Lighting engineer Zhang Jianzhi: The lighting engineer is the photographer's second eye.

This article was first published in Filmmaker.com magazine.

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Zhang Jianzhi is a lighting designer. He has cooperated with Qilu in many film and television works, such as Oriental, Mazu, Eastern Battlefield, Blood Oath and so on. From lighting assistant to independent lighting designer, he has his own unique understanding and pursuit of light and shadow. From 2065438 to February 2007, Zhang Jianzhi was named "Top Ten TV Drama Creator" at the 11th National Top Ten Awards Commendation Conference of TV Production Industry. This is 15 years of his career.

When lighting engineers appear in the crew, usually more than a dozen people start work at the same time. They are dressed simply and always travel-stained; Their hands and feet are flexible, and the figure of climbing up and down the rope is crisp and neat; They come and go like the wind, shuttling through every corner of the studio, often stepping on ladders or cranes to work, marking themselves as "pure manual workers", leaving people with "isn't it just a matter of twisting a light bulb to shine?" What's the technical content? "

No! How can the job of a lighting engineer be so simple?

In the whole crew, the lighting group is very important for the photography department. It can be said that the lighting engineer is the photographer's second pair of eyes. Without the cooperation of lighting, photography can't be carried out and the play can't be filmed. A good lighting engineer can use light to tell stories, convey the feelings of the characters and help a play present a better texture. Now let's popularize what lighting engineers have done for a play.

Lighting designer Zhang Jianzhi

How to restore the oriental sense of time with light?

Oriental is a large-scale epic TV series. It is a great challenge for Zhang Jianzhi to cooperate with director Qilu for the first time. Because the director has very high requirements for every production link. Based on the specific historical stage from the founding of New China in 1949 to the basic completion of socialist transformation in 1957, the play shows the international and domestic historical situation at the beginning of the birth of the Republic.

Stills of TV series "Oriental" (20 1 1) (Wei)

If you want to show the historical features of that special period, the picture must have a sense of the times, not as straightforward as shooting a modern play. The most important thing in chronological drama is that the light should reflect strong contrast. The bright place is bright, the dark place is dark, and the cold and warm light should be combined. Only when there is contrast will the old texture appear, and the picture will appear three-dimensional.

In the choice of light, if the light on the character is flat, then the light in the environment will be suppressed, because the dark environment will better highlight the character. If the whole picture is bright, it will appear very floating and give people an uncomfortable feeling.

Stills of TV series "Oriental" (20 1 1) (Wei)

In addition to pursuing the layering of the picture, we should also use the light as reasonably and aesthetically as possible. "We even need to light up the details according to the standards of the film during the TV series, so that the lighting effect of the film can better serve the story as much as possible." The final lighting effect of "Oriental" has been recognized by producers and directors.

How to use light to build Mazu Deep Sea Dragon Palace?

In China, most of the dramas, including Journey to the West, shoot the Dragon Palace in this way: the late special effects are the main ones, and the early ones are normal. When Zhang Jianzhi filmed the Deep Sea Dragon Palace in Mazu, he did not stick to the traditional method because the effect was not very good. This time he wants to do something different.

The conventional way to shoot underwater scenes is to use a basin and use a lamp to reflect the light from the bottom of the basin, but the light looks unnatural when looking up. "In fact, the scene of the Dragon Palace was particularly good at that time, mainly the lighting of the Dragon Palace. What can we do to make it more textured and natural? This is the problem we want to solve most. "

Finally, Zhang Jianzhi was inspired by the pictures of underwater creatures in the documentary "Man and Nature". They want to take a good picture of the bottom of the water and pursue the feeling that the sun shines directly through the sea. How can we make that kind of light that can penetrate water?

Zhang Jianzhi and his assistants thought together for three days, tried various methods and did many experiments. Finally, they made the most reliable plan-to make a tempered glass fish tank, put it on the roof, fill it with water, and shoot it off with a lamp. The light passes through the fish tank, the sun shines directly from top to bottom, and the water surface becomes sparkling, which looks very beautiful.

? The TV series Mazu (20 12) Longgong Studio

At that time, thanks to the trust of the producer and the support of the art teacher, this method involved some economic expenses. Zhang Jianzhi was just holding a try mentality at that time, and he was not so sure. Then the director, the photography department, the art department, including the producer, went to see the scenery together. As soon as the light came on, the artist said that this was the real underwater feeling, and the feeling of Dragon Palace was very shocking.

This work of Mazu has made Zhang Jianzhi gain a lot. "No matter how difficult a thing is, as long as you try your best to solve it and persist in innovation, there will always be good results. When conventional methods are ineffective, you must learn to find another way. "

How to render the prison emotional drama of Eastern Battlefield with light?

The use of light is different in different scenes. For example, the light in the office environment will be brighter and cleaner. The lighting in the home will use very warm and natural lighting effects. For the shooting of some specific scenes, how to light it is also a science. For example, the shooting of prison drama requires feelings.

When filming the Eastern Battlefield, there was a scene in which Zhao Yiman was arrested and imprisoned by the Japanese invaders and destroyed in prison. At that time, the director said that this lamp must highlight the contrast, focusing on high light and hard light. Zhao Yiman was devastated by the Japanese army at that time, so it is necessary to reflect the mood of the characters through light.

Shining light on the devil highlights a vicious image, which is in great contrast with the overall environment and the light is harder. When the light hits Zhao Yiman again, it is necessary to create a softer light that can highlight the image of a strong woman.

Stills of TV series "Eastern Battlefield" (20 16)

There is almost no auxiliary light for this shooting, a highlight and a beam of light. For Zhao Yiman, it is backlit. For the Japanese, the light reflected by the carpet here is very insidious. There is a sharp contrast between the positive characters and the negative characters.

How to use light to go deep into the mysterious cave in the blood oath?

Light is the art of shading, not a light that can be lit by pressing a switch. This is light. If only one place needs to be illuminated, the rest must be blocked. How to block, how to block, is a very difficult thing.

In some dramas, because of the special scenes, the process of occlusion will be very difficult. When shooting the TV series "Blood Oath", it will be very difficult to hit this light when encountering the scene in the cave. There can't be too much auxiliary light in the cave, otherwise the shadows will be particularly messy and need to be sheltered. But we can't cover it all, because there are few light spots in the cave itself and there is no light in the darkness itself, so we need to assume some light sources at that time.

For example, there are lights in this place, so this place will assume. Could this be a hidden hole? And do that light. When finished, add auxiliary light to the space light. The auxiliary light should not be too bright or too dark, but bright enough to bring out the overall effect. If there is no mystery of the cave and there is less light scattered in the cave, it needs to be properly covered.

? The TV series Blood Oath (20 13) was decorated in the cave.

Zhang Jianzhi was deeply impressed by several shots of White Tiger Hall when Blood Oath was filmed in the cave. "At that time, because the cave was pitted and the machine was unstable, I wanted to put a light, plus the lamp legs and magic legs, and someone had to support it. After all, we are shooting live, in a real cave. At this time, there will be some angle conflicts between the two machines. Maybe this place only needs a light, but this place is a big slope. It is particularly troublesome to add a light and then block it. It has received personal support and spent a lot of energy to complete it. "

Of course, sometimes other methods can be used to reduce manpower, because there is soil in the hole, you can chisel with a shovel, put down the lamp legs, or you can barely stand for a while. If it really doesn't work, cut off a little and electrocute it with a flat gun. If it gets worse, it can only be supported by people, and there is no way. Every shot looks ordinary, but there are many difficulties behind it.

Lighting engineer Zhang Jianzhi's studio work photo

Recent situation of filmmaker QA

Q: Please briefly talk about your lighting design concept.

The light I understand should be as natural as possible, but it should also be reasonable and close to every scene. Not every shot is the same, maybe this scene is like this, and the next scene is different.

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Q: What's the difference between lens light in different scenes?

The environment is different, the scene is different and the light is different. TV plays also have close-ups, distant views and close-ups. Each lens uses different light.

Close-range lighting usually needs to be repaired, while panoramic lighting is the overall atmosphere. In fact, shooting people from the middle should mainly be actors and portraits.

The requirement for portrait light is to be beautiful and beautiful, and the light of portrait is naturally different from that of panoramic view. Maybe the panorama is hard light, it will be decorated at close range, and the characters will be softer, which will be more beautiful and better.

Q: How to better cooperate with directors and photographers?

Sometimes there are differences with other departments, but there will be no contradictions. Opinions are not unified, everyone expresses their opinions, compares which is better, or whose proposal is better, and listens to whose suggestion. Or everyone can make their own suggestions and neutralize them. ?

For example, the sword of Wudang that we are shooting now, when we are shooting a big tent in Aershan, because the big tent over there is outside the Great Wall, it is particularly cold and the windows should be sealed. However, it will be very troublesome for real-life shooting after it is sealed, because there is no place to enter the light, and the effect will not be achieved.

The director also thinks that the scenery of this place is like this. When the light is not very good, we will communicate with the photography teacher. When the photography teacher gets off the plane, we will communicate how to shoot the tricks well. After the communication, communicate with the landscape and art department.

"Teacher, do you think you can open the windows and curtains and leave a place for light to come in, otherwise it's stuffy inside and the light can't come in?" Let's communicate. The art teacher or the scenery teacher said it was ok. After all, TV plays are not personal achievements, but a whole and a team. A painting is not only light, but also scenery. It is the cooperation of various departments that has completed a very good picture.

Q: How to better communicate with your own team?

Communication is very important, not only with photography, but also with team members. At the shooting scene, everyone works very fast, sometimes they are anxious, of course, they are not very angry, just holding walkie-talkies to urge them.

Why can't you do it when you encounter difficulties? Tell me why, for example, is this direction difficult? Maybe sometimes we just sit in front of the monitor and don't know what is outside the monitor. You will always feel that the machine is stuck here. In fact, this is a wall, and the distance may be only 50 cm. But when you look at the screen, you will feel that there is infinite space here, and you can add something.

I will ask them why they can't do it, and they will say what it is. Ok, let's do it in another way. If this photolysis never works, we still have a record and another plan. If we do it again, the effect will be fine. If this can be done well, it can be done. Just change your mind.

Lighting engineer Zhang Jianzhi's studio work photo

Current filmmaker

Zhang Jianzhi: Lighting designer. On behalf of the TV series "Oriental", "Oriental Battlefield", "Mazu", "Swear of Blood" and "Peace with Iron Blood".