How to light small spaces... FAST!

On a recent doc project we had to work quickly, with no crew and limited space in people's homes - this is a super simple technique I used to light these spaces with just one light and minimal setup time.
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CHAPTERS
00:00 - Intro to music for dementia doc project
01:43 - How to light small spaces quickly
02:43 - Things to watch out for
03:42 - The importance of thinking on your feet

[@evayap_]

This is a super common situation that isn't covered so well on KZbin so thank you for this!

[@EdProsser]

Yeah, I had to get myself out of my own perfectionist mentality and ruleset, but it just works and most importantly wasn't imposing or distracting for the contributors

[@evayap_]

@@EdProsser yess lack of distraction is a big one for things like this

[@jon112media]

Blasting light off ceilings is one of my fave ways to light! It reqlly helps me know that even a 300 may not be able to compete with the sun like you said if it was sunnier. Thanks for the vid!

[@the_black_douglas9041]

Excellent Ed! Great setup for when your producer is one of those who asks “How are we going?” every two minutes after you’ve carried the gear up 5 flights of stairs. I shot an interview on Friday using this idea with my 300D on full blast up near the ceiling but used the Aputure Lantern attachment. It looked good on the talent’s face without him needing to squint (always a good result) and kept pace with the bright dappled light the windows on the side of the shot. Also, the doc sounds interesting! Music works in amazing ways :)

[@EdProsser]

Haha, I know that feeling! Glad it worked out for you, I'm deffo considering picking up a 600d or similarly powerful light soon.

[@the_black_douglas9041]

@@EdProsser yeah, like you say, the 300D only just scrapes in, but a 600D or Nanlite Forza 500 would do it with change in your pocket. Your review got me thinking!! I’m noting that though also Bowens mount, the attachments for the 120D and 300D don’t suit the 600D, plus the 600D is difficult to battery power. The channel Gaffer & Gear does a great review on it and compares it to the Forza 500.

[@EdProsser]

@@the_black_douglas9041 yeah love that channel, everything I've seen has suggested the 600d isn't the best buy anymore but can't decide what alternative I should get. I have experience using the 600d whereas everything else is an unknown...

[@redbandmedia79]

This is excellent mate, thanks very much!

[@jeremiahdanielphoto]

Man, just found your channel, so good! Love this kinda stuff

[@EdProsser]

Glad you found it, got a great chunky lighting video about to drop this week

[@videobytesjacobbradley]

Thank you for this video, Ed. I was recently wondering how viable this exact idea could be with one or two lights in creating a naturalistic lighting setup. Now I see that it can work well!

[@EdProsser]

Yeah, I think key is exposing to windows then slowly bringing up the level of your bounce. If it had just been single interviews - might not have employed this technique - but because I needed 2 person coverage, this worked great.

[@UnionCreativeHouse]

Love this! Thanks for sharing!

[@AliManuel.]

Love the simplicity. looks amazing.

[@EdProsser]

Back to basics

[@davidp158]

The 300D is a fairly versatile light, and often powerful enough for interviews indoors. I prefer to push it through diffusion, but that requires extra space and gear. Bouncing off a white wall or ceiling certainly works in many cases.

[@EdProsser]

The 300d has served me well! But I'm ready to invest in higher output lights rather than renting them. We actually had a full lighting setup for the first shoot on this project - but the setup time was too much and it was also too disruptive and distracting for the contributors, so we stripped it right down and on the second shoot I found that bouncing was the way to go. In an ideal world we would have more diff and probably controlled some of the spill, but for the limitations of what we had to work with I was pleased with how this looked with minimal chaos in people' homes (!) haha

[@grantvetters5253]

Love it. Great job! Only suggestion I could make and curious to see what you think, is to use an eye light on the camera, just to fill the eyes in a bit more and create a catch light.

[@EdProsser]

Yeah I think generally that might work, but in this context might also be a bit distracting for contributors who are elderly / have dementia, who want to keep eye contact with an interviewer

[@grantvetters5253]

@@EdProsser Ah, yes. Good point. As mentioned, great job!

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

That was awesome man. I'd love to see your take on this "I only have 30 minutes to set up my look" type video without a window. I shoot for a music plugin company and always find myself in studios with terrible lighting where I have minutes to setup before a shot. Love the way you make things look

[@EdProsser]

Maybe push a look with warmer lights? Can you bring a lil practical lamp / desk lamp with you to motivate a warmer lighting setup? Or bring some unbleached muslin and bounce main light off that for a nice soft warmer wrap - I sometimes find daylight lit shots in spaces without windows can look a bit "off"

[@BrendonKPadjasek]

@@EdProsser I didn't even think of bouncing the light off muslin. Awesome ides, I'll definitely try to desk lamp idea for tomorrow. Thanks!

[@EdProsser]

@@BrendonKPadjasek look back at the Sirui spotlight and Godox vids I did a few months back think I have examples of using muslin in those! I prefer to bounce it but some people use it in front to diffuse

[@chiokehart-kelly3481]

Great content.

[@IanSnape]

Great film Ed, I think also that bouncing the light will pick up the actual room tone colours so help deliver that natural lighting look. Great stuff 🎉

[@EdProsser]

yeah that's a really good point which I hadn't thought of!

[@MrShelbyrose84]

This was awesome! Love the lighting lessons

[@EdProsser]

More on the way

[@westcoastvisuals]

Great video Ed! To be able to quickly do a set up that looks good is key sometimes. Definitively going to use this kind of set ups more as we tend to over do stuff and just eat time 😅 /Markus - WCV

[@EdProsser]

It's always a balance isn't it! We obsess so much about kit that it can be easy to forget that we're also story tellers trying to get the best out of our contributors! As hard as it may be, sometimes it means simplifying workflows to get that done.

[@73jayzee]

Awesome thechnique thanks man

[@JonathanPalfrey]

Looks great Ed. Vast majority of my interior lighting is done like this unless we are going for a harder light look. It's so common for us in the UK to be shooting in tight spaces or no way of getting a large amount of kit to the location easily.

[@EdProsser]

Yes totally, always jealous of seeing people in the US getting to film in huge modern buildings

[@ki__tsune]

Lovely video Ed! It’s on point and the shots are simply beautiful! Thank you!

[@EdProsser]

Thanks for checking it out

[@jondoeslifestuff]

Pro-Quick-Tips Much appreciated Ed, well done! Looking forward to applying this.

[@EdProsser]

Thanks man, hopefully something you can hold in your back pocket for when you need it

[@CartyCantDance]

I do this all the time with my 150C. I can see the 300D is just so much more powerful. Great work Ed!

[@EdProsser]

Definitely, but I still need MORE POWER

[@littletheatrefilms5825]

Love this. Thank you

[@cleverghostchili]

I think it’s also your grading, but I like this look, very cozy

[@EdProsser]

The grade definitely helps! I was surprised how well this worked and how consistent it was across the shoots days

[@jakehayden998]

Super helpful walkthrough, well done on this. Love that you considered the story of the subjects before sacrificing everything for a "perfect" setup. Love this

[@EdProsser]

I think it's super important. If you're making a doc - it's not just the visuals you have to consider. I think as KZbinrs when we do lighting breakdowns it's good to sometimes acknowledge the real world situations that we may sometimes find ourselves in and how these impact the way we work. It's easy just to show a lighting breakdown under controlled conditions, but can you actually use that when you got 20 mins to setup and 2 people to frame up in a small living room...

[@mariofin2000]

Right on!

[@Tahusaco]

Amazing! Thanks for sharing the technique. Can't wait to watch the next video.

[@EdProsser]

Next vid should be fun, quite an ambitious lighting breakdown compared to this.

[@minktronics]

Thanks Ed - will definitely be trying this!

[@EdProsser]

Good luck!

[@filipmichalsaffray441]

Rebounce is always great choice imho always do that for interview...you spare a Softbox...it's why 500w or 650w is a must for this technic...for small areas

[@EdProsser]

If we'd had a pre prod. process and more budget would have pulled in a 600d, but this just about got us there due to the very grey winter weather.

[@bytomw]

Really love the videos Ed! It's always rough lighting newer houses in the UK, low roofs, lots of stuff and bad weather make it such a challange.

[@EdProsser]

Yeah I hear ya, seeing a space for the first time before you start filming is always nerve racking hopefully you can build upon this if you're ever in a bind with no time!

[@bytomw]

@@EdProsser It's already my go to! Often I end up going with a reflective umbrella as a backup. I just always end up wishing I had more output, might have to upgrade to a 300-600w light

[@EdProsser]

@@bytomw what are you using at the mo? I'm definitely ready to upgrade from my 300dii I rent a 600d when needed, but am definitely ready to invest in a higher output light, just trying to figure out what is the best unit to go for.

[@bytomw]

@@EdProsserI’m usually super low output run full power. 60-300w depending on the location. I love the Nanlites but the cost jump over 300w is a lot.

[@leomoreno143]

is this a new upload schedule cause I'm loving it !!

[@EdProsser]

Haha I don't know, I would like to post at least once a week but my work commitments don't always allow it! I'm trying to make the filming of them quicker - hence shooting the talking head part of this on the little DJI Osmo 3

[@leomoreno143]

@@EdProsser completely understand don't stress it too much will be here whenever theres a upload 👍quality takes time

[@SakkiDuran]

Yeah I've used this setup countless of times. Problem is you accentuate shadows under eyes and it creates a kind of dramatic look.

[@EdProsser]

It can do yes! Definitely not a perfect setup but a usable compromise when you need it

[@SakkiDuran]

@@EdProsser yes totally! Glad to see I'm not the only one doing impro with my lightning 😂

[@73jayzee]

would you recommend getting an ipad to use as a set monitor like @4:03 ?

[@EdProsser]

I love using mine as there's a great RED app that syncs with the camera and gives me full access to all the controls on my camera as well as a nice image to monitor. I believe you can now get gadgets from Acsoon to take HDMI feeds

[@johnnymauser7577]

❤❤❤

[@candyartstv]

Nice! How were you capturing audio?

[@EdProsser]

For this project we actually just used the DJI mics going straight into camera and a shotgun as a backup into a Zoom F3. I decided that the DJI mics were the simplest option, on the first shoot we used wired lapel mics and one of our contributors found it a bit confusing / distracting and kept fiddling with it. The little clip on DJIs were just much simpler and more efficient to use esp. with 2 people at once. If you watch the film you'll hopefully hear they get the job done with decent quality.