Wednesday, 10 April 2013

Film Lighting Tips 2

Lighting Scenarios

A) If you wanted to light an interior scene with the subject in front of a bright window. You have two options;
  1. You can increase the light levels on the subject.
  2. Reduce light coming through the window by using netting or ND gel.

B) A scene to be lit with a soft natural light should be lit in two stages. Firstly any wide establishing shots should be shot first and these will be lit with slightly harder lighting.
Then move in to all medium and close-up shots, these can be lit softer. This is done because wide shots can look flat and dull if lit too softly, therefore introducing hard light gives depth to the scene. Be careful not to make wide shots too hard and close-ups too soft!

C) You are filming a subject in front of a plain wall but have nothing to put on the wall. Place a cookie or other light breaking object in front of the background light to throw uneven light onto the wall. Make sure to light the wall and subject separately.

D) You only have one light to light a shot. Use the light as your key light and use a reflector to bounce light as your fill. Or just bounce directly into the reflector or light coloured material for soft light that will wrap around the face. (This can also be used for exterior work when no lighting but the sun is available)

E) You have a table lamp as your light motivation. However to be bright enough to light your subject the lamp will appear very over exposed on camera. To over come this, use a low wattage practical bulb or dimmer to reduce the light output. Then set-up your Key Light pointing at your subject from the same direction / angle so it appears the practical lamp is lighting more than it is. This method is called carrying a light.

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