Kris D'Amico Photography

October 5th, 2009 by Kris

Alright, it’s time again for a teaching module!! And we’re talking about that Film Noir look. You know like in the Maltise Falcon. Alright, so the best way to achieve this lighting is really a three step process.

1. 2 Subject Lights
2. Bare Heads, that’s to say no diffusion
3. Dark Clothing

Ok, let’s start at the top!

2 Subject Lights

Obviously there’s an art to lighting a set and that’s a book, not a blog post so I’ll start with the subject, personally I like a 1:2 or 2:3 lighting ratio when shooting a moody 2 light set up. What’s that mean? It means my second light it twice to one and one half times as bright as my main light.

Here’s a really bad lighting diagram:

Notice that the “hair light” is smaller than the fill. This is simply to create a different shape and spill of light on his shoulder. Now, both these lights are six foot (about 2 meters) off the ground and proportionally equal distant to the subject. Now here’s the next step:

See that back light or second light is twice as bright as the lead light. Here’s what this setup actually looks like:

And the resulting b/w conversion image?

Ladies and Gents, Nick Sigler, with a not-very-film-noir face.

Bare Heads

As you saw the heads have no diffusion on them, I used some cheap smith victors I bought years ago in this demo, but you can use any light that you can pull the diffusion off the front. Remember, shadows are your friend!!

Dark Clothing

Let’s be honest, can you see Humphrey Bogart or Mary Astor dressed in white? No, shades of dark gray and black, and yes I realize that everything is shades of gray in black and white film.

Alright, that’s all for now. Your turn, go shoot something!!

KD