Lighting backdrops

[Firewood1]

I am lighting a box set with patio doors which has a wrap around backdrop of a garden/woodland scene set approx 5 feet back. Mostly darker shades of greens/browns. Does anyone have any suggestions of good colour to light this with, so as to keep it looking very natural, as for a sunny morning?

 

It can only be lit from the top.

 

Thanks.

[GridGirl]

The 200/201/202 series all work pretty well for this kind of thing as they're "daylight" blues and look naturalistic.

[Just Some Bloke]

Sorry to differ but the 201/202/203 series will do a lovely job of taking all the colour out of the artwork!

 

They would work well for lighting actors as if daylight on a dull day but not on a cloth, I'm afraid. Their real job is to turn the colour of tungsten lamps into true white.

 

If it's a sunny morning you're going to need straw or pale yellow or pale orange for the cast (e.g. 103, 007, 204 respectively). For the backdrop, if there's any sky in it at all you'll need some blue to pick that out and nothing too mimsy - go for an 079 maybe. You may then want to creep in something "sunny" to brighten it up, but play with the relative amounts quite carefully. Don't go for a strong colour in the "sunny" shade or it will mix with the blue and turn it pink or whatever (depending on what you use) but go for maybe 764 (Sun Colour Straw) or 205 or something like that. Don't worry about the greens and browns, you shouldn't need to add too much of them, just avoid washing them out.

 

Just my 2p!