The set of ‘Unscripted’ being in a villa complex posed for opportunity. Opportunities in lighting certain shots and scenes in various areas and times since it was the only location. Cinematographers like Robert Richardson and Wally Pfister have been such wonderful influences on naturalistic lighting especially during our time on ‘Unscripted’. Robert Richardson famous for his work on movies with Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and Oliver Stone have always maintained well-lit sets primarily through strong backlighting and a soft fill light with the sun always being the primary source of light in most of the scenes. This gives for such strong images taking place indoors. But what Wally Pfister accomplishes on the psychological thriller ‘Memento (2000)’ is astounding.
The indoor scenes from Memento on locations such as ‘The Motel Room’, ‘Natalie’s home’,’ The Tattoo Parlor’ have all been a strong influence on lighting scenes on ‘Unscripted’ with strong backlighting from the exteriors of the villa and with soft fill lights on the inside with the sun as the primary. The many shots taking placing in the interiors of the film had to maintain natural lighting while also having to spot focus on the characters in frame was used throughout the daylight scenes.
The opening scenes of the crew walking into the villa in the afternoon was one such scene which allowed us to implement this technique effectively with adequate staging, ‘The Entrance’ was lit similarly with a strong back-light (ARRI 650) through the marginal glass frames over the door as was the ‘Main Hall’ with a spot focus (Redheads) coming from the backyard all the way through the window on the character J.J as he delivers his monologue facing the light.
sachins^love:_forfilm_<3 