Actually, that last frame grab, it looks like the hands are the focus of the shot.. I would have used an increased contrast to draw your attention to the hands. My eye keeps moving between the hands and the floor to see what's going on down there. If something were going on with the dude near the floor, I would have used another shot just for that. You don't necessarily want too many things happening at once in the shot, that's what other shots/scenes are for.

@artiswar If the character who's playing opposite of the guy shown, had a weak performance or shot doesn't look good visually, maybe edit around it. What I'm thinking about is this: maybe stay on the character shown in still here, and perhaps just let the audio from the opposing character play (assuming this main character's reactions were appropriate). If it's a dialogue between the two of them, perhaps it could be powerful if that opposing character's voice is heard, and we see reaction from the character shown in the still here. Maybe doing it that way could work, with one or two brief cuts to the opposing character just for a moment or two...to kinda connect it all. (In this scenario, you could even go back and get more audio dialogue/takes if actor is still available but locations aren't for reshoot.) Trust your instincts, you'll find a way. Reconnect to the essence of the story and let the power of that come through as you edit. From the small stills you've shared, I have a feeling you're doing some good work here. Would love to see the film once you've completed. Good luck.

My first reaction to the shot was that I like it. But I think @shian is right with the camera side keying and stark contrast of door to rest of shot. However, the way you have it lit/setup, it would seem to be appropriate if the story is at a point where that character is discovering/understanding something for the first time. In that case, the prominence of the key on the character kinda makes us feel that process of discovery. (Of course that too would be contingent on how the shots/scenes preceding it looked. If by chance I guessed right and that's how the story is going here, then I would say that it would be nice if the preceding shot was darker and then we see this character lit as you have him lit here.) Keep rockin!

I tend to find that in a situation like this, you can possibly do away with the back light, because the background is light/bright enough that the person "stands out" from the background pretty well. I also notice a lot of flare around the head, which is likely because the back light is too bright for the scene. I would have used both lights up front or used a single light with a bounce card/bead board for fill. Bead board and a key light could make a very good setup with minimal budget and gear. I don't necessarily agree that keying from camera side is bad, but the effect is that the other side of the face is too dark and creates more contrast than is good for this situation. It's all in the situation though. I'd actually suggest studying how to light with a single light and then move to a light with bounces, then two lights, etc. Lots of folks can buy a kit with a bunch of lights and then set them up like they see in the DIY lighting guides but sometimes going back to basics can really drive home the understanding of what we are trying to do. I'm not a guru by any stretch, I think @Shian knows his shit pretty well so I'd listen to him more than me, but don't be afraid to try new stuff out either. There is a basic amount of knowledge that you need, but there is always room for innovation.

@shian @svart Discussions like this is why I love this community.

@shian Truer words have never been spoken. If you spend the time and money lighting correctly then everything else falls into place.

This guy in the picture is also keyed from camera side -- this is almost always a bad idea. I just shot a short where the director wanted a "Desperate Housewives" look. And we shot at his house, so I had to scout the house, take some pictures, and spend a bit of time figuring out how to play off the practical sources, and then control the light I was bringing in to get the look he wanted while getting a strong back key. And then talk him into ordering the right gear to control the light [CTO and ND Gel rolls, scrims, screens, silks, flags, cutters, lots of c-stands, and sand bags] and allow me to do the things I needed to do to get a backside key. The director didn't understand why I needed all this stuff until he saw it implemented, and the effect. And then he was happy he spent the money. Otherwise his white walls and the sunlight outside would have killed us. Instead, the footage came out perfect, and will grade like a champ.

@artiswar Yea, that's always my worry. Shian is right, always pay attention to white walls, doors etc while shooting. But, even then not everything can or will be caught, and sometimes the fixes in post don't work, especially with AVCHD codecs.

This is where you learn that white and black objects, doors, walls etc, all require forethought and planning. Every time I see one I immediately start planing how to get it properly exposed within the framework of the rest of the shot.

I'll start covering this in the advanced courses.

Just for the record, I hate white walls and doors... and pure black objects to a lesser degree.

I think we had few discussion of this already, check @cbrandin posts. As I remember he covered this topic.

About 2:1 or 4:1 then pushing to 6:1, I think it would be more difficult to record 6:1 ratio in the first place. It would increase the chance to overblown the highlight details or increase noise in dark...

@artiswar That's a situation where HSL qualifiers in DaVinci would allow you to quickly isolate the white of the door and bring the exposure down to make it fade into the background instead of having it compete with the foreground elements.

Oh I see. I don't like the white door(???) background where the face overlaps. When S curve is applied, the door looks too bright.