Re: Lighting suggestions

Great, except you still have not told us what units are in your Lowel kit. I'm going to guess 2 Lowel Omnis and 2 Lowel totas, plus 4 stands. If there are 2 totas, maybe you also have 2 umbrellas, one for each?

I presume you want the fireplace to be lit and burning between/behind them. That means you don't want a huge amount of light so that you can shoot fairly open iris. The suggestion above of making one key be the fill for the other should work.

I'd place each speaker on either side of the fireplace and at least 6' in front, maybe more like 8'-10'. A shot that includes both speakers would be in the background filled with the fireplace. In other words, how far apart they guys are depends on the size of the fireplace.

Then I'd key the one on camera right with a Tota placed camera left. If you were to sit in the screen-right speaker's chair, and look directly into the camera, then swing your gaze about 45º to your right (camera left) and 45º up from horizontal, that is where I'd place the first Tota. I would twist the Tota so that only a very small portion of the light hits the speaker on the left. (Better would be to scrim the light striking the screen-left speaker with a grip double on a c-stand, but you probably won't have that option.)

Then I'd do the same for the screen-left speaker, but reverse the process so his/her light is camera right, at an equal distance, etc.

Then you have to look at the actual speakers in their chairs. Maybe they have very round faces, and the lights would look better on their faces 55-55º off camera axis. Maybe they have deep-set eyes and 45º above horizontal is too high and possibly 45º off axis from the camera is too much. You always have to look at what you actually have in front of you.

Finally, I'd take the two onmnis and gel them with some orange (CTO) or red-orange gel. I'd place one way back along the wall screen left of the left speaker, aimed so it puts a warm glow on the speaker screen right, and do the same for the screen-left speaker with the other omni, placing this one way over to the right.

You may well want to add a single or double scrim on the omnis to reduce their intensity. You just want a hint of colored light, not a blast. Dose to your eye.

The rental house should have gels to sell you. If you have to use all hard lights (no umbrellas) then use the omni or D-heads and put 1/2 grid on the barn doors to soften them and use them as the keys as described above. Use the raw totas as the back rims with gel. Be sure to get the tota-gel holders.

Remember that if you move a light from 5' to 10' from the subject, the intensity drops by 2 whole stops. That means you can dose the intensity of the light on the speakers by moving lights a little closer or a little further away.

I am also presuming there is no daylight entering the room, and that you can turn off the house lights.

Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
and part-time instructor lighting and camera
grad school, SF Academy of Art University/Film and Video
http://www.RickWiseDP.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/rwise
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com