gel recommendations for a swampy look

[dreamist]

Hey all..

Wondering if anyone had any gel recommendations for lighting a swamp.. the set is basically made to look like a swamp, lots of darker colors and some greens etc...

Would love to hear some ideas from anyone who has done a similar lighting design. Most of my work so far has been quite a bit brighter, haven't had to do a dim forest or swamp yet.. I have some thoughts, but definitely looking for some past experiences to build on..

Thanks!

 

[MNicolai]

What's the scene and the show, and what's your lighting concept?

The lighting in a swamp wouldn't be inherently dark nor inherently green. Even if the swamp is green, that doesn't mean the lighting would be. Not only are there many kinds of swamps, the concept from the director and of the lighting may or may not be better served by thematic, stylized lighting versus more natural lighting.

The setting is particularly important, because the look of a swamp in the Everglades looks very different than a swamp would in Minnesota. Day or night would also be a substantial factor as well as season of the year.

 

[BobHealey]

Don't know how this will come out, but I'm doing R333, R360, and G330 for my front light for Shrek this summer. only 18 FOH circuits, and I had the G330 on hand.

 

[dreamist]

What's the scene and the show, and what's your lighting concept?

The show is "Duck Hunter Shoots Angel", and its a memory play and as such it moves around a lot in space and time.. the central setting of the show is in a swamp in Alabama. A large tree is the central set piece. The feeling should be slightly forboding, but vaguely so. The time moves around alot, both daytime and nighttime scenes. For a lot of the play, a storm is threatening overhead..

So far, I'm planning a warm system and a cool system for front light on the actors, so I can get both daytime and nighttime front light options (and some in between with mixing..) Thinking staying fairly saturated in the backlights, and perhaps coming in with a couple systems of high side light as well... not sure yet..

Thanks!

 

[DuckJordan]

Think gobos leaf breakups from above in both cool and warm remember they just have to register not be a focal point. Make sure they aren't very focussed either. Very rarely will you see a nice leaf outlined in light in nature.

 

[WooferHound]

For that kinda foreboding look I like to use 2 different colors from opposite sides. I would start out with the side lights and use a Blue from one side and a green from the other side.

 

[jglodeklights]

Another technique you can use to add texture to the lighting is to do split-cuts of gel. One half is one gel, the other half another. Or quarters or even eighths (sixteenths or thirty-seconds are just a bit ridiculous, but can be done). Especially effective when combined with templates.

 

[techieman33]

I would want some haze with the breakups to get some nice beams "shooting through the trees"

 

[jwolfkill]

I would want some haze with the breakups to get some nice beams "shooting through the trees"

Ditto this - if you can spare the instruments and circuits, you could use different colors and positions to strongly suggest time of day or night - amber gels at an angle for morning or evening, no color from the top for midday, blue gels for moonlight.

Also, for daytime scenes, some subdued uplight with a woodsy breakup pattern on the tree might look good - in a swamp, where the water is often still, you get a lot of light reflected off the surface of the water.