Lighting/exposure

[klesko010]

Was wondering the best way to go about a small scene in a short I'm doing on 16mm. Were shooting in a very small apartment with one single window (about regular size). The idea is to frame the actor as much as possible with the window. Since that is my only source I was hoping some bounce back on the actor would be enough to get a decent exposure. I was also thinking of underexposing a bit to make it feel as if the only source of light is from the window and what is on the actor is just ambience filled in. I wasn't thinking of going drastic but maybe a stop under, I'm pretty sure I'll be fine but just wanted to make sure.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

Using a bounce card to bounce the ambient window light back into the face and then underexposing the face a stop, 1.5-stops, maybe even 2-stops is fine. You probably still won't hold much detail outside the window though if the view is in full sunlight. If the sun is pouring into the room and you can bounce sunlight back into the face, then you'll probably be at a stop that will hold detail in both the shadows and the highlights since you actually have more "exterior" light in the interior, level-wise.