The Grand Titan

A wise and great photographer once told me that when you understand lighting you can take something completely fake and make it look completely real. I took those words to heart and have studied lighting and practiced it so that one day I too can take a scene and light it so people who look at it will feel like it’s really happening.

I had this task last night while helping Jose and Eric shoot a short flashback scene for their upcoming video short. It’s a story about a wrestler who needs an identity and he finds it behind a mask. We had to shoot a scene that had the look and feel of really being in a large arena. Mind you our stage was really the basement of the Rock Valley College library where the mass comms classes are held, but I like a good challenge.

What was difficult for me was using lighting I’m not familiar with, like those used in video production. I’ve been told by many greats that a light is a light and how you use it will always be the same. I put the theory to the test and tried to light a scene that would make everyone feel was truly an arena. Think back to your days of going to a show at the MetroCentre and try to remember what you saw. Most likely you looked at the action going on below you, but did you ever look up? Even for a short second? As a photographer it’s in my genetics to stare up and understand

Accepting his Cheers

what is going on above me in terms of lighting. Every location, every building you walk into has something different going on. The way light combines and bounces off of surfaces to the different types of lights and colors associated with them. My memory of an arena looked a lot like dozens of spotlights shining down on the action below and with that we crafted a scene.

These stills represent the effort put forth to make something from an area that looks nothing like what was photographed. The intention is to lie to you the viewer and give them a reality that isn’t there. Photography isn’t always truthful and these images are an example at the lies we photographers tell. Next time you look at an image don’t forget that we are a crafty folk with the ability to bend reality far enough to paint a picture over the truth.