Light A White Cyc Wall

To achieve the illusion of extra depth often desirable if one is re creating a sky the cyclorama can be paired with a sharkstooth scrim backdrop.

Light a white cyc wall.

Photo studio background making of a cyclorama wall and cover brick or stucco with. How to light a cyc with altman spectra. No corners no depth. White cyc can be tough to get right.

Our first instinct is to usually blast all the light we have onto the stage to see where it puts us. Use a light meter and a scope to get the spread as even as possible over the entire area. Next light your subject seperately. The distance the light should be from the wall is half the height of the cyc so if the cyc is 12 tall then the light should be 6 away from the wall and aimed down at a 45 degrees.

Posted december 23 2010. As common as cycloramas are there are many times i see a blank look of confusion when discussing cyc walls with different people. However by adding contrast back into the image through lighting you can help lift the scene. This is assuming you are using at least a four bulb bank of lights.

Many people use primary colored frost gels with these units. The bigger the units the better to avoid small hard pools of light. Assuming not however and all you have is your lights you need something that can just be a large broad source to light your cyc. A cyclorama can be front lit or if it is constructed of translucent and seamless material backlit directly or indirectly with the addition of a white bounce drop.

Initially fabrics such as muslin or canvas were used. Common to all are the smooth walls sans horizon and the creative capacity to play with light and shadow on smooth curvy white cyc walls. If you are looking for a softer edge of light consider using the silk frost gel with your color. Thus when the light hits the wall it does not reflect the depth of the background.

Music video lighting tips on a cyc wall white wall. Lighting cyclorama backdrops for seamless sets a cyclorama is a stage background that was developed during 19th century for the purpose of providing a smooth white or colored surface thus a creating the illusion of a larger background. In other words one light source is just as good as the next. A 2k just aimed at the wall is going to create hotspots so you need some way of diffusing the light to get it to spread evenly over the white.

When you re lighting a white cyc wall it can very easily turn into a flat image without any contrast. The answer is to use a lot of soft lighting from overhead using coops or softboxes of some kind.