I am working on the show The Old Settler and the cast is all African American. In the past I have always had a mixed race cast and I have never had any problems. The director is concerned about properly lighting them. Is there any tips or tricks that I should remember when executing the design? My plan right now is to ensure that I do a key and fill light design. With bastard amber for key and some cool blue for the fill. Am I on the right track or is there anything else that I should consider?
The best way to light whole African American cast?
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DELO72
Well-Known Member
I have to disagree with the above posters for one very important reason-- Each skin will have completely different pigments at play. One solution does NOT work for all African american skin tones! The only way you will know for sure is to bring the performers into a light lab and play with the gels you were thinking of using in the show on them and see how the colors interact with their skin tone. You'll be surprised. One might appear fine and another might completely turn jaundice under the same gel. Or Green...or orange... If you don't have access to a light lab, use a mag flashlight (halogen, not LED!) and a swatch book if you have to.
This is pretty accurate. African American skin tones can vary dramatically under tungsten light. With that being said, the best colors that I found to be universal were AP3270 Not What You Pink and AP7650 Coral Amber. But as stated, even those sometimes didn't work depending on the situation. Although I'd have to disagree with Footer here, although maybe that is because I like using green, but I find green works best on African American skin tones. Note, I'm not saying use green but rather, out of all skin tones, I like how it reacts off of AA skin tone the best. I never use it in a FOH position though, it usually ends up being a back light for me. Ultimately, you just need to play around with it and do some tests. For reference sake, I worked at an HBCU for three years so I have plenty of experience in lighting all African American casts in theatre and dance. The real challenge came when our only white student was cast in a show, and the set was also white.
lwinters630
Well-Known Member
Other things to keep in mind is what I call a relative darkness. If the background psych or the clothes they are wearing is bright, their faces will appear "relatively" dark.
In this situation less is more. Bring a test person on stage, then set your back light first, then add your front fill. Watch carefully as you bring your scene and background lights up. When your tempted to add more face light (and bake them) lower the background.
In this situation less is more. Bring a test person on stage, then set your back light first, then add your front fill. Watch carefully as you bring your scene and background lights up. When your tempted to add more face light (and bake them) lower the background.
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