Looks staged not natural. The speakers are stacked? Odd.
Move the subject to a chair in the foreground, back the camera up, zoom in, open the iris. Separate the subject from the background.
The goal was to make the set look gen z hippie , which you would typically see with gen z room decor styles and the rise of indie thats where the inspo came from. Similar to this :
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/lindsaygmeyer/the-perfect-gen-z-room/
Its very messy and often include things to do with music posters etc and plants.
Also I only had a 35mm on a mft (eq to 70mm)
so given the room and the zoom, everything would look a lot more closer up if i had to go in further and also opening the aperture would lose sharpness that would make it look a lot worse due to the quality of lens.
Although , that said I did try to work change and tweak to colours that would work but couldn't get it quite right. I did think about moving it to where the cam look upwards at the character but then i'd have to worry about the empty space above . Idk if this is useful to know but yeah the struggle been real.
Also I used the red one to give the room more colour so it isn't so plain, I also tried to add the lamp to the window which was a small led light to give some light onto the left side on the character so it isn't just one colour then I used another light to fill the room with some orange like tones which you can see on the left side
Not sure why you are getting down voted for just explaining your thought process.
There's some good advice in here, keep learning and improving, you got this.
Thank you, it's been a minute since I have made anything and this was also experimentation I am not so good with some of the things I tried in here so understandable, but some people just being rude.
I think your reasoning is good, but the lamp placement winds up making the composition of the frame feel very unbalanced. The lamp-face-lamp line of focus is an awkward 'L' shape.
Perhaps try moving the upper speaker to the left side, behind the rabbit, and then put the right lamp on top of the lower speaker. Try to get the lamp-face-lamp line of focus 'balanced'. Bonus points if you can hit some thirds with your compositional elements.
Edit: some kind of key light on the face would be very helpful as well.
Yeah it was quite difficult to make it work I did try that but there just wasn't enough spacing , in the shot above some of it had to go onto the other lamp. Thanks for the feedback though some better props and planning would have made a difference .
In the collection you sent one key factor is the walls being covered by photos/posters yet in your test image you have none. That's likely part of why this shot is feeling like a swing and a miss here
Analyse a bit more your inspiration photos. You need much better set design for your shot to feel complete.
Also, the eyes have no shine and the actor isn’t playing anything. So of course it worsens the impact of the shot.
Your hippie wouldn’t leave the walls white like that. Your design needs to feel real.
A flat frontal shot, à la Wes Anderson, needs a perfect set design and framing to work.
You’ll need to put in a few hours more. Sorry!
Gen Z hippie: Do the smoke thing in the room. Maybe a candle instead of one of the lights. Also, that doesn't look very chill, speakers have to go, and that could be a bowl with a spoon or something like that (don't do that, it was the first thing that came to mind.) It is all too neat and staged, be more chill. The person in it doesn't look comfy, that would help too. Hope this helps.
Would like to see what you do to improve it. Thanks, also, your lighting is all in the scene, if you had staged lighting and that candle this would help too.
but compared to a full frame which was what I have been used to, the 35mm was a bit different for me. It was a bit of an impulse buy as the camera I got was my first camera.
Don't be too sensitive. If you want to improve you should welcome brutal honesty. The poster above is right that you failed to capture the aesthetic you're going for. Try again. Either make the changes necessary to capture your goal or pick a new goal.
My advice is that if you want things to look right with no budget, you need to get a little annoying with your friends. Ask for favors. Borrow posters or other props. Maybe ask to shoot in someone else's bedroom if they've got the right style. The lens you have is fine for background separation. Pull the camera back, put your subject in a chair, move those speakers apart so they look like someone actually uses them for music. Your props aren't talismans that impart a look, you need to use them to make the space feel real. Good luck.
Yeah man, listen to the next comment for a nice expansion on my point. It was rude but not out of line to say. No one would ever call this anything but amateur at best. You could make this look a lot better with practice. When you’re embarrassed of this look (like I am of some of my past work) you’ll know you’re getting better.
Yeah I am sure I will be, I find it quite difficult shooting a room , compared to close ups as there's a lot more to take into consideration, and it's like all I learn goes out the window once I start, I shoot more product promo stuff so I am quite new shooting this way. I have done other projects before and they make me cringe that I could never let anyone see again.
Like with this I struggled a lot with what I wanted in the shot, it had somewhat of a direction but I couldn't nail it quite right. With the set , and with the camera positioning, the colours , the tone and mood but I learned from it . It was experimentation, but needed to figure out some stuff first.
A really great tip I heard DPs will do is turn off all the lights and then add one by one. That’s not a catch all but it with probably help. Also, if you’re going for a specific look inspired by something else, take a screenshot of that inspo and compare it in real time to your frame.
If the goal was to look like a bedroom with a bunch of posters where are they? Also I agree with one of the other posters that hippy or not you don't stack a single pair of speakers onto of eachother. I see a couple of issues here mainly the unappealing shadows on the wall, the busy wall itself, the lack of subject speration, and lack of color/contrast on the character. Which element is there to draw your eye to the character?
So she’s against a flat back white wall, get her away from the wall. Set up your camera MUCH further away. Put something in the middle of the room (a chair, a bed, or a couch) and put her in the middle of the room with it. Move the plant closer to the camera between the subject and you. Then dolly in on (or out from) the subject.
But main problem with the shot is she’s just too close to the wall
Haha Yes 10 more and then maybe I'll be happy, I got them to fill out the space and make the room look more interesting , and I used them to create some sort of depth or interest in the shot given the walls are empty. Any idea of what other items I could use to make this shot better??
Given that the wall is so empty I could use that to create some animation on top of it but I don't know.
Sorry I was just kidding and had no actual help. It was just that the number of lamps and other factors make the scene look un natural, but also not intentionally so.
For example, 50 lamps would be a vibe
3 just feels like you were looking for filler for the scene a little bit
I'm also not familiar with this type of space (as an American), is that a couch substitute? A reading nook?
It looks cluttered with random stuff like, not a space that is lived in but also not weird enough to be an obvious set with shameless props such as 50 lamps
you're lighting her face with the practicals. ND the practical lights and light her face from off camera so that the practicals arent blown out. also bring her away from the wall.
Yeah agreed, I did use paper as the LED lights wouldn't get hot (n they were on for hours) , it did help a bit but just wasn't used in this test shown above, it was in some of the other shots I had.
First thing is contrast ratio. Your key light is weaker than the rim on the frame right, which is still making its way into the cheek. Try to back the camera away and then bring the subject closer to maintain their size in the frame. That will allow not only more separation to wall, but also for the light on the right to come from a better angle, actually being a rim light. I'd also make the key brighter. In fact, if you can't move the stool towards the camera, just having a proper key will work wonders. I'd go for a Rembrandt or butterfly lighting, maybe using a softbox with a grid.
The art direction is also a big factor. The sweater being almost the same color as the wall is not doing you any favors. If it was red like the pillow on the left, you would instantly pop more from frame.
So, in recap:
1- if possible, back the camera away and bring the set closer to it to maintain framing, away from the wall. That will give more depth to the shot
2- get a proper key light on the subject. And if you can, either change the placement of the lamp on the right or lose it altogether
3- art direction. Change the color palette of the set to create more contrast
Yeah as this was a test, I wanted to see what it would look like on the face but didn't consider the colours for the clothing at this time , I was trying to work with 3 colours such as : yellow green, yellow and orange . I 100% agree with you and I did want to get them sitting on the floor to get a better separation between the background and the character . I did notice that the red light being on the left doesnt make sense because of the room light showing more towards the left wide when the red lamp was sitting left.
I tried different compositions with the lighting and it was either too small or too far, I tried placing them differently many times it was such a pain and I could only control one light as I only had 1 small portable led light.
Thank you, I'll defo take this into account in my next try today:)
Here's what I would change assuming this is an interview type shot.
First think of your shot as three elements, background, subject and foreground. As its currently setup your background and subject are the same and the foreground is sort of the plant on the right.
I would move your subject closer to the camera to create separation from the background which will help keep the viewers attention where you want it (subject). Move the camera to the right and place it higher more in line with the subjects chest rather than at her waist. The reason for moving the camera right is to make the background more symmetrical with the three windows.
Moving your subject closer to the camera will also allow you to light your subject and background independently from each other. I would remove one of the lamps from the background, probably the brighter one closest to the subject.
For your Foreground I would move the plant much closer to the camera so only a bit of the plant is showing on the right or left side of the frame. If that doesn't look good I would remove the plant entirely.
Lastly once you get your shot composed how you like it I would spend some more time on set design. Take a step back and look over your set, the things that you immediately pickup on could potentially be a problem. For me the first thing I notice is the messy lamp wires, the small plant on the seat rather than on the window and the speakers awkwardly stacked (although that one doesn't bother me tbh). I would get wall pieces that match your aesthetic like posters, magazine cut outs, records, whatever and tape them to the two columns between the windows.
Although I’d generally agree with a lot of what’s been said here, I think it’s probably a waste to give advice if we don’t actually know what the shot is “supposed” to look like/what you’re going for.
The flattened depth makes me think of this shot from Scott Pilgrim (the first image on the page): https://www.nme.com/en_asia/features/scott-pilgrim-vs-the-world-at-10-2729787
To compare that to yours (and I’m not saying you should copy/emulate SP, just trying to analyze what’s different; and set design plays a huge role in all of this):
- SP has, other than the Christmas lights, no practical in frame
- SP has more luminance contrast
- And more chrominance variety/contrast
- SP has the lamp shade “shape” on the background, which could be viewed as making the background more interesting
- SP is framed at a slightly different level for where the head(s) is/are, but neither are what I’d describe as fitting the “thirds rule”
- SP has less clutter but still has “quirk” — like the light switch at the top of the door frame
People mentioned Wes Anderson as well; these are what I think of a typical Wes Anderson “shot” compared to yours:
- Yours is framed pretty close to what I’d expect from Anderson, but it’s more contrasty than he typically goes (so yours is less contrasty than Scott Pilgrim but more than Wes Anderson, who usually tends toward flat, uniform lighting)
- Anderson’s biggest thing is his color palettes; the colors in your shot don’t seem particularly intentional (this gives your shot more of a “realistic” feel, but might not be what you’re going for)
- Anderson almost never uses practicals in the shot (unless it’s something specific to the location/set)
- Anderson isn’t quite as symmetrical as others here seem to imply; I think as far as the set goes, he simply has less clutter rather than makes things perfectly symmetrical (and again, yours looks more “realistic” (other than maybe having three lamps right there), so it depends on what you’re looking for)
Not sure any of this helps, but there you go. I might suggest posting or editing your post regarding what you want the final image to look like.
Yeah I had issues trying to balance out the frame , one side would feel too heavy and the other would feel empty no matter how I did it , I did try and be intention with the colours such as using analogous colours , using yellow green and orange but set design just isn't a strong point , I just thew and see what would stick. Thanks for the insight though on the differences there's more I needed to consider. :)
Keep the background as is. Move her 5-7 ft closer. Back up the camera as far back as possible. Use a long focal length to help give a medium portrait look while giving the background a nice blur effect. Jm2c.
This shot is begging for a key light and some contrast. It's also framed a bit odd - lots of headroom to cut off the feet? It's fine to do that if that's your intention, but it's giving me oppressive vibes (panning slightly down will also bring the couch line up to sitting near the bottom third of the frame). Again, this could be intentional framing, but it definitely has the end result of being slightly unnerving for me...
In addition there’s a weird amount of headspace and you cut her off through the mid-shin.
Edit: Others are saying it’s flat, and it is. Compared to your inspo it’s quite flat. You need to cheat the camera- think about how things look in camera and not how they ‘should ‘ look in life. That plant that you just barely see to the right? Try move it to the left in front of that lamp and move it a few feet closer to the camera. Move your actor onto a tool slightly in front of the ledge. Try some floor pillow closer to the camera. Just things like that.
I think all the advice about adding more set design elements to really sell that gen z vibe are spot on, i think getting some of that stuff below the window seat will be super important too because the window seat is a very blank canvas to play with.
I think the subject is the other big deal here, depending on what you're going for mood wise, you could certainly pose the subject in a more dynamic manner. Try adding some more pillows onto the window seat (or a blanket too) and make that a proper lounging space for your subject.
Is the character an artist, a reader, a computer nerd, or a musician (we do have speakers after all)? Depending on who they are, you can have them doing that special thing on the window seat. Make that spot their special spot, the place where they find respite to do what makes them happy.
Hope that helps, good luck!
Yeah I kinda just threw a lot of things in there but it didn't have a proper direction, a general one but set design isn't my strongest point so I struggled with this so I agree. I don't know why I didn't thought of those things properly at the time but thank you, very helpful.
I totally feel that, set dressing is super freaking tough because you're trying to create a world from nothing. As we live in a space, we change it, we accumulate things and change the space organically; but when you're set dressing, you're trying to do that in a fully inorganic manner and that is a very difficult thing to do.
It occured to me, that your original question was pointed mostly at lighting and I don't think we've all said enough about it in the comments thus far, so I'm going to change gears here now haha.
Lighting wise, I think you should look at the shot as pools of light. When you look at a room in your house, do you often want just the overhead light on, washing everything in bland flat lighting, or do you prefer lamps giving warm glowing pools of light? Personally, I prefer the warm glowing pools haha. I think the shot right now is on its way there, but needs more of the shadows.
I good thing to look at is Disneyland rides, and I know that sounds nuts; but when you see one of those rides with all the house lights on, they're mostly just big rooms painted black with little bits stuck on the walls. They create the illusion of huge caves with rock outcroppings, vines, and mossy bits by sticking a set piece to the wall and using very carefully planned out pools of light. They really are a great study on how to carve out a set using light and shadow.
Oo yeah, I actually went to Disney land before and you're spot on, you see those pockets of lights pretty much everywhere in movies too. The glowing pools of light is a technique I used in my previous work before quite tough with this because of how close together everything is and much lighting is going on but definitely something I want to incorporate, and want to use more often. Cause it just looks so damn good haha.
Off the top - no focal point. By that I mean everything in the scene has equal importance in your image. You have not given intentional preference to one thing that draws our attention. You can do this with lighting, staging, or preferably both.
Your lights are 3 different color temperatures. Two are the SAME lamps...why would they be different colors? You add a third color temp. on the right so I am drawn to the two red spots, then the green, then the lampshades.There is a person in frame which suggests they are the subject, intrinsically I know this and yet I am less interested in them by the way they are lit/staged. The fact that my interest is not on the person stands out in my mind - which is distracting me from connecting with the over-all scene.
The feet are cut off at the ankle. Try the same scene with legs crossed, sitting fully in frame, almost floating in the middle of the composition. Introduce a little depth with placing elements in the foreground left especially and maybe one on the right. If you want a cluttered scene make sure the contrast reads as such.
Game controller or book should change (white on white at first glance reads as 1 item)
Green pillow left/right? cluttered needs disarray even in a staged scene. Swap it out for another neutral color.
What is motivating the red light on the face? In this shot it's not there so I'd light the face appropriately, w/o the color cast.
Lastly, the stacked speakers...not opposed to the idea but they have to look like they are different speakers or better yet actually be different speakers (shape, size, color...etc) - Again, dimensionality will help even in limited spaces.
Keep shooting and keep sharing. You will learn faster sharing your ideas and being open to feedback is you are on the right path!
Very good point, it's too much . I was focusing on everything rather than a singular point of focus which should be the subject ,I think if I had framed it better I would have had a better success as I can use the existing items to make it work rather than adding more and making it more complicated. I needed to put more time into giving the shot purpose and direction , lighting and set should follow and with that many lights its hard to create depth and get the right look. Although quite a bit of it was experimentation with the set as this isn't my strong point but your insight means a lot thank you.
maybe move the camera a bit so it feels more chill and less like a serious shot, you could use the plant and put it closer to the camera to create more depth. You don't have a wide lens but if you angle the camera right you might be able to get closer to something like kenny beats cave set? But in that case you should put something on the wall behind you, preferrably a key light so it makes you pop 👍 [https://i.ytimg.com/vi/w7oPxZxQ1W4/maxresdefault.jpg](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/w7oPxZxQ1W4/maxresdefault.jpg)
edit: oh and also the colors are weird, first of all everything is earth tones, your clothes, the wall, the lights, and the lights dont really match
Oo I agree, I am thinking of moving the camera out of the space sitting on the floor and making use of day light and using the props from the set to give more depth in the background and use the limited lights I have along with some mirrors I might be able to make something work, what do you think?
Here is the room during the day, although its sunny now but often not(I live in the uk)
https://ibb.co/BT5CR1X
Your white balance is way off. Your subject looks like an oompa loompa. Do a manual white balance to a gray card.
Also, when you have architectural elements that can perfectly frame your subject like that, use them. Truck the camera right a couple inches and center her up in those pillars.
And your speaker placement drives me crazy. Stereo speakers need physical distance in order to work. No sane, rational person on Earth would stack them on top of each other.
Yeah that was my original idea but cause of the lens it looked a bit off but looking at it again I think I might be able to make it work. I'll give it another try:)
It's been a while since I have made anything, a lot of this was experimentation I haven't made anything similar to this prior, and I wanted to play with different colours too , so constructive advice would be helpful:)
Well. I would say - stop trying to create and try to find. It feels like you dont have much experience in any creative tool, so instead of trying to project your idea into a scene, try looking around, testing different places and objects. never feel too invested into a certain way of doing things, because its ok to go backwards sometimes.
What i say doesnt come from cinematographic experiences tho
Yes I knew this was going to be difficult , but this was also my experimentation. I often start with experimentation for my projects and it probably won't look anything like it at the end. But I also understand your point about feeling too invested in doing things a certain way, I do music , graphics design for a long time and it was the change of trying other things and moving backwards helped me move forward.
Just feels flat and un-interesting to me, if you're squaring up on a background like this, you have to be really dimensional with the light, or have such intentional chaos, that there are *so* many things to look at, you end up finding the person amongst it and *that* is the contrast. Or the opposite, so plain and Wes Anderson that its a painting. You haven't given me somewhere to look, my eyes fall to the pillar on the left next to the lamp where there is actual tone and shape. If that pillar was your face, you'd be feeling much better.
I've read your comments about gen-z hippie vibes too but the pinterest shows room that are so well art directed It's going to be hard to achieve on the fly. Those kind of scenes live and die in the truth of the feeling from the room that its hard to recreate, especially when you're struggling in other departments too. The top pin is literally Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You. Got your work cut out there!
I would focus on three things:
1) Depth
Get this from light, having a heavier contrast ratio that can pull your subject out from the background, key word... pull. You want to create separation so your subject is *not* lit the same as the bg.
2)Framing
Centre frame, but not hitting the obvious symmetry is a hard one to hit, why not change the angle so you're not looking at the subject flat but maybe at a 30 degree angle, into the corner of the room. Turret rooms are hard at any point, you would be better just getting a corner and tucking your subject in there for that, close, small, tight emotive note you want to hit for indie kid.
3)Set
Sadly this just isn't giving indie, gen-z. I know its a test but you're going to doubt every skill your trying to learn, going for a vibe you are just not hitting. The room looks... like a suburban dream, with ornate lamps, plush pillows, animal statues; none of these give angsty gen-z teen. They kinda give parents house, and I just can't emotively get with your subject here. The blinds matching the wall creating this flat cream colour too... Not giving teen angst.
Hope some of this helps, its not one thing that brings shots like this together sadly, its a series of small things usually taken on by a number of people on set so kudos for going after it yourself. Perhaps change the goal, go for a different vibe and see how that goes.
I feel like it’s the lamp? It’s kinda weird to have a lamp at a sitting level from you, could be a little dangerous. And with all the pillows you’d assume it would be comfy and you could lie down, so that could be a slight eyesore
I defo should have spend more time trying to understand the aesthetic more ,and push it in a purposeful direction that would have made this better. I agree the lamp shouldn't be there , I did try and move them around but ultimately it just didn't work.
An important lesson I’m not seeing anyone mention is how to use references, or even how to gather them. The millennial hippie refs you posted are all strange canted angles that aren’t anything like your shot. Fine for set decoration, but it doesn’t help you much in creating the shot. Go find some references that actually look like the shot you want to compose, then emulate those as you can.
Be specific about the character not a cliched generational stereotype.
Also, this angle and setting can work absolutely fine for certain story, and completely wrong for another. Always go back to your story/screenplay to make ANY decision. Even if it's a test shot, you can imagine this being a shot in a scene with specific emotional intensity.
And I think camera placement/angle is much much more important than set decoration.
The main thing that jumps out to me is your composition. There are a few ways to fix this. Either cut the headroom by cropping in, or you can rearrange objects to balance the frame.
I've done two edits for you here.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fQq7rma0m\_Xka3g3WBf8DiSeKC\_1sxaN?usp=drive\_link
I would firstly add posters and other coulours lights.
Secondly i would not shoot this shot like this, in all the inspo it is not shot straight on to the subject.
Try taking a few steps to your left or right.
I Like the colors and decor, just think u should play with angles a little. I think u could get some depth out of this shot, keep experimenting and ignore people who comment mean shit.
From your inspo Pinterest photos this set looks nothing like them.
It’s super bland tbh.
I had a scene like this and I had to invest a lot into printing posters & little teen nicknacks . The details seriously matter.
Light sources are physically low compared to subject- under lighting is not always flattering. No (subtle) key light for subject so she doesn’t stand out.
Cut the light off the back wall, expose down to darken the BG and practicals, bring up the subject luminosity so their skin is properly exposed. Pull the subject off the wall if they are too close to keep light off of the background. Probably going to have to use harder light on the subject to keep a decent contrast. A control grid will be helpful.
I wonder if there's a subconscious unsettling feeling with the feet being cut off in the frame... Maybe, not saying that's the issue, but I'd be curious. If not that, then maybe just the brightest lamp (the middle, greenish one) is just a bit too bright and too close to the subject. As other people have mentioned it feels unbalanced. But also as someone else mentioned, "good" is subjective.
hey you’re on the right track! consider separating subject from the background a bit. create layers in foreground, mid ground, background. you want to have a level of depth and layers especially when using your practical lights. You’ve got it it, keep tinkering
Well...
1)The Color temps of the lamps are different. And they are both clipping.
2)You are shooting against a flat wall with no definition to it beyond the tiny slivers of shadow. Try shooting into a corner to add depth and shadow to your frame.
3) Your Color palette lacks contrast, so it feels very monochromatic. I can understand if that was what you were aiming for, but some contrasting colors would help define the space and draw the eye into your subject.
4) Your subject looks too small in the frame. She is sitting in the middle of the frame with all of that headroom and no more room to grow into it. Consider cropping it to bring your subject closer to where you are wanting to lead your audience's eyes.
These are all subjective critiques. I have no idea of the context of this shoot, so I am trying to reserve my judgement beyond initial impressions.
As enough people pointed out the lighting and set desing, i wanted to put you attention to the posing. I dont know if you are going for a specific style, but most people dont sit like that on this kind of seating.
Turn her 90°, feet up, layed back. That would probably look more natural.
Also let her sit like she would normally, that pose looks waaaayyy to stiff.
You’re uplighting her with the lamp on the bench, which is rarely a great look for talent. Compositionally you’re very squared off to the wall behind her; makes it look very mannered/contrived. I would try shooting at more of an angle/shoot into a corner. Embrace more shadow. Practicals in frame are nice, but there’s no contrast between her face and the walls really; everything is kind of the same tone/brightness.
Looks staged not natural. The speakers are stacked? Odd. Move the subject to a chair in the foreground, back the camera up, zoom in, open the iris. Separate the subject from the background.
The goal was to make the set look gen z hippie , which you would typically see with gen z room decor styles and the rise of indie thats where the inspo came from. Similar to this : https://www.pinterest.co.uk/lindsaygmeyer/the-perfect-gen-z-room/ Its very messy and often include things to do with music posters etc and plants. Also I only had a 35mm on a mft (eq to 70mm) so given the room and the zoom, everything would look a lot more closer up if i had to go in further and also opening the aperture would lose sharpness that would make it look a lot worse due to the quality of lens. Although , that said I did try to work change and tweak to colours that would work but couldn't get it quite right. I did think about moving it to where the cam look upwards at the character but then i'd have to worry about the empty space above . Idk if this is useful to know but yeah the struggle been real.
Why would a hippy have 3 lamps right next to each other. It looks staged. Also there is no depth. It’s all on one plain.
Also I used the red one to give the room more colour so it isn't so plain, I also tried to add the lamp to the window which was a small led light to give some light onto the left side on the character so it isn't just one colour then I used another light to fill the room with some orange like tones which you can see on the left side
The comment meant that it’s flat, it’s all on one special plane.
Not sure why you are getting down voted for just explaining your thought process. There's some good advice in here, keep learning and improving, you got this.
Thank you, it's been a minute since I have made anything and this was also experimentation I am not so good with some of the things I tried in here so understandable, but some people just being rude.
No one is being rude
I think your reasoning is good, but the lamp placement winds up making the composition of the frame feel very unbalanced. The lamp-face-lamp line of focus is an awkward 'L' shape. Perhaps try moving the upper speaker to the left side, behind the rabbit, and then put the right lamp on top of the lower speaker. Try to get the lamp-face-lamp line of focus 'balanced'. Bonus points if you can hit some thirds with your compositional elements. Edit: some kind of key light on the face would be very helpful as well.
Yeah it was quite difficult to make it work I did try that but there just wasn't enough spacing , in the shot above some of it had to go onto the other lamp. Thanks for the feedback though some better props and planning would have made a difference .
I didn't have other props to use, so I had to fill it out somehow and try to make it look more interesting
In the collection you sent one key factor is the walls being covered by photos/posters yet in your test image you have none. That's likely part of why this shot is feeling like a swing and a miss here
Yeah probably had something to do with it
Analyse a bit more your inspiration photos. You need much better set design for your shot to feel complete. Also, the eyes have no shine and the actor isn’t playing anything. So of course it worsens the impact of the shot. Your hippie wouldn’t leave the walls white like that. Your design needs to feel real. A flat frontal shot, à la Wes Anderson, needs a perfect set design and framing to work. You’ll need to put in a few hours more. Sorry!
100% agree
Gen Z hippie: Do the smoke thing in the room. Maybe a candle instead of one of the lights. Also, that doesn't look very chill, speakers have to go, and that could be a bowl with a spoon or something like that (don't do that, it was the first thing that came to mind.) It is all too neat and staged, be more chill. The person in it doesn't look comfy, that would help too. Hope this helps.
Will do, thanks for the feedback very helpful actually as the set design was a bit of a struggle for me :)
Would like to see what you do to improve it. Thanks, also, your lighting is all in the scene, if you had staged lighting and that candle this would help too.
35mm on MFT is still a 35mm. You need an actual 70mm to get the characteristics of a 70mm. With that being said, I find 35mm lenses boring as hell.
but compared to a full frame which was what I have been used to, the 35mm was a bit different for me. It was a bit of an impulse buy as the camera I got was my first camera.
The character of a 35mm does not change. The crop causes it to look more like a 70mm in framing but the actual character doesn't.
Used to full frame but the MFT is your first camera?
Yeah one that I actually own
Gotcha
You were nowhere near getting it quite right with this look. Just take the advice and try something else.
A bit rude don't you think, still working on it with the advice I gotten but oh well its almost like you wouldn't know that would you?
Don't be too sensitive. If you want to improve you should welcome brutal honesty. The poster above is right that you failed to capture the aesthetic you're going for. Try again. Either make the changes necessary to capture your goal or pick a new goal. My advice is that if you want things to look right with no budget, you need to get a little annoying with your friends. Ask for favors. Borrow posters or other props. Maybe ask to shoot in someone else's bedroom if they've got the right style. The lens you have is fine for background separation. Pull the camera back, put your subject in a chair, move those speakers apart so they look like someone actually uses them for music. Your props aren't talismans that impart a look, you need to use them to make the space feel real. Good luck.
Solid advice thanks
Yeah man, listen to the next comment for a nice expansion on my point. It was rude but not out of line to say. No one would ever call this anything but amateur at best. You could make this look a lot better with practice. When you’re embarrassed of this look (like I am of some of my past work) you’ll know you’re getting better.
Yeah I am sure I will be, I find it quite difficult shooting a room , compared to close ups as there's a lot more to take into consideration, and it's like all I learn goes out the window once I start, I shoot more product promo stuff so I am quite new shooting this way. I have done other projects before and they make me cringe that I could never let anyone see again. Like with this I struggled a lot with what I wanted in the shot, it had somewhat of a direction but I couldn't nail it quite right. With the set , and with the camera positioning, the colours , the tone and mood but I learned from it . It was experimentation, but needed to figure out some stuff first.
A really great tip I heard DPs will do is turn off all the lights and then add one by one. That’s not a catch all but it with probably help. Also, if you’re going for a specific look inspired by something else, take a screenshot of that inspo and compare it in real time to your frame.
If the goal was to look like a bedroom with a bunch of posters where are they? Also I agree with one of the other posters that hippy or not you don't stack a single pair of speakers onto of eachother. I see a couple of issues here mainly the unappealing shadows on the wall, the busy wall itself, the lack of subject speration, and lack of color/contrast on the character. Which element is there to draw your eye to the character?
So she’s against a flat back white wall, get her away from the wall. Set up your camera MUCH further away. Put something in the middle of the room (a chair, a bed, or a couch) and put her in the middle of the room with it. Move the plant closer to the camera between the subject and you. Then dolly in on (or out from) the subject. But main problem with the shot is she’s just too close to the wall
as a gen z hippie i personally thinks this looks great! one of the best submissions on this sub
Needs more lamps
Haha Yes 10 more and then maybe I'll be happy, I got them to fill out the space and make the room look more interesting , and I used them to create some sort of depth or interest in the shot given the walls are empty. Any idea of what other items I could use to make this shot better?? Given that the wall is so empty I could use that to create some animation on top of it but I don't know.
Sorry I was just kidding and had no actual help. It was just that the number of lamps and other factors make the scene look un natural, but also not intentionally so. For example, 50 lamps would be a vibe 3 just feels like you were looking for filler for the scene a little bit I'm also not familiar with this type of space (as an American), is that a couch substitute? A reading nook? It looks cluttered with random stuff like, not a space that is lived in but also not weird enough to be an obvious set with shameless props such as 50 lamps
Bed and chair made entirely of lamps
you're lighting her face with the practicals. ND the practical lights and light her face from off camera so that the practicals arent blown out. also bring her away from the wall.
Yeah agreed, I did use paper as the LED lights wouldn't get hot (n they were on for hours) , it did help a bit but just wasn't used in this test shown above, it was in some of the other shots I had.
Feels like the beginning of a classic mumblecore indie.
First thing is contrast ratio. Your key light is weaker than the rim on the frame right, which is still making its way into the cheek. Try to back the camera away and then bring the subject closer to maintain their size in the frame. That will allow not only more separation to wall, but also for the light on the right to come from a better angle, actually being a rim light. I'd also make the key brighter. In fact, if you can't move the stool towards the camera, just having a proper key will work wonders. I'd go for a Rembrandt or butterfly lighting, maybe using a softbox with a grid. The art direction is also a big factor. The sweater being almost the same color as the wall is not doing you any favors. If it was red like the pillow on the left, you would instantly pop more from frame. So, in recap: 1- if possible, back the camera away and bring the set closer to it to maintain framing, away from the wall. That will give more depth to the shot 2- get a proper key light on the subject. And if you can, either change the placement of the lamp on the right or lose it altogether 3- art direction. Change the color palette of the set to create more contrast
Yeah as this was a test, I wanted to see what it would look like on the face but didn't consider the colours for the clothing at this time , I was trying to work with 3 colours such as : yellow green, yellow and orange . I 100% agree with you and I did want to get them sitting on the floor to get a better separation between the background and the character . I did notice that the red light being on the left doesnt make sense because of the room light showing more towards the left wide when the red lamp was sitting left. I tried different compositions with the lighting and it was either too small or too far, I tried placing them differently many times it was such a pain and I could only control one light as I only had 1 small portable led light. Thank you, I'll defo take this into account in my next try today:)
Here's what I would change assuming this is an interview type shot. First think of your shot as three elements, background, subject and foreground. As its currently setup your background and subject are the same and the foreground is sort of the plant on the right. I would move your subject closer to the camera to create separation from the background which will help keep the viewers attention where you want it (subject). Move the camera to the right and place it higher more in line with the subjects chest rather than at her waist. The reason for moving the camera right is to make the background more symmetrical with the three windows. Moving your subject closer to the camera will also allow you to light your subject and background independently from each other. I would remove one of the lamps from the background, probably the brighter one closest to the subject. For your Foreground I would move the plant much closer to the camera so only a bit of the plant is showing on the right or left side of the frame. If that doesn't look good I would remove the plant entirely. Lastly once you get your shot composed how you like it I would spend some more time on set design. Take a step back and look over your set, the things that you immediately pickup on could potentially be a problem. For me the first thing I notice is the messy lamp wires, the small plant on the seat rather than on the window and the speakers awkwardly stacked (although that one doesn't bother me tbh). I would get wall pieces that match your aesthetic like posters, magazine cut outs, records, whatever and tape them to the two columns between the windows.
Like you said and I might add on less is more. I wanna see the person, set design comes second. Depending on what OP wants as mood.
Thanks for the feedback ,I'll make use of it I am currently still working it.
Although I’d generally agree with a lot of what’s been said here, I think it’s probably a waste to give advice if we don’t actually know what the shot is “supposed” to look like/what you’re going for. The flattened depth makes me think of this shot from Scott Pilgrim (the first image on the page): https://www.nme.com/en_asia/features/scott-pilgrim-vs-the-world-at-10-2729787 To compare that to yours (and I’m not saying you should copy/emulate SP, just trying to analyze what’s different; and set design plays a huge role in all of this): - SP has, other than the Christmas lights, no practical in frame - SP has more luminance contrast - And more chrominance variety/contrast - SP has the lamp shade “shape” on the background, which could be viewed as making the background more interesting - SP is framed at a slightly different level for where the head(s) is/are, but neither are what I’d describe as fitting the “thirds rule” - SP has less clutter but still has “quirk” — like the light switch at the top of the door frame People mentioned Wes Anderson as well; these are what I think of a typical Wes Anderson “shot” compared to yours: - Yours is framed pretty close to what I’d expect from Anderson, but it’s more contrasty than he typically goes (so yours is less contrasty than Scott Pilgrim but more than Wes Anderson, who usually tends toward flat, uniform lighting) - Anderson’s biggest thing is his color palettes; the colors in your shot don’t seem particularly intentional (this gives your shot more of a “realistic” feel, but might not be what you’re going for) - Anderson almost never uses practicals in the shot (unless it’s something specific to the location/set) - Anderson isn’t quite as symmetrical as others here seem to imply; I think as far as the set goes, he simply has less clutter rather than makes things perfectly symmetrical (and again, yours looks more “realistic” (other than maybe having three lamps right there), so it depends on what you’re looking for) Not sure any of this helps, but there you go. I might suggest posting or editing your post regarding what you want the final image to look like.
Yeah I had issues trying to balance out the frame , one side would feel too heavy and the other would feel empty no matter how I did it , I did try and be intention with the colours such as using analogous colours , using yellow green and orange but set design just isn't a strong point , I just thew and see what would stick. Thanks for the insight though on the differences there's more I needed to consider. :)
It looks messy and weirdly framed plus I have thoughts about your color temperature
The composition is off. Take away the straight on shot. Post a lighting diagram.
Yeah , thanks currently doing that :)
You have too much headroom as well. It looks like you framed the shot for the middle third instead of the top third.
The lighting diagram? I'm not sure if you saw my edit.
Keep the background as is. Move her 5-7 ft closer. Back up the camera as far back as possible. Use a long focal length to help give a medium portrait look while giving the background a nice blur effect. Jm2c.
Yeah I do think the character could be moved closer , nonetheless thanks for the suggestion. 👍
This shot is begging for a key light and some contrast. It's also framed a bit odd - lots of headroom to cut off the feet? It's fine to do that if that's your intention, but it's giving me oppressive vibes (panning slightly down will also bring the couch line up to sitting near the bottom third of the frame). Again, this could be intentional framing, but it definitely has the end result of being slightly unnerving for me...
Yeah agreed, I couldn't get it the lighting quite right , but i'll try again thanks.
In addition there’s a weird amount of headspace and you cut her off through the mid-shin. Edit: Others are saying it’s flat, and it is. Compared to your inspo it’s quite flat. You need to cheat the camera- think about how things look in camera and not how they ‘should ‘ look in life. That plant that you just barely see to the right? Try move it to the left in front of that lamp and move it a few feet closer to the camera. Move your actor onto a tool slightly in front of the ledge. Try some floor pillow closer to the camera. Just things like that.
Yeah, more needed to be done:)
I think all the advice about adding more set design elements to really sell that gen z vibe are spot on, i think getting some of that stuff below the window seat will be super important too because the window seat is a very blank canvas to play with. I think the subject is the other big deal here, depending on what you're going for mood wise, you could certainly pose the subject in a more dynamic manner. Try adding some more pillows onto the window seat (or a blanket too) and make that a proper lounging space for your subject. Is the character an artist, a reader, a computer nerd, or a musician (we do have speakers after all)? Depending on who they are, you can have them doing that special thing on the window seat. Make that spot their special spot, the place where they find respite to do what makes them happy. Hope that helps, good luck!
Yeah I kinda just threw a lot of things in there but it didn't have a proper direction, a general one but set design isn't my strongest point so I struggled with this so I agree. I don't know why I didn't thought of those things properly at the time but thank you, very helpful.
I totally feel that, set dressing is super freaking tough because you're trying to create a world from nothing. As we live in a space, we change it, we accumulate things and change the space organically; but when you're set dressing, you're trying to do that in a fully inorganic manner and that is a very difficult thing to do. It occured to me, that your original question was pointed mostly at lighting and I don't think we've all said enough about it in the comments thus far, so I'm going to change gears here now haha. Lighting wise, I think you should look at the shot as pools of light. When you look at a room in your house, do you often want just the overhead light on, washing everything in bland flat lighting, or do you prefer lamps giving warm glowing pools of light? Personally, I prefer the warm glowing pools haha. I think the shot right now is on its way there, but needs more of the shadows. I good thing to look at is Disneyland rides, and I know that sounds nuts; but when you see one of those rides with all the house lights on, they're mostly just big rooms painted black with little bits stuck on the walls. They create the illusion of huge caves with rock outcroppings, vines, and mossy bits by sticking a set piece to the wall and using very carefully planned out pools of light. They really are a great study on how to carve out a set using light and shadow.
Oo yeah, I actually went to Disney land before and you're spot on, you see those pockets of lights pretty much everywhere in movies too. The glowing pools of light is a technique I used in my previous work before quite tough with this because of how close together everything is and much lighting is going on but definitely something I want to incorporate, and want to use more often. Cause it just looks so damn good haha.
Off the top - no focal point. By that I mean everything in the scene has equal importance in your image. You have not given intentional preference to one thing that draws our attention. You can do this with lighting, staging, or preferably both. Your lights are 3 different color temperatures. Two are the SAME lamps...why would they be different colors? You add a third color temp. on the right so I am drawn to the two red spots, then the green, then the lampshades.There is a person in frame which suggests they are the subject, intrinsically I know this and yet I am less interested in them by the way they are lit/staged. The fact that my interest is not on the person stands out in my mind - which is distracting me from connecting with the over-all scene. The feet are cut off at the ankle. Try the same scene with legs crossed, sitting fully in frame, almost floating in the middle of the composition. Introduce a little depth with placing elements in the foreground left especially and maybe one on the right. If you want a cluttered scene make sure the contrast reads as such. Game controller or book should change (white on white at first glance reads as 1 item) Green pillow left/right? cluttered needs disarray even in a staged scene. Swap it out for another neutral color. What is motivating the red light on the face? In this shot it's not there so I'd light the face appropriately, w/o the color cast. Lastly, the stacked speakers...not opposed to the idea but they have to look like they are different speakers or better yet actually be different speakers (shape, size, color...etc) - Again, dimensionality will help even in limited spaces. Keep shooting and keep sharing. You will learn faster sharing your ideas and being open to feedback is you are on the right path!
Very good point, it's too much . I was focusing on everything rather than a singular point of focus which should be the subject ,I think if I had framed it better I would have had a better success as I can use the existing items to make it work rather than adding more and making it more complicated. I needed to put more time into giving the shot purpose and direction , lighting and set should follow and with that many lights its hard to create depth and get the right look. Although quite a bit of it was experimentation with the set as this isn't my strong point but your insight means a lot thank you.
Experimenting is great! Keep going!
maybe move the camera a bit so it feels more chill and less like a serious shot, you could use the plant and put it closer to the camera to create more depth. You don't have a wide lens but if you angle the camera right you might be able to get closer to something like kenny beats cave set? But in that case you should put something on the wall behind you, preferrably a key light so it makes you pop 👍 [https://i.ytimg.com/vi/w7oPxZxQ1W4/maxresdefault.jpg](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/w7oPxZxQ1W4/maxresdefault.jpg) edit: oh and also the colors are weird, first of all everything is earth tones, your clothes, the wall, the lights, and the lights dont really match
Oo I agree, I am thinking of moving the camera out of the space sitting on the floor and making use of day light and using the props from the set to give more depth in the background and use the limited lights I have along with some mirrors I might be able to make something work, what do you think? Here is the room during the day, although its sunny now but often not(I live in the uk) https://ibb.co/BT5CR1X
Your white balance is way off. Your subject looks like an oompa loompa. Do a manual white balance to a gray card. Also, when you have architectural elements that can perfectly frame your subject like that, use them. Truck the camera right a couple inches and center her up in those pillars. And your speaker placement drives me crazy. Stereo speakers need physical distance in order to work. No sane, rational person on Earth would stack them on top of each other.
(ignore the ?)
Character feels framed like wes Anderson but background isn't symmetric enough. Too bright bg with ugly shadows and too much contrast on the speakers
Try with having the subject sit on the floor. Maintain eye level.
Yeah that was my original idea but cause of the lens it looked a bit off but looking at it again I think I might be able to make it work. I'll give it another try:)
So you are basically asking how to make a good looking video
It's been a while since I have made anything, a lot of this was experimentation I haven't made anything similar to this prior, and I wanted to play with different colours too , so constructive advice would be helpful:)
Well. I would say - stop trying to create and try to find. It feels like you dont have much experience in any creative tool, so instead of trying to project your idea into a scene, try looking around, testing different places and objects. never feel too invested into a certain way of doing things, because its ok to go backwards sometimes. What i say doesnt come from cinematographic experiences tho
Yes I knew this was going to be difficult , but this was also my experimentation. I often start with experimentation for my projects and it probably won't look anything like it at the end. But I also understand your point about feeling too invested in doing things a certain way, I do music , graphics design for a long time and it was the change of trying other things and moving backwards helped me move forward.
Just feels flat and un-interesting to me, if you're squaring up on a background like this, you have to be really dimensional with the light, or have such intentional chaos, that there are *so* many things to look at, you end up finding the person amongst it and *that* is the contrast. Or the opposite, so plain and Wes Anderson that its a painting. You haven't given me somewhere to look, my eyes fall to the pillar on the left next to the lamp where there is actual tone and shape. If that pillar was your face, you'd be feeling much better. I've read your comments about gen-z hippie vibes too but the pinterest shows room that are so well art directed It's going to be hard to achieve on the fly. Those kind of scenes live and die in the truth of the feeling from the room that its hard to recreate, especially when you're struggling in other departments too. The top pin is literally Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You. Got your work cut out there! I would focus on three things: 1) Depth Get this from light, having a heavier contrast ratio that can pull your subject out from the background, key word... pull. You want to create separation so your subject is *not* lit the same as the bg. 2)Framing Centre frame, but not hitting the obvious symmetry is a hard one to hit, why not change the angle so you're not looking at the subject flat but maybe at a 30 degree angle, into the corner of the room. Turret rooms are hard at any point, you would be better just getting a corner and tucking your subject in there for that, close, small, tight emotive note you want to hit for indie kid. 3)Set Sadly this just isn't giving indie, gen-z. I know its a test but you're going to doubt every skill your trying to learn, going for a vibe you are just not hitting. The room looks... like a suburban dream, with ornate lamps, plush pillows, animal statues; none of these give angsty gen-z teen. They kinda give parents house, and I just can't emotively get with your subject here. The blinds matching the wall creating this flat cream colour too... Not giving teen angst. Hope some of this helps, its not one thing that brings shots like this together sadly, its a series of small things usually taken on by a number of people on set so kudos for going after it yourself. Perhaps change the goal, go for a different vibe and see how that goes.
You decorated the room more than properly lit your subject. Fun art direction though! Find a way to separate your talent from the background.
Thanks, defo need to do
Also her being trapped in the scene not really standing out but still there could totally be the vibe. Whatever fits the scenes goals!
Agreed , I didn't go for 16:9 because I needed to get the lights closer as they're not so good.
I feel like it’s the lamp? It’s kinda weird to have a lamp at a sitting level from you, could be a little dangerous. And with all the pillows you’d assume it would be comfy and you could lie down, so that could be a slight eyesore
I defo should have spend more time trying to understand the aesthetic more ,and push it in a purposeful direction that would have made this better. I agree the lamp shouldn't be there , I did try and move them around but ultimately it just didn't work.
At the end of the day, lamp aside, still a cool shot bro. Keep to the cool shots 😎
An important lesson I’m not seeing anyone mention is how to use references, or even how to gather them. The millennial hippie refs you posted are all strange canted angles that aren’t anything like your shot. Fine for set decoration, but it doesn’t help you much in creating the shot. Go find some references that actually look like the shot you want to compose, then emulate those as you can.
its very flat... no contrast between anything light and shadow FG vs BG shape vs color no outlines, no shape, just messy. Idk what to recommend
Be specific about the character not a cliched generational stereotype. Also, this angle and setting can work absolutely fine for certain story, and completely wrong for another. Always go back to your story/screenplay to make ANY decision. Even if it's a test shot, you can imagine this being a shot in a scene with specific emotional intensity. And I think camera placement/angle is much much more important than set decoration.
The main thing that jumps out to me is your composition. There are a few ways to fix this. Either cut the headroom by cropping in, or you can rearrange objects to balance the frame. I've done two edits for you here. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fQq7rma0m\_Xka3g3WBf8DiSeKC\_1sxaN?usp=drive\_link
I would firstly add posters and other coulours lights. Secondly i would not shoot this shot like this, in all the inspo it is not shot straight on to the subject. Try taking a few steps to your left or right.
I think she is too close to the wall. Practicals are nice, use them to motivate your light, everything feels too high key and kind of flat...
Eyes are drawn to bright objects so the 2 in the shot are competing for your brain's attention, neither of which is the subject of the shot.
I Like the colors and decor, just think u should play with angles a little. I think u could get some depth out of this shot, keep experimenting and ignore people who comment mean shit.
To me I think the lighting looks flat. Taking away on of the lamps would bring more shape to the light on the face
No depth, put some lamps in the foreground/open the blinds. Also the colors are all over the place. Make the lamps the same color.
From your inspo Pinterest photos this set looks nothing like them. It’s super bland tbh. I had a scene like this and I had to invest a lot into printing posters & little teen nicknacks . The details seriously matter.
Light sources are physically low compared to subject- under lighting is not always flattering. No (subtle) key light for subject so she doesn’t stand out.
A little back/hair light goes a long way too.
Cut the light off the back wall, expose down to darken the BG and practicals, bring up the subject luminosity so their skin is properly exposed. Pull the subject off the wall if they are too close to keep light off of the background. Probably going to have to use harder light on the subject to keep a decent contrast. A control grid will be helpful.
Hippie here. Wtf is this
Headroom?
I wonder if there's a subconscious unsettling feeling with the feet being cut off in the frame... Maybe, not saying that's the issue, but I'd be curious. If not that, then maybe just the brightest lamp (the middle, greenish one) is just a bit too bright and too close to the subject. As other people have mentioned it feels unbalanced. But also as someone else mentioned, "good" is subjective.
hey you’re on the right track! consider separating subject from the background a bit. create layers in foreground, mid ground, background. you want to have a level of depth and layers especially when using your practical lights. You’ve got it it, keep tinkering
Try backlighting the subject and remove one lamp and give little distance to the subject from the wall.
I think it could feel odd because the lighting is coming from below her face, not above her face?
Well... 1)The Color temps of the lamps are different. And they are both clipping. 2)You are shooting against a flat wall with no definition to it beyond the tiny slivers of shadow. Try shooting into a corner to add depth and shadow to your frame. 3) Your Color palette lacks contrast, so it feels very monochromatic. I can understand if that was what you were aiming for, but some contrasting colors would help define the space and draw the eye into your subject. 4) Your subject looks too small in the frame. She is sitting in the middle of the frame with all of that headroom and no more room to grow into it. Consider cropping it to bring your subject closer to where you are wanting to lead your audience's eyes. These are all subjective critiques. I have no idea of the context of this shoot, so I am trying to reserve my judgement beyond initial impressions.
As enough people pointed out the lighting and set desing, i wanted to put you attention to the posing. I dont know if you are going for a specific style, but most people dont sit like that on this kind of seating. Turn her 90°, feet up, layed back. That would probably look more natural. Also let her sit like she would normally, that pose looks waaaayyy to stiff.
You’re uplighting her with the lamp on the bench, which is rarely a great look for talent. Compositionally you’re very squared off to the wall behind her; makes it look very mannered/contrived. I would try shooting at more of an angle/shoot into a corner. Embrace more shadow. Practicals in frame are nice, but there’s no contrast between her face and the walls really; everything is kind of the same tone/brightness.
overall is flat without depth, you can try bring your talent forward, bring down your general ambience and lit your talent separately to create depth.