Set Mock Up & Lighting

[As we all worked together on research, this blog post originally came from Lily's blog - as this was the blog we used to output all things relevant. This is a repost of what we ALL did]


The past couple of days we have been in the studio setting up different variations of our set ready for our shoot. We experimented with lighting and positioning of camera to get the best shot we can.

These are a few ideas.

Close Up

Mid-shot

Long-shot

Long-shot with front lighting

We will be using a 55mm lense so make the room appear a little larger then it actually is and it will also slim our subject down making her appeal to the audience in the stereotyoical ideal of beauty that we are aiming for.

For the lighting we will use a 1k Ari which will light the whole of the set from behind, angled down. We will place one sheet of nd and one sheet of blue gel over it to imitate the moonlit effect.
Another 300watt Ari will be used from the front right side which will have 2 sheets of nd over it. The main light will be the 1k but there will be a suble nutral fill from the 300. This lighting effect will work well once we have created a roof with loose wooden slats so that the light will shine through the pieces, creating a gobo effect.

This image by Paolo Roversi heavily influenced our set ideas. We will use the drapping and curtain idea within our own set as we think it makes it look m ore like a home rather then a shed. To get the blurry plate filter effect we are thinking of placing a seethrough piece of spun or nd infront of the camera to defuse the image and make it seem even more etherial and magical rather then a sharp image.
These are the differences between the defussing filter and regular outcome.

Filter held at different distances from the camera:

The rest of the set will contain a few props dotted around, including shelving, a table and a chair. These will be hidden partly in darkness or behind a draped curtain so rather then obvious props there will just be a suggestion of them, enhancing the main feature of the image which will be our model. An important part of our image will be the large tree that is also the main focus as it will be supporting the whole house. This tree will be coming in through a side wall and braking through the ceiling letting in lots of moon light. This tree will be partly in chadpw and the branches that go infront of the light will create a nice dappled gobo - reflecting the forest onto the house floor.

Added drapes and ideas about positioning:

The walls will be made of crumbling and deteriorating plaster and brick work. The floor will be a combination of old wood, stone, dust, dirt and moss as the forest takes over the house. The roof will be made from old and moulding wooden slats. All the objects within the house will be dusty, bug infested and being taken over by the forest outside.