shooting mainstream movies using available light.
 

Shooting "mainstream movies" without using traditional lightlng is a lot more common than most realize, usually refered to as "using available light"

Sophia Coppola, in her indiewire.com interview, talks about shooting "Lost in Translation" with a small, handheld camera using only available light. This let her shoot on the Tokyo subway, (not allowed) and in bars and clubs without attracting any undue attention. She decribes it as "documentary style".
When watching this movie, you can see the lighting is nautral. Scenes shot under fluorescent lights have an obvius green cast to them. ("Translation" was shot using a fast *sensitive* film stock, not in HiDef video)

Robert Rodriguez shoots a lot of his works with minimal use of extra lighting.
In his book "Rebel without a Crew" he discusses shooting most of "El Mariachi" in 16mm film, using only available light, and how a very few interior scenes were shot lit with a single photoflood bulb screwed into a nearby light fixture. The result is a gorgeous film with highly saturated colors, something Rodriguez is noted for. He has since made the switch to HiDef video, something he famously advocates. HiDef video requires less extra lighting and captures detail and color (His "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" for example) that is so often lost in modern film.

Bob Wilkins

Thanks Bob..interesting examples. I liked the "look" of lost in translation a lot. I thought the city was as much a character in the movie as the actors and the way it looked was a big part of that.

Brian