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 The skilled use of lighting to create contrast and ambience affects the quality and impact of a film or video image. Digital video is particularly sensitive as a medium to light and presents a special challenge to the aspiring filmmaker. Learn how to create and communicate through the use of light. We study classic three-point lighting set-ups and then experiment with a series of ratio exercises to observe the effect and determine how different contrast ratios correlate with different emotional states and might lend themselves to particular projects or styles. Lighting styles, such as high key and low key and the most commonly used lighting equipment, are discussed. Other topics include tips for effective low-budget lighting and demonstrations of how to balance mixed lighting sources.
Digital video has introduced all kinds of possibilities for do-it-yourself television in schools. But with budgets stretched tighter than ever, teachers and media specialists may despair their productions may never look better than Uncle Fred's home videos. "We can't afford better cameras," is a cry I hear often.
Believe it or not, your productions can look almost as good as network television without buying new cameras. The secret is in better lighting. While broadcast television networks do use better quality cameras, the fact is the major difference between Uncle Fred's underexposed home videos and really excellent broadcast television pictures is principally lighting and exposure. Thus my goal here is to give you a crash course in the basics of video lighting, including a few tips to get around the most common problems you'll run into in your productions.
To get you up to speed, there are a few basics you must know-and a couple of myths that need debunking. Some of these may run counter to things you've been told by salesmen or "know-it-alls," but they're the bedrock of fine professional production work.
The Myths
MYTH #1: "The new digital cameras don't need as much light." Yes, this is technically true when compared to the lighting needs of cameras of a decade ago. But don't be deceived by the manufacturer's claims of light sensitivity. A camera may be rated at 1 lux, but at that light level the picture will look like horrible, grainy surveillance video.
MYTH # 2 (a variation on Myth #1): "You don't need lighting with digital camcorders." Wrong. Good video still needs to be lit right. The pictures we're used to watching on network television are all carefully lit.
The Facts
FACT #1: Cameras can't handle reality. Even the best video cameras can't handle real life-at least not the way your eyes do. Your eyes are amazing instruments that can handle a huge range of brightness. Most people can easily perceive a contrast range (the range of the darkest area to the brightest area in perception) of about 1000:1. The best video cameras can deliver a contrast range of about 250:1. Pretty average video cameras (like the ones your school probably owns) can handle a contrast range of about 100:1, which is about 1/10th the range your eyes handle effortlessly. To stay inside your camera's optimum exposure range, you'll need to compress the contrast range, either by adding ambient (fill) light or by reducing light on overexposed areas.
FACT #2 Video lighting isn't realistic. The lighting we're used to seeing in films and network video isn't usually true to life. In fact, it's often very unnatural. In most cases, it's an improvement on reality for the benefit of the camera. Where does the light come from in the night scenes? "Realistic" would be to shoot in darkness, but you might as well leave the lens cap on. How about those network interviews? In many cases, "realistic" would be to shoot using ugly overhead fluorescent lighting-just like in your classroom. A video professional would never shoot under those conditions. Instead, they use flattering, portrait-like soft light for the subject with a nice little accent in the background. When you see an expert interviewed in his office on network TV, that's not how the office is normally lit.
Okay, so how do these facts play out in the real world-your real world? As educators, there are a couple of real world problems that you'll be dealing with all the time. Schools are usually lit by overhead fluorescents, which are often of the "cool white" variety. These are missing portions of the color spectrum and have a strong green component that makes people look sickly on video. Schools have a lot of windows, too, which present contrast problems in many pictures.
Remembering that the camera can't handle the huge contrast range our eyes are comfortable with, let's start with the windows. If you try to shoot in a room with open windows on a bright day, one of two things will happen. If you leave the camera on Auto or Manual exposure, when a window comes into the shot, the exposure control will sense too much light and close the iris down. The foreground subjects you're trying to shoot will suddenly become silhouettes. Sound familiar? The other thing that might happen if you leave the exposure on Auto or Manual is that the windows will "blow out," overexposing to a solid white that seems to glow around the subjects.
The reason this happens is the sun outside is many, many times brighter than the fluorescent lights in your room. While your eyes can handle this contrast, your camera can't. There are several solutions for this common problem. The easiest is to keep windows out of your shot. Plan your shots from a different angle whenever possible (Figure 1). If you simply must have a window in your shot, your best bet is to set the camera on Manual exposure; set the exposure so the windows are overexposed but not completely "blown out." Then add light to the interior scene as I'll describe below.
COURSE OUTLINE
- The crew
- Formats
- The camera
- Lens
- Camera support equipment
- Composition and the frame
- Designing shots, visual vocabulary
- Characteristics of light
- Filters and gels
- Film stock
- Light meters and their use
- Light sources and their uses
- Grip and electric equipment
- Lighting setups
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