husband grabbing keys off the dresser.

The Lighting

We used the practical in the background for mood and used a tube just over the camera pushed through a 4x4 frame to light the keys and hand.

The Result

Shot #3 - The Classic Closet Shot

The Shot

The man flips through hangers grabbing clothes off the rack.

The Lighting

Tubes, tubes and more tubes.  Plus a 4x4 frame for softness from frame right.

The Result

Shot #4 - Hero Moment

The Shot

This was the hero shot.  The camera dollies in as the woman breaks down.

The Lighting

We took the lighting from the wide and lessened the level.  Then from the ground we pushed a softer amount of light to help ease the bags under the eyes created by the overhead.

The colored tube behind the bed helped seperate her hair from the grey background.

The Result

Shot #5 - The 270

The Shot

The camera tracks the husband all over the room as he collects his things.

The Lighting

This was the death set up.  Actor moving all over the room and no grid to light from above.  No time to re-organize the room to create pockets of light and dark so we had to do our best with the limited resources avilable,

The Result

Shot #6 - The Exit

The Shot

The husband opens the bedroom door and exits.

The Lighting

I chose the moment before the door opens and creates some depth to show you how flat things got in the space.

No option to backlight because of the height of the ceiling and the lack of a grid.  No ability to create pools of interest because of the width of the shot.

Not many solutions to flatness in a space like this.  This is one where you'd lova to have production design do a lot of the heavy lifting but then you remember you are in a modern white walled house where everything is neutral.

The Result