To control the soft light projected through the Chimera diffusers, gaffers like to use the soft and deep grids made by the Lighttools company.
Soft key light in this scene is motivated by the practical lamp so that it comes from the side. The general fill is provided by bouncing the light off a foam core board.
DIFFUSED LIGHT
The next type of soft light is created with diffusion screens. There is a variety of materials, from tracing paper, silk, and bleached muslin to a vast choice of sophisticated diffusers offered by such companies as Lee and Rosco. Tracing paper comes in different densities and may change the color temperature of the light; some slight shift toward a warmer tone can often be expected. Diffusion materials like grid cloth, white diffusion, Rosco’s Tough Frost, Tough Silk, and Tough Spun provide a good choice of densities and characteristics. Tough indicates that the material will not char or yellow readily when used on hot lights. All these products are used to increase the size of a light source.
Richmond Aguilar, gaffer
A frame of a diffusing material, when it is lit from behind, becomes a source of light itself. But the character of this source will depend on the size of the diffusion screen, the type of lamp, and the lamp’s distance from this frame. If the lamp has a wide spread, the diffused light will have a wider pattern itself and will perhaps cover more area than we need it to cover. In other words, the angle at which the light attacks the surface of the diffusion is related to how much it spreads the light on the subject. If it is a wide angle, the light may be flared out beyond the subject. The softness of the light depends on the size of the source. So, the closer the diffusion is to the source, the smaller the pattern of light and the harder the light. Therefore, we can control the softness of diffusion by regulating the distance between the sources and the diffusion screen.
When we need large soft light but with a longer throw and more control, a big Fresnel may be the right lamp to use behind the diffusion screen.
The approximate lighting pattern of this scene is shown in the previous illustration. This is a good example of creating a night mood using only soft and reflected light. (Frances, Laszlo Kovacs, ASC, cinematographer)
Bedroom scene lighting using a triple diffusion in front of a Fresnel lamp for a “soft-soft” effect.
(© Universal Pictures, a division of Universal City Studios Inc. Courtesy of MCA Publishing, a division of MCA Inc.)
Ralph Woolsey, ASC
My favorite soft light effect requires considerable studio space and a huge piece of Soft Frost, way back from the set and fairly low. Through this a standard 10K is directed to produce wonderful soft, low shadows, as though the light were filtered through a large window or windows. This lighting can fill a large area, if it is placed far enough away, with a minimum of falloff. Actors can move freely about, and you can direct additional spots through the same diffusion panel at differing angles to supplement or carry out an effect. If you raise this type of diffused source, the overhead skylighting can be achieved. And adding color to the lamp will sell a sunset or other feeling as needed.
Another aspect to consider is the distance of the soft light from the subject.
Richmond Aguilar, gaffer
The quality of the light will be harder the further away you move it, because the source will get smaller. The biggest light we know is the sun—bigger than the Earth—but its light produces such a hard shadow because it is so far away that it is a pinpoint source. The softness of the light depends on the size of the source. An 8K soft light about 3 × 3 ft. in size will give you shadows if it is too far away. Another factor governing the hardness of your shadow is the distance between your subject and the wall. The closer it is to the wall, the harder the shadow. So to summarize, the softness of light is dictated by the size of the source, the distance to the subject, and when we are talking about shadows, the distance between the subject and the surface on which the shadow is falling.
The choice of diffusion materials and their applications show a great variety of approaches among the cinematographers.
Janusz Kaminski, cinematographer
Frequently I would say, “I want to diffuse it, but I need a bit of a punch.” Or I would say, “I want a triple diffuser—three diffusions with a little distance in between.” Sometimes I would say, “Don’t give me a frame, I want diffusion on the light—for more punch.”
Matthew Libatique, ASC
In diffusion I somehow got addicted to a grid cloth. Two variations of it: full grid and quarter. I use those two and Opal. I don’t have an application for Hampshire, except for Source Fours. When you focus Source Four, there is a color around the edge of the light; the Hampshire softens it and you don’t see the color. Sometimes it is Hampshire, and sometimes it is Opal, depending on the way the light is hitting the subject.
There is a giant balloon blanket. It comes in 20 × 20 ft. size. We used a 20 × 40 size. It goes up and you can create an overhead without having to use a crane or a stand. It is a helium balloon like a mattress. Light goes through it but it cuts out the direct source. You can attach black silks or solids to the bottom. So it is a big overhead that you can float in the air.
M. David Mullen, ASC
For diffusing a light, muslin is very heavy and dense, so you lose a lot of intensity, but it creates an extremely soft light, so some people just love using it even if it requires some incredibly powerful lamps behind it. And the unbleached version of muslin adds mellow warmth to the light. The difference between bleached and unbleached muslin is just that the unbleached muslin has some warmth to it. It is like lighting through a bedsheet or something.
Light passed through fabric has a different quality than light through plastic diffusion; the texture is different. I don’t think it is simply the degree of softness; woven fabric has tiny holes in it, so whenever you light through it, there is a faint amount of specular light mixed in with the softened light. The difference is subtle compared to using plastic diffusion gels. In some ways, it’s like the difference in diffusing a lens with a net instead of a glass diffusion filter.
David Devlin, gaffer
In Minority Report, at the end of the movie there is a car chase in a factory. We used forty 18K HMIs along the wall, coming through plastic to create a lot of ambience, so they could move through this entire space. I like to do this in a backlit way because it looks pretty, and it feels like it is lit but not overlit. So I asked the production designer to put some corrugated plastic, which I used in still photography, in front of these forty 18Ks. Through this plastic you cannot see the bulbs. You can see the glow of the bulbs making the plastic translucent.
Setting up diffusion frames in front of light sources and then light-controlling devices like flags in front of the diffusion frames requires space and time. Chimera light banks were designed to simplify this application.
Chimera Daylite Banks
(courtesy of the Chimera Company)
M. David Mullen, ASC
The main advantage of the Chimera is that it reduces the amount of grip equipment needed to soften and flag the light. If you put a 4 × 4 ft. frame of diffusion in front of the light, then you need 4 × 4 ft. black flags, AKA siders, to cut the spill. You need C-stands for all that. So the Chimera eliminates all that and is thus a simpler way of getting a soft light that can be moved around quickly and easily. It’s also easier to soften a lamp hanging from a pipe grid or mounted to a ceiling with a Chimera than trying to arm out diffusion frames and flags in front of the lamp.
Chimera Pancake Lantern
(courtesy of the Chimera Company)
The trouble with Chimeras is that you are limited by how physically big they can be and thus how soft the light can be. The really huge Chimeras are so big and heavy that they tend to push down the nose of the lamp; it’s too much weight to hang on the end of a lamp without grip support. So the small 2 × 3 ft. and medium 4 × 3 ft. Chimeras are the most common sizes you see being used, which give you only a moderately soft source unless they are
very close to the subject. Sometimes I’ll use a Chimera on the key light for a wide master shot, and then when I move in closer, I’ll add an additional 4 × 4 or 6 × 6 ft. frame of diffusion in front of the Chimera to soften it further. I’ve found Chimeras a lot more useful on stages, where I have the room to have them prebuilt and just standing by ready to fly in.
I recently used a Chimera Pancake Lantern, which is like a paper lantern but with a shallow half-dome shape instead of a round globe. It worked pretty well because it took up less vertical space than a paper lantern of similar softness. It’s sort of halfway between a square softbox and a round lantern in terms of size, shape, and ability to be gelled, etc.
Recently I’ve been using a light that gaffer Keith Morgan built called the Woodylight. The Woodylight has a 2 × 3 ft. Chimera in front of a small fixture that has four ordinary lightbulb sockets and a 1K EGT quartz lamp (generally used in 1K Fresnel lights) in the center. So you can use either these four lightbulbs, often 250 watts—with the ability to switch them on or off independently—or you can switch to the 1K quartz globe. Either mode can be easily dimmed using a knob on the back. It is a very quick way of getting different intensities out of the light, you can use the dimmer to warm up the light, and the whole thing is lighter than a Chimera on a 1K open-faced unit.
Ian Kincaid, gaffer
I like a Chimera to control the backlight. I rarely use direct lighting. Chimera has a diffusion so you’re still aiming the light at a person rather than bouncing. I think they are very handy for controlling backlight. That’s where I use them.
BOUNCED LIGHT
Another type of soft light is the bounced light. When the reflecting surface is large and matte in texture, it will provide an extremely soft light, but its throw will be rather limited. Any white wall or ceiling can be utilized for bouncing light, but there is a range of materials carried by the grip department for this purpose. Cinematographers and gaffers select among these boards, plastic surfaces, silks, and muslins the type and quality of reflection. Styrofoam beadboards are considered to have a very matte surface and therefore reflect the softest light. They are extremely lightweight and can be easily broken into different shapes, but they cannot be bent. Next in softness are show cards, also known as art cards. They have a very good white on one side and black on the other. Slightly less white and with a bit more sheen are foam core boards, which come in larger sizes (4 × 8 ft.) than show cards. They can be bent into a corner. They are very good when a little more direction for the light is needed. The most directional, yet soft, are large white plastic Griffolyn sheets, often stretched on 12 × 12 ft. frames. This material, originally used for covering haystacks on farms or goods on trucks, was adopted by the film industry as an excellent reflector for bouncing light into a larger general area from a slightly greater distance than reflecting boards would allow. Developed specifically for the film industry is the UltraBounce. One side provides a soft bounce without any hot spots, while the other is matte black for a negative fill.
Bounced light controlled by two black teasers
Light pattern modulated by the teasers
The car is “painted with light” bounced off a bleached muslin stretched above the stage. PAR lamps work very well with this technique.
Colin J. Campbell, gaffer
For bouncing, the UltraBounce tends to be way too sourcey. I like to suggest either muslin or Griffolyn. When the Griffolyn is new, it tends to get too sourcey as well. Griffolyn when it is old is really nice. It can be really soft. I often hit the Griffolyn with light and have it come back through muslin. I really like the soft egg crates for the grip frames. They allow the grip frame to be close to the frame line and still allow a wonderful soft wrap of light.
For certain specific applications a diffusing material such as bleached muslin can also be used for bouncing. I once observed Jordan Cronenweth and his gaffer James Plannette lighting a car commercial. Several sheets of bleached muslin were sewn together and stretched above the stage on which the cars were displayed. Several PAR lights, positioned on the floor, were pointed upward and their light bounced off the muslin. Thus, areas of this white canopy were reflected in the cars, which were truly “painted with light.”
Robert Elswit, ASC
Instead of aiming lights through windows (in There Will Be Blood), I ended up taking bleached muslin and angling it and then putting an enormous amount of light into the bleached muslin and bouncing the light from the bleached muslin into the window as a key.
When people were walking around wearing hats, the ground, especially in the middle of the day, would bounce up a lot of light. The sand is so clear that it bounces almost enough light to fill. As it wasn’t quite enough, I was able to lay bleached muslin on the ground and actually exaggerate this light. This way the bounce from the ground oftentimes would fill all the faces under those hats. I like the soft quality of muslin. UltraBounce is more efficient and brighter, I think, but it has a kind of hard quality to it, so I feel the source. The thing I love about bleached muslin, or even unbleached muslin sometimes, is that I don’t feel the source that much. It is not as evident, not as bright, but slightly softer and still it feels like a window light.
Caleb Deschanel, ASC
For bouncing I have some canvasses which I have had painted in different grays and colors, because I find that bouncing white is not that great. It tends to look a little artificial. I use a lot of blue bounce outside because shadow light is basically lit by blue sky outside and film is designed to represent that. So I chose blue for that. But I also use grays with different colors in them because I find that they blend with the surroundings. Someone standing in a street may be getting a bounce off a blue car and a brick on a wall and white on a sidewalk. A lot of different colors are coming in toward the subject. So if you create your own fill, it has to have different colors built into it. You use one of those painted backdrops that they have for still photography. They really are great and they come in grays and blues. Those I find really effective for bounce.
For higher reflection but also harder light, silver surfaces are employed. One of the cheapest and most easily available silver sheets is the so-called space blanket sold in many sporting goods stores and on Internet sites. Space blankets are not only highly efficient reflectors but also protect the walls and ceilings from the hot lights. They also come with a gold surface, which comes in very handy when we try to create a warmer, more “sunny” reflected light.
Sometimes bounced and diffused lights are combined, as in the book light, also known as a wedge light or the seven-minute drill. This last name comes from an answer routinely given to the first AD: “How much longer will it take you?” “Seven minutes.”
Janusz Kaminski, cinematographer
Usually bigger units like nine-lights or twelve-lights would be bounced from a foam core or grid cloth and double-diffused. The light is in the shape of a book. We try not to put it too close to the actors, so there is less falloff and it gives actors freedom to move. Seven-minute drill light will always look great.
Mauro Fiore, ASC
Seven-minute drill: I put a white bounce 8 × 8 or 12 × 12 and then a mini nine-light, a fay light bounced. Then you put a diffusion, half Soft Frost, and it is done.
A hard light source can be made doubly soft when it is first bounced off a white board and then directed through a diffusion screen, a technique known as a “seven-minute drill.”
Michael Bauman, gaffer
For a seven-minute drill we usually use a couple of mini brutes with FCX globes in them (650-watt PAR) for bounce and then the light goes through a half Soft Frost. It’s a beautiful light that can be created quite quickly.
A bounced light with a long tradition in fashion photography is the umbrella. Now the company called B2Pro, as well as Briese USA (originally Briese of Germany), produces very sophisticated, parabolic umbrellas in sizes from 30 to 130 in. in diameter.
B2Pro Zebra Focus Umbrella. Umbrellas can be as large as 11 ft.
in diameter.
(courtesy of Brent Langton, B2Pro)
Robert Baumgartner, cinematographer and gaffer
The Briese is a great light. I have used them mostly on commercials. Way overpriced for what it is, but a beautiful source of light. The largest one they make is 12 ft. in diameter, with a 5K or 4K HMI globe centered in the middle of a beautifully constructed silver reflective umbrella, which is multifaceted. The light they produce has a specular quality, but at the same time it is remarkably soft. Chris Menges (ASC, BSC) would say that the Briese lights have energy and the light is lively.
David Devlin, gaffer
Working as lighting director for still photographers started me on using B2Pro umbrella lights initially. In these umbrellas you can use strobe, tungsten, HMI. And I also had them incorporate a long-arc xenon, because I like this light source. Primarily when we used them in still photography what made them great was that they were very efficient, because they are parabolic in nature and their design of silver surface and of the shape of the umbrella is perfect. It is beautiful. We used them in fashion photography. It looks incredible on people’s faces and in their eyes. Harris Savides (ASC) loves them. He loves the old 1970s Zebra umbrellas, so Brent Langton (owner of B2Pro) made umbrellas that were black and white, as well as silver and white, silver and black, different degrees of silver; he just went crazy with where we could go with it. One design uses the idea of a collapsed umbrella to have hundreds of silver reflections on a person’s face. When you look in people’s eyes, it looks wonderful because of the source. This design is unique.
Film Lighting Page 19