LIGHTING EQUIPMENT NEWS

Obsessed by recreating natural light

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:19

Vicci Turpin is one of a few women cinematographers in South Africa and, in fact, in the world. She started as a fashion photographer and then joined Gray Phillips ad agency where she worked in the camera department as a loader. She worked her way up to focus puller and operator and then into lighting. Turpin has throughout the years worked on various commercials and documentaries and is recognised as one of the best DOPs in South Africa.

KVS: As a DOP, what is your lighting style?

VT : I am totally obsessed with natural light and the ability to recreate natural ’unlit‘ scenes. This is pretty taxing when shooting with tight time lines but can also suit today’s budgets as it tends to lend itself to simplicity – less is more. I find it an art to know where to place natural light and add subtleties to create scenes of different feels and looks.

Colour palettes and intensities in the set and wardrobe styling are of utmost importance to a lighting feel and the end result, and this is really important when working towards a ‘look’ on a job. I like to keep my highlight and shadow levels as close together as possible and I think at some stages I get close to flatlining in telecine (so I’m told), but if you know the medium you are working in well enough, you should always push the boundaries. As they say no pain, no gain.

I am very lucky to be living in this day and age as I have always liked very soft light and with the development of high definition (HD) my lighting and levels are totally at home in this area. The grading and post areas are as important as my prep and lighting stages and one should know exactly where the end result should be so that all these stages can be achieved and blended simply.

I definitely have a lighting style that I prefer but put it together with a good stylist, hair, makeup designer and grader and you can achieve warm sunny days to twilight heaviness without much complication, just some common sense and planning. I don’t believe in overkill when it comes to lighting, it’s about end results not the show on the day.

I have been working in India, Australia and Ethiopia in the past few months and been doing some very diverse work ranging from working with high profile sportsmen to Asian actresses and documentary ads. They say you make your luck, but I have been very lucky.

KVS: Who do you admire as a DOP?

VT : I find my greatest lighting influences come from National Geographic and Reuters press photographers and this range extends from hardcore nightclub scenes, happy tea parties in Texas to mountain ranges in India. South Africa has the full range of life in its lighting conditions captured naturally by some of the best photographers in the world. Trying to recreate something amazing that nature created for one split second, now that’s a great challenge.

SCREENAFRICA Print Magazine – January 2011 (view here)

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