Wide view of the set to show the strobes working above the corners of the tube.

Lighting down a tunnel

For Luvin’ Rockets we had a unique lighting situation to tackle: putting light down a forced-perspective tube. The set was a tunnel, 10′ wide at the opening and about 4′ at the back. We did target this early on in the concept so we had a easy plan to accommodate and even accent the scene.

Wide view of the set to show the strobes working above the corners of the tube.

The key was to introduce gaps in the panels in the upper and lower corners. This would let in a light leak from an overhead bare strobe that was blasting down upon the set. As the panels were offset in a reducing manner, it helped to draw the depth of the scene. The lights are on either side of the tunnel and flagged off from the camera.

They bare strobe on camera right also had an unexpected bonus of creating an optical illusion of a switchback from how the light was falling upon the back of the tube. This took our semi-deep scene and pushed it even farther. It will require a little nudge in post, but it’s one of those happy little mistakes.

Final Luvin’ Rockets imagery.