I can still remember showing up for my first day on set of Darren Aranofsky’s “The Wrestler”. Looking at the lighting equipment truck I thought I could hear a choir of angels calling to me with a trailer filled with lights both small and large, weak and powerful. Each lighting instrument used to a specific end to either expose something to the audience, or to keep it hidden. When it was my turn to do the lighting instead of just carrying equipment the impressive array of lights I used for “The Wrestler” were no where to be found. This is the independent lighting designers ultimate test; lighting an entire movie with about 5 lights or less.

When the email from producer Aaron Garfinkel came to me I told him without a doubt that I would work on “The Call,” but I had no idea what I was in for. When I arrived on set the first day for my maiden voyage as an LD (lighting designer) I realized that I didn’t know that much about designing a lighting environment that would be both realistic and dramatic. The thing I noticed about lighting that day and a realization that I have come to since then is that lighting isn’t something you usually praise in a movie that you like. Very often you comment on the great acting, the writing and plotline, the excellent cinematography, or even the good sound track but very rarely do you hear “wow the lighting in that movie was awesome! That shot where they put the Roscoe 315 in front of the 650 and back lit that main character was bitchen!” However while it’s usually not a highlight to the formula it is very important and if not done correctly can be a major detractor. If the audience can not see what is happening on the screen, there really is no point in making the movie at all. So I found that if an LD can reveal exactly what he with the lights he has then succeeded in creating just the right look.

For “The Call” pulling off the right look was a daunting task. In the hold where we were shooting the boat scene of the movie I was working with only 2 lights and extremely limited space. Even after I used all my angles and diffusions properly I had to fight with an enemy that many grips, gaffers, and other lighting crew forget about… HEAT. Tungsten halogen bulbs, which are the most commonly used small film lights, can not only get hot they can get scalding. Because of the limited space I actually had to position myself on a shelf inside the hold gripping my own light to get the desired effect that I needed on the actor. Normally this is not something a Lighting Designer would do but having a small crew with an even smaller space I fought the heat and managed to pull off what I was going for. For a cinematographer no reward is greater then seeing your hard work on the big screen revealing it for the first time to a live audience. Knowing I didn’t have a truck load of equipment, nor a dedicated crew of grips and gaffers, nor a large studio with plenty of space and air conditioning but still managed to do exactly what I wanted is truly the best feeling a filmmaker can have.

Scott Wyllie is the Chief Lighting Technician at Killer Goose Films. In future posts, Scott will be demonstrating lighting design & technique.