Lighting Question

[TM4RT]

I just started getting into photography about 2 months ago, and I want to start getting into lighting. So, my question is: How can I get a similar effect to the lighting in this Bloc Party video (Banquet). I'm not talking about the colored circle in the middle. More like the general lighting they have there. I was thinking flash + snoot, but please let me know what you think.

Here's the video:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdkmhquF60o&feature=channel]YouTube - Bloc Party - Banquet[/ame]

 

[Big Mike]

I guess you are talking about the dark/moody lighting on them while playing?

The main aspect here is a high ratio. Meaning that the parts of them that are in shadow, are very dark. They seem to be mainly lit either from above, from the side or from behind. By not lighting them from the front, their faces are mostly in shadow...and by not using any fill light (and probably by keeping the room dark) the parts that aren't lit, are dark shadows.

The light seem fairly hard, which is typical of stage lights (as opposed to soft light from an umbrella or softbox). You can do this with a bare flash, but the important part is that it's off camera, in this case, behind or to the side of the subject, not in front.

 

[TM4RT]

thanks for the help, but I want to emulate the lighting in the beginning, the part where they have the soft rectangle-shaped light hitting the background. Like the first 8 seconds of the video.

Mostly this: How do you get the soft-edged, but defined, area of light hitting the background?

 

[Big Mike]

It might just be a darkening of the edges of the frame (vignette). Maybe something held up in front of the lens or maybe done in post. Certainly easy to do with still photo editing.

It might also be the shape of the light source, like maybe a large window or something.

 

[KmH]

I think Mike nailed it as a post process vignette added right along with the colored circles.

 

[AnthonyS]

It does look like post processing as normally a snoot or grid are round lights. You can make a custom grid that will give you different shape, actually my strobist style speedlight homemade grid is a rectangle.