Lighting for video

S

Shacke

Active member
I see a lot written about lighting being important to get the best out of your video and make it more film-like and was wondering if there are any basics one should be aware of? Are there any rules, e.g. what you must avoid and what you must do?

Also, if doing outside shots in daylight, can you generally just do without lighting or must you at least use those white reflectors?

Anywhere anyone know of online where there is good info on all this?

Thanks
 
I refer to John Jackman's Lighting for Film and Video a lot. OTherwise, I would scour this forum for tons of good info. Chances are that any answers you might be looking for have been addressed here.

As for outdoors in daylight, It's always best to have some reflectors handy. A lot depends on the angle yo are shooting at and the position of the sun, how cloudy it is, etc.
 
one of the big things about video is that it does not have the dynamic range of film. When I light I keep that in mind and try to keep the contrast down. I usually start with a zip light for a soft fill, then keep my key within 4 stops at the most of that. But lighting is very individual, what I do may not fit your style, so the best thing is to take the lights out burn some electricity and make tape, till you get what looks good to you!

Outdoors, if its high noon, it would serve you well to have a grifflon or large butterfly overhead so you don't get direct sun. You'll prbably always need reflectors. White board is OK, but silver and gold is better. Gold will warm skin tones and silver is good for higlighting and clothes lighting.

That's what I'm doing today, running tests with a smoke machine, searching for the right look for a short I'm filming in a couple of weeks. Smoke what a rush, wish I'd been using it before now!
 
Lighting is what sets apart the pros from begginers. And I'm saying I'm a pro by any means, in fact, the more I learn the more I realize how far from being a pro I am. But if there's one field I'd say study your ass off on, it's lighting.

for lighting indoors, these are some very basic rules to consider:

1. always try to keep light off you walls
2. light from above whenever possible
3. establish you practicles, and light as if they are the source (something CSI never does)
4. avoid mixing light (blue 5600 & orange 3200). although it's often done for effect.
5. avoid windows unless you have proper equipment, gels, nd and so forth to correct the light.
6. Always have black wrap handy, for snooting lights and controling spill.
7. avoid dimming lights if possible because it changes your color scale, but dimming a little is okay.
8. learn the difference between soft light and hard light and their appropriate applications.
9. avoid trying to plug in over 1500w on one circuit. good rule in residential homes is take one electrical line from a bath, one form a kitchen and one from a bedroom. most home that is certainly 3 seperate circuits - not true in older homes.
10. learn the basic safety measures. lighting can be very dangerous! Hot gloves are needed! sand bags all stands, safety strap all lights when possible. never remove a hot light and set it down. never close bard doors on a hot light. never turn a light on with barn doors closed. never tough a high watt light bulb with you bare hands while installing them.


For exteriors it's far more difficult. yes you want bounce, and if you can afford silks, single and double nets, they wonderful to have but expensive. One of the most overlooked and least used, yet most important tools to have on exterior shoots is mirrors - it can give you 11,000k from places you otherwise wouldn't be able to get. and you can buy small 1 foot by 1 foot mirror packs for cheap. but you need the extra hands to work them and the bounces. then of course there are the big shiny boards and 12x12s or 20x20s but you can forget those unless you have a lot of money.

that list is a joke. but it's a very very basic starting point. lighting is like a language, you can learn the very basics fairly quick if you really try, but mastering it can take decades.
 
These are more subjective and stylistic choices than hard-pressed rules.

I'd suggest most importantly to study and apply this study into practice. Only then will you see what works and what you like. Eventually you'll find your style.

Some books might be helpful:

Cinematography: Image Making for Cinematographers, Directors, and Videographers
by Blain Brown


Reflections: 21 Cinematographers at Work
by Benjamin Bergery


New Cinematographers << This kicks ass!
by Alex Ballinger

11208_2.jpg


 
What are grifflons and large butterflys?

and where can I find the book "Lighting for Film and Video" by John Jackman?
 
The catch with butterflies is they aren't that large really, only good for covering a single person or two people standing close to each other.

I often use 12x12s but those can cost quite a bit and generally are out of reach for most people. However, I've heard of some people taking mosquito netting they get from army surplus stores and tringing it up to diffuse light, also heard of people using screen doors - never tried it myself though.
 
Icarus2005 said:
for lighting indoors, these are some very basic rules to consider:

1. always try to keep light off you walls
2. light from above whenever possible
3. establish you practicles, and light as if they are the source (something CSI never does)
4. avoid mixing light (blue 5600 & orange 3200). although it's often done for effect.
5. avoid windows unless you have proper equipment, gels, nd and so forth to correct the light.
6. Always have black wrap handy, for snooting lights and controling spill.
7. avoid dimming lights if possible because it changes your color scale, but dimming a little is okay.
8. learn the difference between soft light and hard light and their appropriate applications.
9. avoid trying to plug in over 1500w on one circuit. good rule in residential homes is take one electrical line from a bath, one form a kitchen and one from a bedroom. most home that is certainly 3 seperate circuits - not true in older homes.
10. learn the basic safety measures. lighting can be very dangerous! Hot gloves are needed! sand bags all stands, safety strap all lights when possible. never remove a hot light and set it down. never close bard doors on a hot light. never turn a light on with barn doors closed. never tough a high watt light bulb with you bare hands while installing them.
Click to expand...
Well I agree with 6, 8, 9, 10. I guess its subjective but I break the rest of those rules almost everytime. However I will control issue 5 when I feel its appropriate. When lighting for video be sure to light fairly flat. In other words make sure the difference between whats dark and whats bright is not drastic. Then tweak your blacks in post and you'll have solid and properly exposed images with as much detail as possible. Now you'll have the control to bring it down in post .
 
Media,

If you read my entire post then you'd see I stated this list is a joke. But the poster wanted some "basic" guide to start from.

The truth is there are no rules. Just like with painting, you can't tell Piccaso he's wrong because it doesn't anything like a Rembrant. The only real rule is make it look good. Even the pros screw up ALL the time, I see it in most films and TV shows I watch, once you develope an eye for it its hard to miss - catch is these folks often know it's wrong, but due to time contraints can't light the set the way they would like because they're moving so quick. Gaffers often look at the monitor and cringe at what they, then point it out in hopes of fixing it between takes but the DP or Director (or even AD)will say let it go, "no one will notice the big key reflecting in her glasses", or something like that. And it's true, most lay people won't notice such mistakes.

That said, there are traditional methods employed by most DPs and gafffers, which result in the type images we 'most' often see in todays films (computer post asside). I think these basic methods are what most people starting out want to know.
 
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