lighting forest at night

[Joanna]

Hello,
I have to light a scene going on in a forest at night. The script mentions no specific light source. I was wondering what pretext could I use to light the actors, knowing that the charachters are supposed to have enought light to be able to play cards. Where could the light come from? Would recreating a moonlight would be believable? Or, perhaps street lights, supposing they're near a street... Or, I always wonder that: do I have the right to light without any logic if we don't see, on screen, where the light is coming from?
Thanks a lot for your answer. You were a great help in my last project!

Joanna

 

[David Mullen ASC]

Is there is a story reason why there is no source of light in the scene and the characters are playing cards by moonlight in theory? Why not a campfire (even off-camera) or a lantern?

The problem isn't lighting the scene for moonlight, it's just that it might look odd to see people playing cards in that type of dim light.

 

[Joanna]

Well there is no actual story reason... They're just kids who come to the forest to play cards, in order to give more pnuch to their game.
So if I choose a campfire, the technique is to light orange on a white reflector and shake it, right?...

 

[David Mullen ASC]

There are lots of ways to make a flickering orange light for a fire effect -- I've set-up a soft light gelled orange and simply waved my hands randomly in front of the soft light, for example. You can put two lights on separate flicker boxes on different flicker rates, through one frame of light diffusion to blend them. Or one can be on a flicker box and the other on a dimmer. Some people shine orange light through a bar with strips of diffusion hanging in front, shaken by hand. Some people shine an orange light through the real flames of a fire. Some peopel bounce the light off of gold foil material, which is flexed & shaken for a flicker effect.

Or you can have the characters with a Coleman-type lantern or flashlight lanten, and light from that direction or hide a bulb behind the lantern.