The two close-ups of the scene were shot simultaneously with two cameras. Light wise this is always a compromise, because both actors have to get some light. We changed the position of the Rifa Softlight for the close ups and placed it next to a practical.

Always think about where you have practicals, because this is the way how natural lighting works. You can see the light and you can use it to enhance it with an additional light source. For example if you have a Tungsten Practical, you can strengthen this light with an Artifical Tungsten Light.

A normal Tungsten Artifical Light has a Color Temperature of 3200K. But what’s happening, when you have your light on a dimer? When you dim this light, the Color Temperature of your Light is changing as well and is getting warmer. If you need less light you can use a scrim in front of your Light or you are using a simple ND gel in front of it. We used a Grid in front of the Rifa Light, which has the additional benefit, that your light shapes 45°. That means, without the Grid the light is not under control and has a wider range. With a Grid on your Light you can really control your light precisely and it only hits areas where you would like to have the light.

As mentioned before, we used a Softlight to intensify the Practical. You can clearly see it in her face, that the light shapes softly around her skin. With a hard light source, you would notice hard shadows around her face. You can also see, where the light comes from. I really like to add contrast to portraits, it’s way more interesting and moody. For this kind of effect I’m using my light meter and trying to get a ratio of 2 1/2 stops. This means when I have a F8 1/2 on the key side, I have a F4 on the fill side. The light was 45° in angle pointing to her.