1. Pre-light polaroid and diagram
The starting point for this assignment was some movie stills I had seen from Red Desert (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964). The film has a particular style (see the trailer here but ignore the music) and it is the contrast of stark, grey, industrial wastelands and of lost human figures that I wanted to reproduce. In some ways I realized the idea had cliche elements but a 'good' cliche is still good. I also felt that this 'look' and distinctive colour palette could easily lend itself to a fashion assignment and that despite appearing simple could offer some challenges in terms of lighting. Lastly, and most importantly, this concept fitted the location chosen for the shoot (Lachine Canal, Cote St. Paul). Below are some stills from Red Desert. The featured actress is Monica Vitti.
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| shot 1 |
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| shot 2 |
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| shot 3 |
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| shot 4 |
In my previsualization I knew I wanted a single figure who would be positioned in competition with their environment either through a double-framing technique or through sheer scale. It is with these ideas that I approached my pre-light on March 5th.
The day itself was overcast which in some ways provided the perfect kind of lighting and 'feel' for my shot. There was, however, heavy rain that slightly restricted movement in the best locations. It was an experience that forewarned me what to expect on the shooting day itself and make the appropriate changes in equipment and protection to deal with it. At the chosen location the available light gave a consistent reading of f.8 @ 1\60th with a two stop difference in the shadows. On this overcast day though, the shadows were not generally strong. In this kind of weather I would shoot with a fairly simple setup. In shot 1 above the subject is being lit by a similar kind of lighting. The 'look' seems to have been achieved with a simple front light at perhaps a stop above the ambient light. Depending on the conditions, the available lighting would be controlled with shutter speed. The shot also seems to be very warm which suggests the use of a filter or of a tungsten source. To achieve a similar result to shot 1 above I settled on the lighting plan below:
Since this is an outdoor shot and so subject to the prevailing weather conditions I would anticipate having to depart from this plan. Ideally, I would have the same sky and no rain. As a starting point, I would underexpose the ambient light by two stops and provide one stop of strobe power from the front. The style of the shot calls for a grey, drab industrial background that recedes into the back of the image. This will bring attention to the non-centered subject and provide the mood of the photograph. Since the subject needs to be in-focus against a gradually out of focus background, I would choose an f.stop of f.8 ideally or f.5.6 for a full-length figure. The focal length chosen was between 28 and 35mm. However, a direct simulation of shot 1 would call for around 100mm in order to get some background compression.
The first digi-polaroid begins to give the right kind of 'feel' and colour rendition but the lighting balance is not correct:
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| shot 5 |
I anticipate that the selected equipment will give the desired effect. However, if the weather changes drastically so that there is strong shadow on the day of the shoot I will also bring along a speedlight, stand and shoot-through umbrella in order to sculpt out the shadows in the subject's face. If necessary, I will also shoot the background separately in case a composite is needed to achieve the right shot.
I also found two alternate locations for the shot. Both provide strong backgrounds and possibilities for the final image. Shot 7 (with on-camera strobe) offers a location with more protection from the elements.
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| shot 6 |
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| shot 7 |
2. Pre-light report and analysis
- In my final image (shot 5 above) the available light acts as my main with one or two stops of direct fill coming from a softbox positioned in front of the subject. As detailed above, this simple setup is based on achieving a particular mood rather than emulating a specific shot.
- My final shot ideally needs to include the strong, man-made lines of the environment that dominates the frame. On the day of the shoot I intend to try two versions of the image using a wide lens (35mm) and also a 100mm focal length that will enable me to include more specific background details which will be compressed.
- I plan to use an aperture of f.5.6-f.8. This is appropriate to get complete focus on the subject but will also give me the desired effect of background recession.
- The indicated ambient shutter speed is f.8 @ 1\60th. I will begin by shooting two stops underexposed. This will give me a speed of 1\200th.
- The available light very much depends on the weather conditions. If there is less available light than the test shoot, then there is some latitude to compensate both with a slower shutter speed and more strobe.
- In case more strobe is needed in the final shot, a speedlight, umbrella and stand will be available.
- In the case of too much light, the strobe power will be increased in order to remove shadows from the subject. This scenario will also involve shooting with faster shutter speeds.
Based on our pre-light we decided on the following equipment list:
1 White Lightning 800W monobloc
2 Black stands
1 Vagabond power pack
1 Softbox
I Shoot-through white umbrella
1 White, circular reflector
1 Speed light and mount
1 Exposure meter
1 Grey Card
Various protective plastic bags for equipment
CC gels?
As usual, it is also necessary to double-check our permission to shoot on this site and to put in a reminder call to the models.
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