Lighting in Pro DV Features
 

Hi, I have noticed alot of people saying that 28 days later looks the way it does because of it's excellent lighting techniques. I was just wondering if there are any diagrams or manual that explain on how to light a DV project to simulate that 28 days later look.

Thank you.

If you look at a lot of the scenes, especially near the end, you can see the actual lighting instruments in the shot. Don't know that I would call that "excellent" lighting techniques, but it does make it easy to see what they are doing.

<<<-- Originally posted by Wayne Orr : If you look at a lot of the scenes, especially near the end, you can see the actual lighting instruments in the shot. Don't know that I would call that "excellent" lighting techniques, but it does make it easy to see what they are doing. -->>>

Well that gave me my chuckle for the day, Wayne! <g>

Dmitry, if you are specifically interested in "28 Days Later" we've had a very long thread on it running for over a year and a half here.

As with most features, this one likely received quite a bit of post-production color work. It certainly didn't come out of the camera looking that way.

There are many, many books on lighting. Browse through our "Read About It" section for some tips. In general, however, I would recommend just learning how to light a scene in general. Once you get a grip on some basic techniques and principles you'll soon be able to get more sophisticated. Unlike film, digital imaging doesn't require gigawatts of lighting power. So you really don't need to break the bank to begin your hands-on study.

American Cinematographer published an article about 28 Days Later in their July 2003 issue.

You can view the article online at http://www.theasc.com/magazine

Click on "Magazine Archives">"2003">"July 2003". Lot's of good info about their lighting techniques, shooting, and post-production.

Buried somewhere on this site Charles P. has some great
video clips you can download that demonstrate/describe
his lighting techniques from one of his shoots. I would try to find it.

Maybe our Kennelmaster or Charles can post the link.