How to light a daytime interior cafe scene with Simon Rowling

In this video, Simon Rowling shows us how he uses LEE Filters to create the perfect setup to light a daytime interior cafe scene. Check out his breakdown on how he uses our lighting gels when out on set.

The following is a transcript of the tips Simon shares in the video:

SETUP 1

Hi, I'm Simon and I'm here today with LEE Filters. I'm going to show you how we lit a coffee shop scene using various gels and diffusions.

We used a variety of lights for this setup. I really wanted to mix up the style and types of lights we were using. Any softbox is there to soften the light; remember, the further away the diffusion is from the light, the softer that's going to be.

Neutralising and Finessing the Light

We are using LEE 803 (Zircon Minus Green) gels just to try and neutralise the light. If you hold that up, you can see it looks almost balanced now. This was also the best example of where you can use Minus Green.

I'm putting an egg crate on the 4x4 LiteMat just to help finesse the soft light we put in close to the actors. The egg crate stops the spill onto the wall and the table, helping you hone exactly where you're putting the light.

The Setup: Working with Natural Light

When we turned up to this coffee shop, I hadn't had a recce. We had to go with what was there, so we went with a natural daylight feel, enhancing that and bringing it closer. Most of our natural daylight is coming from the window.

To add to that, we have a Vortex 8 through an 8x8 frame—that will be our key light. We'll stay on this side of the line so that the key light is on the negative side. Our 180 is essentially through the gap here and then over the shoulder.

Enhancing the Sunlight

We've brought the LED inside now. We are using LEE 250 (Half White Diffusion), which is pretty much their base standard diffusion. It comes in different levels and thicknesses.

Behind the window, we have an M18. We added a Half CTS (Colour Temperature Straw), which gives it more of a feel of sunlight and adds that warmth.

M18 on: With diffusion and CTS.

M18 comparison: No diffusion and no CTS.

Vortex 8: Comparison with diffusion frame on and off.

Skin Tones and Exposure

When you're dealing with different skin tones, it's really important to get your exposure bang on. If you underexpose, any darker skin tone is going to go really down into the darker section of your dynamic range. Use a light metre; you know you're going to be precise.

Layering the Lights

The LiteMat 4x4 is now on. You can see how that wraps around the face and gives a nice eyelight.

• - The M18 was our backlight.
  
• - The Vortex 8 was our general extended window light as a side key.
  
• - The LiteMat was an eye light/wrap-around light.

Camera and Lens Choice

We were using the Panavision DXL2, which has an 8K full-frame sensor. That enabled us to use very wide lenses for a nice wide look, but also maintain a shallow depth with the actors in the foreground.

When we "swing a lens" and go in tighter, the slightly longer lens helps blur the background more, really separating the actor. Obviously, the longer the lens, the more bokeh you get, which is very cinematic.

Set Up 2: Managing Changing Conditions

Now we're looking at the reverse. At this point, the sun came out. We added various flags and floppies behind the camera and outside the windows to stop the sun hitting the actor's face.

We had to flip the set and do a complete turnaround to keep our lighting setup exactly the same as it was on her.

We had to block the sun, so the lighting looks the same on the man. But because the sun's come out, it's now in the background; so, I haven't got an HMI.

With the Vortex 8 on, and the diffusion frame off.

Now showing with the diffusion frame on.

And with the light mat on.

Conclusion

We needed various strengths of diffusion to help sculpt the actors' faces—softer for the more frontal light and a bit harder for the side light. All of the diffusion that LEE do can really help craft the look and the lighting that you're trying to create on set.

There you have it: our daytime coffee shop scene using various LEE Filters, gels, and diffusions. Thank you for watching!

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