CML Web Discussion 2022-02-09: Lighting Leading Ladies (and/or Main Men)

Or, put another way, what special lighting and filtration setups do you use to get the best-looking people shots, and do you light different people in the same scene differently?

Some editing to remove dead air and off-topic rambling.

Lightly edited chat transcript:

09:01:34 From roberto schaefer, asc, aic: what is today’s topic?
09:06:06 From Adam Wilt: “Lighting Leading Ladies”
09:06:30 From Adam Wilt: Or, put another way, what special lighting and filtration setups do you use to get the best-looking people shots, and do you light different people in the same scene differently?
09:20:46 From Ron Sill: “Rules Don’t Apply”, 2016
09:21:33 From roberto schaefer, asc, aic: thank you Ron.
09:31:11 From Jared Lorenz: as a presskit person I will defer on lighting and diffusion to the actor, their agent... anything to avoid getting feedback AFTER the shoot. actors know what they want to look like and often the basics of how it's done. I have not had anyone put specific filtration or lighting into a rider, but definitely they want to see the light and the frame on a monitor before proceeding, and might also be very specific about angle and intensity. I have had (specifically) male actors punk me by changing interview locations or insisting on a different chair/ stool placement with no time to relight. So the typical key light has gotten bigger and softer and closer over time.
09:33:04 From Jared Lorenz: Oh yes the makeup scatter vs real-skin scatter is a killer Mitch!
09:44:09 From Adam Wilt: https://www.dedolightcalifornia.com/collections/brokeh
09:46:02 From Jared Lorenz: it does that and also does spectral shaping
09:54:41 From Jessica Bennett: I remember using chocolate gel & cosmetic gel regularly lighting different skin tones for film.. but not so much in digital - sometimes I add 1/8 BPM for balancing darker tones & shadows.
09:56:32 From Tim Obeck: Been using a Broka lately for certain projects.
09:56:33 From Jessica Bennett: Dacron reminds me of homespun but with choices
09:56:34 From Jared Lorenz: I confess to having clipped scraps of fabric in different colours to the inside of a softbox to add just touch of saturation/colour for interview lighting. especially magenta... brown... orange... specifically to bring out skin undertones
09:56:55 From Ron Sill: I learned that a little CTO helped with black skin tones
09:57:49 From Adam Wilt: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=dacron+upholstery+batting&i=arts-crafts
09:59:52 From Jessica Bennett: I was gaffer & key grip years with Luke - I love the Ugly Light
10:00:33 From Jared Lorenz: doesn't Panavision have a filter like this with LEDs on the edge of the filter?
10:00:50 From David Mudre: Yes! They do
10:01:01 From David Mudre: Can’t remember the name this second
10:05:49 From Ron Sill: Lightflex - later Varicon ??
10:09:58 From Adam Wilt: https://www.cinetracer.com
10:16:25 From Adam Wilt: https://www.cinematography.net/Lessons/effect-on-male-female-perspective-lens-differences.html
10:33:44 From David Mudre: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MZ72PAH/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_2FZ90H4VS5CXS0BSE1CS?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
10:35:10 From David Mudre: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N20YR6B/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_EPK4BK1EPF4PTVJXB47X