Lighting for Film: Faking Fire

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Fire has always been an exciting light source. From the orange color, to the way it flickers randomly on a subject’s face. There are so many great scenes in cinema with characters lit by fires, but a lot of the time, the fires aren’t actually real. In most fire scenes these days, the fire itself is added in post production, and the crew has to fake the look of fire on set to match the lighting. But how do they do that? How can you create lighting that not only has the same color and brightness as fire, but also the same quality and direction? Today on 4 Minute Film School, we’re going to be showing you how to fake the look of fire with your lighting.

In this video, Matt from the A-Team shows us three narrative examples of using lighting to fake the look of fire in your scene. First, he looks at the scene to determine what the source of fire is. Is it a small candle, or a huge house fire? Second, he places lights in such a way that the direction of the light matches where the fire is coming from. This helps make the shadows and highlights look more realistic. Lastly, he uses light shaping tools to match the light quality that the fire is giving off. Is it soft light, or hard light? Getting this right will go a long way towards recreating fire.

The main aspects addressed in this video are light quality and light position. Light quality refers to how soft or hard a light source is. In your scene, you’ll have to determine if your fire is big, making a soft light, or small, making a hard light. Light position refers to where the light is placed in the scene. The direction of shadows your light is casting on the subject needs to match the way the real fire would react.

Overall, there is a lot you can do with lighting effects in your scenes. Knowing how to accurately recreate fire lighting can help add a lot of energy to your shots and your story. Combined with a little bit of sound design and you can sell a very expensive setup with little cost. The more lighting effects you know how to pull off the more storytelling possibilities you’ll have at your disposal.

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[stevenkralovec]

Budget idea: you could also recreate the flicker of fire light by using the gold side of a reflector with warm light bouncing off it onto your subject. Move the reflector around to create the flicker effect. You could combine that with dimming the light up and down.

[Martell]

During my last shoot I emulated fire by holding and waving orange crepe paper in front of a desk lamp.
Worked out pretty well.

[ibrahimabazid]

In my short film, I just used a warm LED and then I made the flickering in post by key framing the brightness using curves in aftereffects.

[jaydenwoodards]

On a set I was on, we only had 4 Dedo lights with their attached dimmers and CTO as well as some straw gels. A slow motion reverse shot of a building on fire was done with people randomly dimming the lights while two of us crumpled and mixed the gels in front of the lights. The outside shoot had a street light in the distance that created the seperation we needed without additional setup. A crew member running around witht he flow of the wind used a thick haze to help push it enough without casting light rays.

[tylerburton]

Waving your fingers in front of a warm colored light is a pretty good way of doing a diy version of fire lighting.

[leondebla]

I bought a dimmer socket where I plug my light into and have a mate operate it. I didn't have time to get CTO so I bought a plastic orange see through folder which I used as CTO. For the smoke I asked a mate with a vape to come and help 😅
Cheers!

[jonquinn]

Using the gold side of a reflector can achieve a similar look I believe. Great video, definately gonna use it in my next video!

[starpilotalliance]

Perfect, I was just brainstorming a campfire scene over the weekend and was trying to figure out if the mc was going to be bright enough.

[TrippyArtist]

Cut the black charts like gape and no gape basis in rectangular shape.Then put it before the light and constantly shake it to have a fire effect🔥🔥🔥

[paradiddle]

I shot a fireplace scene. I used a CTO gel on the key light with a switch for flickering. I also had two practical lights. Thanks for the videos.

[ivpt]

Easiest way: Waving your hand over a tungsten lightbulb to achieve the flickering.

[TheDreamCatcher]

Playing with a dimmer 🤷🏼‍♂️ haha or what I've found actually giving us an interesting look is just a real campfire. Of course, we were shooting outside. We used a good camera in low light situation and add few lights to emulate the moonlight!

[sofianeadjalvision]

Wawww nice video as always we learn a lot I used an other technique in my last short film u gave me ideas tnks a lot

[RangerStudios]

I've used a can light with a tungsten bulb or an orange specialty bulb and a dimmer in the past to simulate fire. I've also used a cn160 with cto and had someone dim the light back and forth. Both work just as well.

[ProCopyAustralia]

Loosely clipped some yellow/orange gel over a small led light, , cut some red gel in to odd shaped/sized strips and loosely taped over the top, then put a small desktop fan underneath to create some movement..

[otoshithekid]

I'm not sure this would work, but what if our light didn't have random or flickering mode. Would setting a light with a CTO, and waving another CTO randomly in front of it do the job? Like, it would change the temperature a bit, and the intensity, so I believe it could achieve the flickering. No?

[JimmyBlanco]

i'm surprised you guys didn't try the wobbling reflector, before all these fancy RGB Lights that was a go to technique for dp's and gaffers to get realistic fire effects, it can also work as water reflection effects as well

[AsherPardey]

The only thing I have that might work is a controllable LED parcan stage light. I think I would just fade the light in and out rapidly and then maybe use a piece of fabric to enhance the flickering effect of the fire.

[mehdisheriff]

Circular led light with a CTO and behind an orange cloth. Dimmer switch and manual flickering

[olamfilms]

If you don't have lights with a flicker function, you can add it in post with moderating the exposure/color of a selected area. Or just buy some fancy Aputure lights...