The Best Way to Light Table Scenes | Cinematography Techniques
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- Опубликовано: 19 июн 2024
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On today's episode of 4MFS, DP/Host Kevin Reyes shows us how to light one of the most common scenes in all of filmmaking - the classic fancy dinner scene. The name of the game here is soft lighting, and we're achieving an especially soft quality of light by double-breaking the light through diffusion frames with fabric control grids. Anytime that we have a traditional restaurant scene, practical lighting plays a huge part in making the scene look natural, which we include in this setup. We also talk about rigging lanterns overhead, maintaining a consistent color temperature, and framing up your shot. No matter what kind of dinner scene you are shooting, you'll be able to take away some cinematic tips for your next production.
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0:00 - Intro
0:24 - Story/Concept
0:56 - Base Lighting
2:36 - Camera
3:57 - Lighting Setup #1
4:33 - Production Design
5:31 - Shot #1
6:04 - Lighting Setup #2
7:46 - Lighting Setup #3
8:21 - Final Result
8:34 - Outro
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I've shot in that location 2 times and going for a 3rd this weekend. Also have to do a table scene, but with 2 cameras running at once. So I'm skipping the 2-shot and putting a soft light right down the middle.
More from this guy. This show just stepped up an entire universe in its quality and results.
These last couple episodes have been absolute 🔥🔥🔥
I got a dinner scene this week. Definitely using some of the tips in this video. Can’t believe I never thought about putting a napkin on bulbs for extra defusion. Love that these videos are not just about all lighting but y’all included little crew jems!
Anything can be diffusion if you try hard enough 🤔
When I think of dinner/table scenes, I always think about Shane Hurlbut's technique of skirting a super soft yet powerful overhead light over the table, then using batten lights around the outside of the table pointing in as backlight. That way you can go around the table and shoot in any direction and you don't have to change any lighting other than a fill bounce here and there. This technique makes shooting a multi-person dinner scene way less stressful. Love the tutorial guys! This looks awesome!!
this is probably the best looking scene aputure has done so far. love this dp
I recently lit a quick table scene in a tight space w/ 5 b7c’s in a chandelier (added some diffusion) and 2 more in lamps serving as practicals. looked great! I broke one on a previous project or I would’ve found a way to incorporate it as well. Great work Kevin Reyes and all involved.
Great lighting. Definitely my style of gaffing. The DP and Gaffer were both amazing artists!
Thank you
This is something I did two weeks ago actually. We filmed a dinner scene directly next to a window, had four candles on the table to add some moving lights, an overhead soft light, and some LED panels set to a warmer temperature to offset from the 5600k window. Also had some string lights around the scene to add some nice bokeh. The shot ended up being very dynamic and beautiful in my opinion. It's one of my favorite lighting set ups that I've ever done.
Thanks for all these great videos. I've learned so much from you guys!
I always love seeing someone's process 🙏
I would love to shoot an outdoors dinner scene. Natural lighting but just bounce and diffuse it to bend it to my will 😉
First this was a great video. I have to say I've been in over 50 films and 25 tv shows as an extra to make a little cash and ive never seen such complicated light set up for one shot. Ever! I think because they don't light that way anymore in big budget films. For example, i was in la la land apart of that first kiss scene in the restaurant. The production lighted the entire restaurant not just Ryan and Emma. When you walked in, The entire room was beautiful. Maybe you didn't like the lighting in La La land but i thought it very romantic, my scene gave me a date, of course we were silhouettes in the background, but the gradient from light to shadows, i thought very well done. And again nothing set up on tripod anywhere in the room, all overhead florescent and table top light.
A big soft box on top like a 300x and smaller with diffuse and black fills for every talent fill and at last a bunch of practicals in the back
Honestly, I love those restaurants where you basically have one light above the table providing beauty dish like quality of light and still reflections on the table. I’ll position a COB + squirted lantern above, with a beige / white table top to provide some warm fill above the chins, and then build from there : edge lights, back lights, practicals. That’s what I love doing the most for such scenery.
Thanks for the great video !
Super interesting breakdown! For the wide, I’d probably have a big diffused source overhead to add some beautiful ambient light/act as the key (with a white table cloth to lift the faces up a bit), some slightly diffused spotlights (or maybe tube lights) as hairlights, and a big, soft, subtle booster/fill infront looking down at the actors to focus peoples eyes into the centre of frame where the action is happening (with some accents in the background). And also finding the right balance where it looks stylistic/directs the eyes/boosts the story while not being too obvious or taking away from the experience for the audience :)
I've actually shot at this location before haha and we had a limited budget so all we had was a lite mat and 2 source 4 lekos. But budget aside, I think my approach would be similar in that I would go for a soft top light, eye light, and practicals to make the scene feel more alive and lived in, which the B7C would be very useful for. And not to forget negative fill and get some contrast which is my favorite
Love love love this ep! In a small dining room I'd probably downlight the background with Mc's, bounce a spotlight mount on the ceiling or some poly above the table, and then add plenty of rim with some 60ds on boom arms :)
SOOOOOO GOOD! Loving the cine-bae, get those sprinkles of salt and pepper in the background! Smashed it.
🤌
5:35 Nicely done guys
Loved it. Thanks. For me, I like to light table scenes with the Aputure lantern top down then fill in the background details to taste.
I’ve been really liking to wrap quasars in unbleached muslin. I wonder if some kind of overhead set up with those could be a start but “Cine-Bae” 7:21 😭😭
Kevin you do a fantastic job!
Actually, I'm going to be shooting a dinner scene next month! The location is a restaurant that has a Bar with visible Edison Bulbs along the back that we are using as Practical interest for our main light similar to this! the ceiling is much lower and unfortunately some of the main lights in the bar are Florescence tucked under and above the bar. Probably with replicate the style a bit with a LED Bar light or two. in a few wides the ceiling lights are out of frame but the ceiling its self is short and since the over all piece is pretty "Less is More" were pumping our (2x) 300D ii to motivate the idea that the bar extend off frame and renting some MCs to add a few touches here and there.
I think a lantern right in the middle is perfect way to start. Outside of that I’d love to use a nova behind a 4x4 diffusion cloth behind each facing the middle. Love this look thanks for sharing!
I’d probably just light a dinner scene just like this, only problem is that I don’t have a BC7…but if I won, I’d be able to light with this setup!
thanks! its very helpful
Another great presentation, Kevin and crew! I'm gonna have to invest in some B7Cs.
I would light it with an overhead approach. An aperture 300D II with the softbox lantern and the skirt around it so it doesn't spill in the room and create a more dramatic look. Then I'd add some subtle backlighting to the actors and I'd also bring an extra light bounced to the ceiling to control the background's exposure and the aspect ratio between my subject and BG. Amazing tips, amazing video as always! Hope I win! Cheers
Thank you for this. It’s always fun to watch other shooters light. It’s great how you discuss your approach. However, I would be interested what your your camera settings, ISO rates, f-stop are as well.
How would I light a dinner scene? Make it look as cozy and inviting as possible (of course only when it’s appropriate to the story). Lighting is the best way to achieve that in my opinion. I love overhead lighting as it looks the most realistic in a scenario like this. Warm and very soft lighting helps a lot to create that cozy atmosphere. And I’d use many practicals since those bring the scene to life, give the room more character and work brilliant to motivate other lights. Great tutorial, Aputure. Especially love the idea with the Aputure MC to add more shape to the the foreground!
Haha it was great ACing this project with you guys!
You're the best!
Great tutorial! I would light a dinner scene with a Tungsten using a softbox. But it depends on the scene. More of a hard light can certainly look better in some situations.
For a dinner scene I shot a few years ago, I took a page out of Sean Bobbitt's handbook for "Shame" (dir. Steve McQueen, 2011) and hung a fresnel unit right above the table and pointed it down at the table. The return off the wood-finished table underlit the actors and gave a nice, warm look that felt very romantic. Then I just brought in hairlights for the singles.
This is an easy one with Aputure lights! All jokes aside the overhead lighting scenario feels like the go-to standard to master but depending on the set etc. Trying something new Id be curious to light the scene using a table light as a key motivation. Blocking with a dirty single helps to place an A.MC or A.B7C near the talent without looking to sourcey. Filling the room with light shapes by a smaller source seems like a good way to go
thanks for the entire results
I love this channel I learn everything I know to film my own projects I wish I can be part of this crew hopefully one day I can collab with you guys!
I’d do something very similar. Two big sources cross keying from behind/on the sides, as well as a soft top light from behind. If the background is too dark, might add some ambience until it feels right.
This is by far the most informational / inspirational / instructional channel on youtube!
We appreciate it Tommy!
I use my Aputure Spotlight mount and use the cutters to form a rectangle on the ceiling. Masking tape and black cloth hanging down to cut light off the walls if needed + atmo/haze to give it that rustic feel also to reduce contrast and lift the shadows.
inb4 1000 views.
Also, keep em coming guys, these videos are REALLY helping me out learn about lighting. 🙌🏼
a lantern as a main and some 120d with diffusion for fills , plus a bunch MCs through the window for city lights
I think the overhead Aputure 300d and light dome are a great option for a dinner scene. But for a more creamy look, I would use the 300d that I would set up from the side of the actor by bouncing it from unbleached muslin.
The recipe for lighting a dinner scene!
I’m going to try this, using the limited equipment I have at home. I’ll be shooting in a small 12’ x 15’ room with a large white wall and dark green accent walls. To control the light bounce, I’m going to first address the white wall (which will be the background, given the room layout, and to keep the room from feeling too small, as I don’t want to create a trapped/claustrophobic feeling in this scene) and set design. I’m going to put up temporary wall paper to coordinate with the existing green accent walls, using a double-sided tape method that I’ve employed on past projects. I will place a color-matched practical on a sideboard in the background as a motivator. The practical will be re-wired with a cheap Smith Victor 250W or 500W tungsten on a dimmer. The practical’s shade will be coordinated to the set dressing and possibly lined with paper diffusion, if necessary. To mimic your lighting setup as best as possible, I’m going to use a cheap three-light soft box kit I purchased from Amazon 10 years ago for my key lights. For the double diffusion, I will use two 5-in-1 reflectors/diffusers mounted on C stands. The benefit of this is that the 5-in-1s are round for the eye lights on my singles. For the over head, I’ll use a smaller soft box on a boom arm. I don’t have a light colored tablecloth, and my table is dark, so I’ll use candles on the table as practicals to bring up the exposure, provide some fill, and add ambience. Because the room is small, but I don’t want to skimp on set design, I will use framed paintings with a matte finish and no glass in in the background, avoiding hot spots and light reflections. These paintings will be thoughtfully matched/themed to the intended character of the location. I will be shooting on a BMPCC with 1/4 Pro Mist filter. I will likely use a 24mm for the establishing, as long as I the distance to the to table and actors is sufficient to avoid distortion. I think I’ll have enough space for my dirty singles to use a 50mm and keep the off-screen actor’s shoulder in frame.
I love these breakdowns! Id watch them 12 hours a day if I could because I love hearing people's ideas/motivations behind every decision. It really depends on the motivation of the scene, but I like intimate. I like a drastic lighting contrast from the table/subjects and the rest of the frame. A lantern making a large soft source over the table to draw your eye naturally to the subjects, while adding splashes of color to keep the rest of the frame darker/drastic while still being interesting. It also allows for a lot of flexibility in color to really change the mood/feel you are looking for in those shots, while also allowing you to cut down on production design by replacing in shot practicals with color splashes from out of frame objects.
I love the way Bong Joon Ho lit his dinner scenes in Parasite, the contrast he was able to obtain from lighting each dinner environment. So I would like to focus on lighting a dinner scene with very diffused roll off of shadows and use the environment to bounce light back as much as possible. The color tint of the lights should be key to establishing the feel of the scene and it would be great to have windows to capture depth and a place the scene in the world
Definitely lantern overhead and then I might try to do the rest with practicals!
this was a great breakdown, i think the only thing that was missing was some atmospheric haze , but my approach to lighting this would definitely be a top light skirted off from the BG , cross key both subjects and maybe add a splash of color on the back walls with some RGB tubes but that's up to preference depending on environment. They also should've had cigars idk why but i think guys smoking cigars would be having the best conversations.
Top light will be there in my scenes.. and I will create cove lighting or book lighting to achieve.. and offcourse the aparture mini lights are the real pop up .. helps to create a beautiful painting and I will add some haze at the end.. after settling down. I will roll. 🙂
I like the skirted lantern rigged as a top light, supplemented by a far side soft fill on the talent. I know I pretty much described what the video does, but it is a great classic look to start with. Of course it always depends on the story and mood of the scene the director is looking for.
I will watch aperture and now how 🤣
You are doing great work guys just keep going
Having the latern soft box with a bicolor light could give you a lot of flexibility being able to control both the color temperature along with the 4 adjustable sides to control the light spill. Love the idea pf using the MC lights as a quick way to highlight the shoulders for over the shoulder shots. Another great video!
Cool 👍👍👍👍
I love a big source overhead of the table for dinner scenes and than control it with a skirt and just let it naturally fall on all the characters pretty evenly.
So coool
This is awesome. Thank you for featuring us in your video. Huge fan of all your work and very honored you used us a source of reference.
Thank you too!
@@aputurelighting let me know when you guys want to do more with us.
I've got a dinner scene shoot coming up for my film school short. I plan to rig a soft box up on a beam suspended by two c stands. The c stands will be hidden I'm production design to look like lamps in the corners of the room. I hope to use a small light on the inside of the gobo head tocrate a streak of light down on the wall to emulate to source coming from the off screen lamp shade. I also intend on introducing some fancy practical next to the talent while they're talking, and the b7c would be such a life saver! Loving your content apurture 😇😇😇
I think I would light a scene similar to how you all did, except I would prefer the background practicals to be a bit harsher / vary in harshness as well. I think this adds a depth in contrast to the image and a more natural look / feel. Thanks for the video!
I LOVE overhead lighting, so a dream would be to have just a ton of lit china balls over the dinner table!
So funny that this video dropped now, I’ve juste finished a project where I had to do the exact same setup but where I hade to make it so we could shoot the wide and both single at the same time.
What I did is I used two SL1 at 5500k rigged right above the table to the ceiling with one and a half diffusion gel covering both of them and making something like a 2m x 2m super diffused and big light source. I just hade a bit of black cloth on the back of the light to prevent light spill on the back wall but otherwise the light was spilling everywhere and already lifting up the scene.
Then I added two Aputure 60x at 3200k, full flood and directed with the barn doors, rigged on the ceiling behind the table as well, acting as backlight. One thing to note is that we hade tungsten practical in the background so the 60x where emulating the practical and giving a super nice edge to the two actors, making them pop from the background.
And finally, I had a 300d with a light dom on it at about 45 degrees from the camera lifting the overall scene and making a small light direction to not juste have a super moody top light feel.
Hit me up If you would like the light diagram…
Will have boxed reflector with black curtains at top and use Fresnel in aputure 300d to spot and reflect light, will use white table cloth to reflect the light and fill the shadows will use B7C in motivated lamps and will add 120d as a rim light
Good call - make sure to have a modifier for the 120d so it doesn't spill light all over the foreground!
Wow ❤️ thank you for the great input
Awesome as always! So you shoot from the shadow side into the lit side. I think it's called "short" lighting (?). Definitely looks fantastic. Thanks for this!
Far side key! Some refer to it as "smart side" vs. "dumb side" lighting 😂
@@aputurelighting thank you for the information. Shooting from the shadow side definitely looks much better.
I'd probably go with the Gordon Willis method of using a big softbox over the table to create a very difused toplight on the actors with the help of the bounce form the table cloth. Then, the background would bit lit very low with some practicals, but, again, I like the way Willis often left the walls very, very underexposed. It all depends on the mood, also, if it is a happy family dinner I'd probably light the entire room with something like space lights or china balls a bit lower than the softbox to keep the attention on the characters and probably with a subtle change in color temperature, maybe a bit cooler so that the shadows remain cooler than the highlights.
Pancakes, lighting with pancake, well one pancake and practicals. Simple and effective. The practicals needs to be filtered etc. Thats why I probably need those B7c lights! :)
This was a great video. I wish you guys would have talked more about the neg fill used. I notice that there was more than a 4x4 floppy being used at one point.
HOW I WOULD HAVE LIT THE SCENE
Based on the fixtures that I already own I would use my 300D mark 2 in the same location as you did with the 300x. I would use a heat sink and CTO to get the color. needed. I have been experimenting with two large curved strip boxes lately so I would set both horizontal with grids. This would have created a wrapping light with a little less illumination spread vertically. It also would have saved me C stands.
The strip boxes would have been slightly angled down higher than the actor's eye line.
For the top-down, I would have used my boom arm from avenger but not my lantern. I would have used a different fixture. I would have used two of my 1x1 Amaran panels with the 35 grid. table center one each angle at both actors. Those fixtures are great utility lights and could have been gelled since you just wanted to raise the overall frame level for the top. I am not sure if I would have used the wide or spot. I am going to experiment with this today.
this would have kept my 120d mark 2 free for other applications. (again I am just thinking about fixtures that I own) If that didn't work then I would have boomed one of my 120D.
I would have used a black table cloth instead of white. On their laps would have been napkins to get a slight return. ( I think more drama)
This would give me the opportunity to do a slight contrast change by having the actors lean in for a serious talk after the light greetings. (every scene needs a change) mood change to dramatic.
The bulbs would be done the same.
all in all, I would have lit using more contrast. This is because the room has a lot of contrast but when you look at the final product they were clearly lit. The mid-ground and background difference ratio was too great and takes from the story. So with my current capabilities, I would just embrace the contrast. I saying this because your wide pushed rally should have a foreground element such as another table of customers. That table would have been in darkness by default. So contrast is on the menu.
The other floppies were used as siders to control the spill from our key an fill light. We also had one as courtesy for monitor to make sure we could see
Great tutorial! With the budget I have (usually 0$) I usually use household/practical lights such as table lamb on the table and an ikea chinaball on top with an alimunium foil around.
Be careful with foil - if any other lights are hitting, it will reflect a silver, bounce board-like light at random. If you don't have duvetyne or a skirt, try some black t-shirts or table cloths.
@@aputurelighting thank you for the tip. You're doing a great job for all of us indie filmmakers
using the aputure lantern as my main light for a dinner scene with a boom arm is my go-to setup for this kinda of shots !
Amazing Video... what Device did you use the Measure the Color Temperature??
A led panel boomed right over the table through a 4x4 diffusion. Simple and natural look.
I'd love to try a really moody dinner scene by using almost only back lighting. I think that could turn out really mysterious.
Might be worth noting your contrast ratio. Metering your key & fill can help keep consistency across coverage and inform lighting decisions
Contrast ratio is super important! Good note.
Id be using a top , key and back light just like in the video. I didn’t think about double softness but id be using more practical lights i guess
OH YEAH! I always wonder, what do you guys do with the footage? Do you hire actors simply for the day to shoot tuturials, or are these actually behind the scenes of larger productions and actually get used in films or ads or whatever?
For me a dinner scene is all about the top light, the amount and placement of fill comes down to its mood.
BTW, what happened to the Steadicam shot?
I love the robert Richardson style of hard spot lighting on the table and the cloth bouncing light into the talents’ eyes, I’d use this for a scene requiring camera movement because it keeps consistent lighting out of the frame
I love it too, but I always find that to get a good level of exposure on the actors' faces the table has to be way overexposed. It's obvious that it's going to be bright cause it's a bounce, but for me it's always unusable. Richardson is a master
6:05 the little triangle in the middle of the shot....is it really made with the two small lights?(b7c)
what wb did you rate the camera at? 5600 to make it warm it did you go a slightly cooler?
I wrote a movie two years ago never had the right opportunity to film it. Anyways thank God I didn't because I end up watching a bunch of these videos before I filmed the movie and the movie I think turned out a lot better because of this page.
i would simply use a top light n defuse that n will a reflector to bound on one subject face will use one more light to create a rim light rest just two nice practical lights to accentuate the ambience.
✨🔥🔥👌🏽
Powli
Alla pinne
Considering that I only have a cheap ring light and two chinese LED lights, I would probably light a very harsh, high contrast, "moody" scene, blast some haze and motivate the lighting by putting the talent in a situation where they need to "stay in the shadows" and things are tense.
I love APUTURE you guys are the best!!!
any hook up would go a long way!
Are any of these 4 minute film school scenes actually shot? Like to where they can be seen playing out.
I believe that lighting a dinner scene can be done with practicals only! Bunch of them... but possible anyways.
I don’t have as many lights as this! So I would use my song A7siii on 12800 iso with aputure MCs as my practicals! And a 100D with lantern over top of the table! Great thing about that high dual gain iso is you can push the MCs down to 10% and it comes through loads! Then some more MCs either side with diffusion to essentially create the budget version of what you did with a dual gain ISO camera!
CEO of ISO
@@aputurelighting REPRESENT
one time i shoot a dark dinner scene where all people at the table hated each other, so i choose a top orange light and some extra light for the faces in singels
Love an orange tint for aggression!
I would light it using a lantern with something like a 300x or 200x(lighter), and motivate this light with some b7c's in the shot. So it would be perfect to win one to be able to film the shot ;)
Love these breakdowns!
I would have added some candles to be used as practicles and set design. even though that makes it harder to have 15 takes.
This was fantastic, the final shots looked beautiful! Loving how those B7c's add such a nice accent to the background.
I think for me I would love to light a Halloween-themed dinner scene using a LS300x with a lantern over the table for the actors, leave the background fairly dark for atmosphere and then add B7c's into carved pumpkins as a type of practical.
👻
Same position for lantern and for faces the side near to the camera will have a little less light then the side facing away from the camera.
Are all lights set to 3200k (including 300x)? Because i noticed the white balance is 5600k and everything looks warm
For a dinner scene, I'd definitely want some sort of top light like you guys had, maybe a lantern for softer, more lifted ambience, or a softbox with a grid for a more moody vibe. That could be the key, but it's it's more of a two shot like yours, definitely having some sort of key on the individuals. If it's a group, on top down light could work for the wides.
One light at a time my friend...one light at a time.
How about lighting this scene with just a top practical light like they did in the Queen's Gambit final chess tournament? If it works with the script, this bold and unusual approach would give a more dramatic feel to the scene. All you need is a B7c ;)
I would use one light with a 3200k chimera directly above the table and use practicals with diff and 4000-5600k temp. Hereditary vibes 🥰
This was an incredible video! I'd start with the Lantern modifier boomed over head for the faces and then 2 gridded soft boxes for edge/hair lights.
Where do you buy octaframe diffusion frames?
Adorama and B&H usually have some!
☺️
I'd light it upstage with an overhead lantern or tubes and add from there on.
haha, i was looking for tips and tricks to take better photo of my wife in restaurant (thought about AL-F7...) :-)