I'm still a little confused about this. Should you avoid lighting with different types of bulbs in the same scene? Should you avoid lighting a subject cool on one side, warm on the other? If your subject is partially lit by sunlight coming through a window, should you not use any other kind of kind of lighting?
I will try to answer your question here the best that I can. First off, if you are mixing your fill, key, and kicker lights with stationary lights, like celing florescents, or lights that can't be moved, then you will need to either change the temp. of your key, or your stationary lights. If you keep them different, and adjust your camera for the T-stop of you key, your stationary light will look funny. (Off-color if you will. Especially if your shooting video)
As for color temp. on the face, well you have freedom to do whatever there. Do what best fits the narrative of the story. In your situation of the sunlight through the window, what do you want to portray in that scene? If you want to portray drama on the face, then use a high key-fill ratio. If you want to keep the scene light hearted, and don't want so much drama, bump up your fill light.
Color on the face is an interesting thing to work with. When lighting your subject, and using color, you light according to what makes sense. Take for instance your scene where your lighting a room with sunlight through the window. Now you have to ask your self, "What makes sense here?" If you have established in your establishment shot that your subject is standing in a four wall room with only one window, you probably won't light him with a blue kicker, cause where would the light be coming from? Now, you could light a warm kicker to give the impression of a lamp, or not give him a kicker at all, and bump up your fill so that his face is not completly dark. Now if you want to establish that there are other windows around him, you can use a light blue kicker, and this will give the impression of a window, but if you do that, I suggest you bump up your fill, so that your kicker isn't so harsh.
"Pain is temporary, Film is forever"-Peter Jackson
Posts: 325 | Location: United States | Registered: June 12, 2003
there is no wrong answer. do you want a stylized look or a one that resembles reality?
i would experiment if possble. play with the light and how it affects your test subject.
that will give you a good indication.
trust your eyes.
----------- Alejandro Lalinde grey.street.films
"A film is - or should be - more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what's behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later." -Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999)
Posts: 221 | Location: Los Angeles.CA | Registered: December 14, 2002
You can most definitely mix color temps so long as you motivate it. In essence, you want to find a lighting/color scheme that fits your narrative/aesthetic needs, then justify the sources.
While I agree with Kris about trusting Light meters, they're very little help with color. I wouldn't stare too much at a color meter either as color rendition varies from stock to stock and can be tweaked (To a degree) on most video cameras. Color meters are good for calibrating lights and gauging if globes need replacement, but they're no replacement for the human eye (And experience). I wouldn't stare too much at a vector scope for these purposes either.
Nota "Can't afford a color meter anyway" Mono
Posts: 665 | Location: Los Angeles, Ca. U.S.A. | Registered: October 31, 2002