how do i do this...

[skatephoto]

I am shooting portrait photography for one of my college classes and i was gonna try for a couple of shots to make a little home made studio type thing. the picture that i kinda want to get is one of my friend with a complete black background with only the side of his face lit up. does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this; how to expose him so the not dark part of him is exposed correctly while the rest is black. i guess i will need a black sheet or something for the background? i dont know any one have some suggestions? thanks

 

[ksmattfish]

Try to keep the light off the background, and set it up so that the exposure on the "black" side is about 5 or 6 stops less than the exposure of the lit part of his face.