2. Why should we light our
productions?
Lighting will make our work look more
professional
Whether we realize it or not, all Hollywood
films are employing some kind of lighting
technique to produce their image
Poor lighting is the bane of most low-budget
movies. We tend to think that all we need is
a camera and a story, but in reality, we need
a well exposed image
Poor Lighting Example: YouTube
Interview
3. Uses of Lighting
We can use lights to properly expose
and image or draw particular attention to
a part of an image
Oftentimes, however, we may not be
able to use lights because of their
size, cost, or availability
We should be aware however, of ways that
we can use natural light in an environment
to get good quality interview footage
4. Types of Lighting
The Difference between Soft and Hard
Light
Soft Light: KEXP In Studio
Hard Light: Midnight Solo
Watch clips from colewebley.com
Which of the videos use soft lighting, and
which use hard lighting?
What types of things can we use to
make our lighting softer?
5. Lighting Search
Visit www.vimeo.com
Browse through channels or other
videos and find an example of:
Good Lighting
Bad Lighting
What types of lighting do you think they
used to achieve this effect?
6. Lighting and Color Temperature
In film lighting there are two main
color temperatures
5,600K is known as Daylight. To the
eye this type of light has more of a
bluish tint
3,200K is know as Indoor or Tungsten
lighting, this is most of the lighting
that you will see from a lamp. This
has more of an orange Tint
White Balance tells your camera
what type of lighting you are using
in the given situation
The problem comes when you are
trying to use two different color
temperatures for lighting.
7. Lighting Safety
From Artis “The Shut Up and Shoot
Documentary Guide”
Use gloves to handle lights – lights can get
hot
Use sandbags to steady lights
Stay clear of flammables
Be careful when moving hot lights
8. Lighting Demonstration
Set up a light kit
Set up a camera and have someone sit
down in front of the camera
Talk about the components of 3-point
lighting
Key Light
Fill light
Hair light or Background light
Talk about the different tools that can be
used to diffuse and adjust light
9. Tips for Lighting Outside
Typically when you are
shooting outside, you will
not need to use any
artificial lighting. There
are, however, a few things
that you can do to make
your outside footage look
better
Don’t backlight your subject
Use a solid white bounce as
a fill light
10. Interview Tips
Have the interviewee sit to one side of
the camera. Ask the subject to answer
all of their questions directed towards
the person performing the interview
Try to ask open-ended questions that
will provoke a longer response from the
subject
Ask questions that are self-contained
Use proper composition, including
headroom and nose room
Play interview from “Off the Charts”
What kind of interview techniques do we
see here?
11. Lighting Group Exercise
You will create a group of 3-4 individuals for this
exercise
Each group is going to come up with an idea for a
fake documentary – all of the interviews will be
based around this subject
In the exercise there will be two stations
One pair of groups will be indoors shooting on 2 different
lighting set-ups. At each set-up the group will need to
create two different lighting looks with the tools that are
available
The other pair of groups will be shooting 2 interviews, one
somewhere outside and the other somewhere on
campus, using natural lighting
Make sure you are using proper interviewing and sound
production techniques
