Lear.
We made this portrait for a last minute (as usual) call for an upcoming dance event of a dance company, in the theme of King Lear of Shakespeare.
We didn’t have any costume, or visual, as the piece was in the making, so we made a crown from tiny branches, and borrowed this furry coat, for the next day shoot (which was in my living room)
After a short talk with the choreographer, we agreed on the mood: dark, cold, strong, a little disturbing, expressive.
The aim of the visuals was to show a kind of broken man on the edge of madness, who fights with his inner demons, (as in the book Lear slowly loses his mind) For the colours I thought about the Iron Islands from the Game of Thrones series (at the Greyjoy’s), as it is desaturated, with a cold white balance.
I put one flash hight up towards the ceiling with a blue gel, to give a background (white wall) a cold tint. One flash with a softbox is the key at camera right kind of Rembrandt position, feathered in front of the model to still have a shadow also on key side. From camera left I put a third flash with a green gel for fill in, and create a little hint of disturbance with the colour (as you can also see the same trick in Spiderman Homecoming, when Michael Keaton reveals himself as the antagonist, in a car).
You can find one of the posters with title in my profile.