diagram: shopvitality – day for night
“oh it’s just some unpaid short film, it’s not like it really matters”
summary
Au contraire, friend. I’ve been asked to light some really fun commercial shoots because of the effort I put into lighting everything I say yes to.
Back in January 2023 I had the joy of working with Jill and Chloe on an unpaid short film, Werewolf Margarita.
That film has gone on to win best comedy-horror at one festival, was nominated for best cinematography as well, and it turns out Chloe is the humble owner of an entire fashion business! A line of clothing that Jill was even wearing throughout the shoot without knowing it belonged to Chloe lol
When Jill and Chloe inevitably synced up to launch a new clothing line, I was first on the list to come light the indoor scenes!
If I hadn’t given 100% to “some unpaid short film” last year, then this year I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy one of the most infectiously joyful sets I’ve ever had the pleasure of being on.
Maybe that’s why so many teams come to town and say, “wow, you’re not like the last gaffer we worked with back in nowheresville. How nice to work with someone who is actually excited about the job!”
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This was a rush job – I only had an hour to set this look up! So it was critical to work with Jill ahead of time to establish exactly the look and feel she was going for with this shot.
First, this is day for night, so everything needed to be blacked out.
A Kelvin EPOS 300 through a 3′ softbox with grid acts as the key. This light was positioned at a Rembrandt angle for when our talent walks up into the counter into her B mark.
An Aputure nova 300 panel pointed at the wall and ceiling fills the room with a saturated blue hour wash. A flag helps control the spill from hitting the talent or back wall directly.
A couple Aputure infinibars were placed on the shelving unit in the corner to help lift that out of darkness, another one was placed the stove for the same reason.
Lastly an Aputure 60x with spotlight mini rakes across the background, adding some texture to the background and leading lines to the talent!
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client: shopvitality
dp: Jill Coats
gaffer: Tyler Trepod
photo: Ashley Hogren
bts: Carly Kreiger
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