… I’m stepping through the door
And I’m floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today 🎶
This is my entry to the #bc_makingmusic photo contest on Brickcentral, showing our minifigures is a music scene: singing their hearts out in a duet, playing a concert in a theatre, gigging in a nightclub, or even posing for album covers.
Tips and Tricks
I thought I’d shift gears from the recent Behind the Scenes posts, and share how I creating the floating effect in this photo using practical effects only.
It begins with a key LEGO piece: the translucent Bar 12L with 1×2 Plate End Hollow Studs and 1×1 Round Plate End. This will become an “invisible arm” that will suspend the minifigure over the floordrop.
I attached it at one end to the guitar with a 1×1 cone with top groove, and atop the end of a 1×16 brick at the other (with 1×1 round plates as vertical spacers).
That brick in turn is mounted on a stack of bricks high enough to clear my shooting platform height, and with enough weight to counterbalance the extended minifigure.
Using a piece of black construction paper as a sweep to hide the base, I positioned the minifigure in place as if in zero gravity.
The key for lighting was to keep the background shadowed, using the following setup:
- Main light: LitraPro with grid, positioned with double Platypod gooseneck arm, shining only on the guitar
- Fill light: LitraPro with softbox, positioned with Platypod gooseneck arm, feathered to shine on the astronaut
- Reflector: DIY with folded recipe card, to provide additional fill on the astronaut
In ended up exposing the image at -3 EV, which was enough to render the background completely black. This is the final result:
Hope you found this interesting!
Best,
Scott.
Toying With Light 