Lighting Tips and Techniques
The largest problem in lighting is created by those who do not know how to light. If you use a hard, or undiffused light, you will create unwanted contrast and shadows. The way to get rid of shadows is do what we call, three point lighting. What three point lighting is: 1) You want a light positioned in the background, to light not only any objects that may be in the background but to also light the back of your subject. This will give the subject more of a 3-D feel. 2) The second light (key light) will on your subject, slightly above. This will be a highlight. 3) The last light will be a fill light. Generally you will use the light box light to give a natural glow. It can also be placed just under the chin to get rid of any shadows. • ADDING FILL LIGHT UNDER FLUORESCENTS. When shooting a large interior under fluorescent lighting; rather than turning the fluorescent sources off and creating a dark background, by introducing a hard sharp light from a tungsten light kit, add a gel to your tungsten lights and then balance the camera. The results should be a well balanced and pleasing color rendition. If you can keep the key light about 1/2 stop brighter than the ambient (fill) light, the talent will stand out a bit more from the background without the background going too dark. • USING FILL LIGHTS. Do not get carried away with using fill lights or cards to light under the chin. Your shot should not reveal that you placed a heavy light below the camera lens. A fill light under the chin should not cast a dominant shadow. If adding an eyelight, keep it close to the top of the camera lens and about 2-3 stops less in brightness than the key light. An eyelight is used to fill the eyes and shouldn't compete with the key light.
• LIGHTING A GREEN OR BLUE SCREEN. How to properly light talent in front of a green screen is one of the most asked questions that I get. When lighting a green screen, the screen should be at least 4 feet behind the subject, the more distance the better, and lit with an even soft source. I have noticed that many stations have hard bright lights on a green screen which causes most of the problems they encounter. I compare lighting a green screen to using a garden hose. If you stand near a wall and set the hose nozzle to get a hard spray, it will splash back drenching you with water. If you set the nozzle to a soft spray you can wash the wall without any of the spray reaching you. Light reacts much the same way, the harder you light the green or blue screen, the more splash of color you will get on your talent. So, we need to diffuse the light hitting the green screen and light it evenly. You should then be able to light the talent any way you want as long as the shadows do not hit the background. This should not be a problem if the talent is far enough away from the screen. For more tips go to http://www.videolightingclass.com/tips/index.htm
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