One of my favorite lighting techniques
Learning how to bounce light can change the whole look.
You know how most office spaces look…
Tons of overhead lighting with most of it being bright fluorescent. There’s no contrast. There’s no depth.
A “cinematic” look is due to the contrast ratio and there’s no contrast in most offices.
So what can you do? And what can be done easily without huge rigs?
Step 1 - Turn the Lights Off
Yes, turn the overhead lights off.
Now we can add light exactly where we want it and bounce it for the right amount of contrast.
In most office spaces (10’ x 15’ or so) you can get away with using a 300w light.
In larger spaces you will need a more powerful light (600w) or multiple lights. But in most spaces you can get away with two lights for the ceiling bounce.
Take a look at one of the frames from our latest brand film for a pediatric clinic:
Step 2 - Compose Your Shot
It’s important to position your light high within a corner and let the light bounce back toward your subjects.
The goal is to create a “high key” look and not harsh.
In the image above we aren’t using any additional diffusion other than the ceiling panels (the typical ones in an office) to bounce light back down.
Then it’s important to shoot from “shadow side” toward the source of your light.
This will allow you to have nice contrast ratios, resulting in highlights, shadows, highlights, shadows — across the frame.
If you’re not composed to shoot from shadow side, then you need to adjust the placement of your light.
Fine Tune Your Light
If your light feels too hot or is slashing the wall, then you probably don’t have it directed high enough. Push more of the light onto the ceiling instead of the wall. Allow the ceiling to be your bounce.
If your light is creating too much shadow, then you may need some bounce closer to your subjects on shadow side to bounce some of that light back.
If you’re in a larger space, like a conference room, you will likely need two lights in opposite corners.
Take a look at this conference room shot from the same shoot where we had a 500w and 300w in the corners:
Show Your Clients
I remember the first time we started using bounce in office spaces the client would look at us kinda weird.
Like “what the hell are you doing?”
But once you show them the image, they quickly become a fan of it. They start saying things like “it feels like a movie” or “I didn’t know this room could look that good.”
The whole reason something feels more cinematic is due to the contrast ratio. And how do we get more contrast? By killing the overhead lighting and introducing our own contrast.
Again, in most spaces you only need a 300w light.
If you’re going to film in a conference room or larger space, I would highly recommend using two lights otherwise you’re going to have too much shadow and most clients don’t want that. So do be careful.
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Let me know if you found this tip helpful! Shoot me an email at: hello@trenterwin.com
If you want me to stick to business only topics, let me know that too haha. I’m always working to keep things relevant to our industry but also cover some production tips as they come up and I have specific examples to share.
Cheers,
-Trent
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