Highly recommended; probably the best lighting DVDs I've seen. Well structured and information dense (more so than the sound DVD). The chapters on different types of lighting equipment I found especially valuable. The way Macgregor used smoke was also very interesting. Probably the best explanation of three- or four-point lighting. From a practical point of view, this lighting course is a lot more useful than watching DVDs like Cinematographer Style or Visions of Light or No Subtitles Necessary or Light Keeps Me Company.
The price is well worth it -- compare it to what you might pay for a weekend course on lighting.
Three thoughts:
-- Don't know if I agree with the idea that you must buy professional, because you then cry once when taking your wallet out, rather than crying every time you take out your non-professional light. I've functioned with cheap eBay lights for years -- there's hundreds of resources online about how to do lighting on a budget, and there's always something other than lighting screaming for you to spend money on it.
-- Lighting more complex scenes/doing more complex lighting/going more into depth about cinematography -- I'd be very interested to see Barry and David teaching this.
-- Would have loved to have learnt more about the thought process that goes into lighting different scenes -- everything from reading the script, discussing with director, to budgeting for lighting, challenges on set, etc. Obviously, the lighting breakdowns included do provide a heap of information, but I was hungry for more! If you subscribe to American Cinematographer, you get some of this stuff, but reading is a lot different from watching a DVD and actually seeing what happens when lights get switched on and off, and the trial and error that might go into properly lighting something. If Barry and David ever make another cinematography DVD, perhaps they could case study this sort of process -- maybe integrated (since in practice it always is integrated) with other cinematography considerations, like camera choice, camera movement, lens choice -- maybe even on to the grading.
Warning: after you've seen these DVDs, you won't be able to read the words "David Jimmerson" without thinking of beards and MythBusters, even if the picture is trying to mislead you into thinking of Portal.
Edit: A few pages back, David provides a link to reviews of the DVD. These reviews are worth reading, if you're in doubt about buying, or are wondering what you're going to get. They're pretty much all on the money, from my point of view.
The price is well worth it -- compare it to what you might pay for a weekend course on lighting.
Three thoughts:
-- Don't know if I agree with the idea that you must buy professional, because you then cry once when taking your wallet out, rather than crying every time you take out your non-professional light. I've functioned with cheap eBay lights for years -- there's hundreds of resources online about how to do lighting on a budget, and there's always something other than lighting screaming for you to spend money on it.
-- Lighting more complex scenes/doing more complex lighting/going more into depth about cinematography -- I'd be very interested to see Barry and David teaching this.
-- Would have loved to have learnt more about the thought process that goes into lighting different scenes -- everything from reading the script, discussing with director, to budgeting for lighting, challenges on set, etc. Obviously, the lighting breakdowns included do provide a heap of information, but I was hungry for more! If you subscribe to American Cinematographer, you get some of this stuff, but reading is a lot different from watching a DVD and actually seeing what happens when lights get switched on and off, and the trial and error that might go into properly lighting something. If Barry and David ever make another cinematography DVD, perhaps they could case study this sort of process -- maybe integrated (since in practice it always is integrated) with other cinematography considerations, like camera choice, camera movement, lens choice -- maybe even on to the grading.
Warning: after you've seen these DVDs, you won't be able to read the words "David Jimmerson" without thinking of beards and MythBusters, even if the picture is trying to mislead you into thinking of Portal.
Edit: A few pages back, David provides a link to reviews of the DVD. These reviews are worth reading, if you're in doubt about buying, or are wondering what you're going to get. They're pretty much all on the money, from my point of view.
Last edited:
There's always a possibility of a follow-up.
