Lighting a Jail Cell- Options?

[Agenda Productions]

Hi,

I have a short coming up very soon and i'm looking into a certain look. In the Jail cell i want it really white, really bright, really ugly, almost fluorescent. I am also wanting the same look for the interview room in the Jail but predominantly brighter. These scenes are so important to me and i'm wondering how to light them. My motivation for the colour and look of the interview room is 25th Hour, when Edward Norton is being interviewed.

I want shadows over the cell mates eyes so I was thinking overhead lights, maybe 650 Wattas or Redheads hanging on wall spreaders, do you think this is too much light? Or maybe too heavy to hang? I am on a low budget and any help would be great.

Also......the opening scene is the aftermath of a police raid, a really nice slow scene of my main character being escorted out. I want to whole night time landscape to be filled with blue and white flashing lights, there will be no police cars in shot but the sound of a car leaving and taking the lights with it. Any Ideas? Thanks.


James

 

[Filmosity]

do you have access to kino flos? What are you shooting on?

I would go with either some daylight balanced flourescents overhead, mimicking a real bank of flouros in a jail, or just some gelled 1Ks, or a combo of both. It really depends on the shape of the rooms and what equipment you have. If you want harsh, raking some fresnels through the bars might give some nice patterns.

Maybe some of the more experienced DPs can share some better tips. We might need a bit more info from you too.

 

[Agenda Productions]

Hi,

I am shooting on an Xl1s. I am using a ELS adapter and using a 50mm,100mm & 200mm lenses (24mm for one shot)

The Gaol cell i am using will be in the old melbourne Gaol, it's dark, cold, all brick with pine benches around the whole room. It's quite big and why it's allowing me to use bigger lenses for a sense of claustrophobia. It doesnt have bars just a door with a small latch. Because i am only shooting there for a day i can hire some Kino Flows probably (my budget doesnt allow for but if worst comes to worst) In my kit i have three redheads, blonde and a 150 watt Dido. Do you think blonds are to heavy for wall spreaders though?? i have never used them and safety is obviously number 1.

The Interview scene is in a white walled bedroom that i'm turning into 2 seperate rooms, it's about 4mx6m, pretty small and will be shot with mainly 24mm and 50mm lenses.

The opening scene is so important, but i have absolutly no idea of how to do it, i mean, i'm sure you can get flashing police lights, but they need to be strong and there must be some sort of gadget.....

thanks,

James.

 

[reggie_obe]

How far apart are the walls? The fixtures you are thinking of using aren't that heavy. A wall spreader, properly tightened shouldn't be a problem. Are there any existing light fixtures, pipes or heating ducts that you could rig your light to? My concern would be that the light would appear to be more of a point source and not give you the effect you want on film. If the shot doesn't take in the entire room from wall to wall, you might want to try bouncing the light off a reflector or whitecard taped to the ceiling or held on a boom. Lots of options to get the look you want. You can try several of them out ahead of time in a similar sized room.