How to Fake a Sunset Through a Window for a Night Interior

[Lazlo]

Mr. Mullen,

Is there any way to realistically fake a sunset for an interior at night? That is, I am lighting an office scene that takes place at sunset, with the light coming from a window as side light, and then a candle (since two people are having dinner).

The lighting package is very limited, that is, all Lowel, no Rifa lights or soft sources. We're shooting on a DVX100.

I tried two things:

-Shined a Tota with full (and half) CTO, with diffusion, and a gold reflector to provide a little fill on the darker side.

This looked relatively good in the closeups, but completely fake in the wideshots.

-Again a Tota, this time with no diffusion and with/without gold reflector. It was better, but still the same problem with the wide/midshots.

Several other things were tried to no avail.

I don't know if it's a color issue (as in the multiple/complex colors found in sunsets), or if it's a quality issue, since sunsets aren't really extremely harsh or soft sources... Or some other problem that I haven't thought of.

Any ideas or thoughts? Thanks.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

I don't know about a candlelight scene at sunset -- you've got two orange sources for the scene, and in real life, the sunset would overpower the candle. So it's already a somewhat theatrical situation.

As the sun sets, it gets quite warm, beyond Full CTO/CTS by the end, but also by that point, it is not very bright and the cool skylight mixes in. I usually use Full CTO or Full CTS for sunset but fill in with 1/4 CTB fill-light -- to me, it's the two-tone effect, warm light and cold shadows, that makes a scene look like sunset. Also the light should be coming from a distance, and preferably through the windows.

 

[Lazlo]

Thanks, this is very helpful!