LIGHTING
Many would be film makers complain that they can’t make good quality movies because their cameras aren’t good enough. What they don’t know is that good lighting makes a much bigger difference on your finish film then the quality of a camera. The better your camera, the more you can get away with in regards to lighting, but if you have a terrible camera, spending time to get your lighting done right will make up for the camera’s weaknesses.
As with everything else, we’re going to look at the effect lighting has in a movie.
As with everything else, we’re going to look at the effect lighting has in a movie.
Depth of Field– Aperture & Shutter Speed
Before we get into artificial lighting, there are two major aspects of how a camera interacts with light you need to understand: Aperture & Shutter speed.
Both of these things control how much light enters the camera, but they do so in very different ways.
Aperture:
Aperture controls amount of light coming in by controlling the size of the opening for the light to enter the camera. Think of it like a gate to a road. It can be opened just a little bit to let a dog in, or opened all the way to let a large truck in. The camera’s aperture is similar to your eyes’ iris. Your eyes dilate in the dark to let more light in, and constrict in sunlight to not be over run with too much light.
Shutter Speed:
Shutter Speed is the amount of time the film or digital chip is aloud to collect light for each frame. If the aperture is a gate that opens to varying amounts, the shutter speed describes how long the gate is open.
For example, in normal use, if you are filming in bright sunlight, your camera may need a small aperture opening and a fast shutter speed to get a proper exposure because the sun produces so much light. But in a darkened room, the camera needs a large aperture opening and a slow shutter speed to let as much light in for as long as possible to keep from being under exposed.
Both of these things control how much light enters the camera, but they do so in very different ways.
Aperture:
Aperture controls amount of light coming in by controlling the size of the opening for the light to enter the camera. Think of it like a gate to a road. It can be opened just a little bit to let a dog in, or opened all the way to let a large truck in. The camera’s aperture is similar to your eyes’ iris. Your eyes dilate in the dark to let more light in, and constrict in sunlight to not be over run with too much light.
Shutter Speed:
Shutter Speed is the amount of time the film or digital chip is aloud to collect light for each frame. If the aperture is a gate that opens to varying amounts, the shutter speed describes how long the gate is open.
For example, in normal use, if you are filming in bright sunlight, your camera may need a small aperture opening and a fast shutter speed to get a proper exposure because the sun produces so much light. But in a darkened room, the camera needs a large aperture opening and a slow shutter speed to let as much light in for as long as possible to keep from being under exposed.
Deep focus
Both of these controls affect the look of the image though and that’s why its important to understand their use. You can set your camera to ‘automatic exposure’ and have it control both settings but you’ll be missing out on some important aspects of photography.
Aperture affects the ‘Depth of Field’ of an image. Depth of Field refers to how much of an image is in focus. We refer to this focus as deep or shallow. Deep focus would mean things near the camera (foreground) and things far away from the camera (background) are all in sharp focus.
Shallow focus means that only the subject of you image is in focus and things in front of or behind it are blurry. Shallow focus has the benefit of telling the audience exaclty what they should be looking at by putting other things out of focus. It’s a visually pleasing way of getting rid of distractions in a frame and ‘focusing’ in on one particular thing/person.
Aperture affects the ‘Depth of Field’ of an image. Depth of Field refers to how much of an image is in focus. We refer to this focus as deep or shallow. Deep focus would mean things near the camera (foreground) and things far away from the camera (background) are all in sharp focus.
Shallow focus means that only the subject of you image is in focus and things in front of or behind it are blurry. Shallow focus has the benefit of telling the audience exaclty what they should be looking at by putting other things out of focus. It’s a visually pleasing way of getting rid of distractions in a frame and ‘focusing’ in on one particular thing/person.
Shallow focus
Shutter speed on the other hand affects how motion is captured. Cameras typically run at between 24 frames per second up to 60 frames per second. The shutter speed is the amount of time each frame has to expose. This is generally between 1/60th of a second to 1/1000 of a second though many cameras will go slower or faster than this. When filming an object standing still, you can control light entirely by shutter speed and not notice its affect on motion. So say you had a brightly lit subject, but you wanted to use a wide open aperture to obtain a shallow focus, you’d need a fast shutter speed to control the amount of light coming in. But if what you were filming was moving you’d notice another affect shutter speed has.
At 1/60th of a second, fast moving things will blur as they move across the screen. But at 1/1000th of a second things moving very fast are filmed with almost no motion blur.
Video Example:
Example #15: Notice the difference in motion blur of moving objects filmed with different shutter speeds. This motion blur can have a dramatic affect on your images, especially action. The blurring of a slower shutter speed can sort of sooth action out, where as the crispness of a fast shutter speed can intensify action.
Exercise:
Take your camera out again and try two different things. First play with shutter speed. Film things in motion, people running, cars moving, etc. in fast and slow shutter speeds. If your camera is digital and has a 'sports' setting this usually means it will run a high shutter speed in this setting. Once you've done that, put the camera in a high shutter speed setting again (this will assist in creating a shallow focus shot). Zoom your lens way in (this will also help create a shallow focus). Now practice what's called a 'focus pull.' Pick an object near the camera that is in the frame. Now change the focus to something that's far away in the frame. Then 'pull' the focus back. Imagine (or use some actors) two people talking. One near the camera and one far away. When one speaks 'pull' the focus to the one speaking; near or far. Then when the other speaks, pull the focus to that one.
At 1/60th of a second, fast moving things will blur as they move across the screen. But at 1/1000th of a second things moving very fast are filmed with almost no motion blur.
Video Example:
Example #15: Notice the difference in motion blur of moving objects filmed with different shutter speeds. This motion blur can have a dramatic affect on your images, especially action. The blurring of a slower shutter speed can sort of sooth action out, where as the crispness of a fast shutter speed can intensify action.
Exercise:
Take your camera out again and try two different things. First play with shutter speed. Film things in motion, people running, cars moving, etc. in fast and slow shutter speeds. If your camera is digital and has a 'sports' setting this usually means it will run a high shutter speed in this setting. Once you've done that, put the camera in a high shutter speed setting again (this will assist in creating a shallow focus shot). Zoom your lens way in (this will also help create a shallow focus). Now practice what's called a 'focus pull.' Pick an object near the camera that is in the frame. Now change the focus to something that's far away in the frame. Then 'pull' the focus back. Imagine (or use some actors) two people talking. One near the camera and one far away. When one speaks 'pull' the focus to the one speaking; near or far. Then when the other speaks, pull the focus to that one.
Lighting
Many would be film makers complain that they can’t make good quality movies because their cameras aren’t good enough. What they don’t know is that good lighting makes a much bigger difference on your finish film then the quality of a camera. The better your camera, the more you can get away with in regards to lighting, but if you have a terrible camera, spending time to get your lighting done right will make up for the camera’s weaknesses.
As with everything else, we’re going to look at affect lighting has in a movie.
As with everything else, we’re going to look at affect lighting has in a movie.
Notice the different “feeling” the image of the tree gives in different lighting. The creation of shadows, level of light, color of light and the implied time of day all affect the viewers perception of the image.
Now look at the same affects of lighting but on someone's face. How does it affect how they look? Does it alter their expression? Think of what holding a flashlight under your chin in the dark does to your face. You may not be making a menacing grimace, but because of the flashlight, you look menacing. You should always consider what lighting can do for your characters as it can greatly help the perception of their performance.
Also its important to notice that lighting doesn't have to be logical to the set. What I mean is you don't need to show a reason for one character to be lit one way and the character across to be lit differently. The audience doesn't bother to map out shadows in movies to see if the light sources match the lights they see in the setting. Be creative and see just how much you can get away with.
3 Point Lighting
The basic age old way of lighting a subject is what is called 3 point lighting. Now you may never light something this way but if you understand how to do 3 point lighting it’ll help you in creating any lighting situation and help you communicate the lighting set-up to other people.
There are 3 lights in the formula, each has a name.
Key (the main light)
Fill (a light that softens or ‘fills in’ shadows which is usually opposite the key light)
Kicker (a light behind the subject which helps separate them from the background)
On your own, set up a basic 3 point lighting set up around a chair. Ask a friend to sit in the chair and point a camera at them. Its crucial that you ignore what your naked eyes sees and instead look through the camera as it will be translating the light very differently. importance of looking through the camera to examine the lighting.
*Once its all set up take the fill light away and discuss the effect. Does it change the mood or perception of the subject? Put the fill back, remove the key and lower and intensify the kicker. How does that look? Remove the kicker; using only the fill. Now use just the Key light but move it around.
*Be sure during all of this to demonstrate the use of snoots and or barn doors and changing bulbs.
Key (the main light)
Fill (a light that softens or ‘fills in’ shadows which is usually opposite the key light)
Kicker (a light behind the subject which helps separate them from the background)
On your own, set up a basic 3 point lighting set up around a chair. Ask a friend to sit in the chair and point a camera at them. Its crucial that you ignore what your naked eyes sees and instead look through the camera as it will be translating the light very differently. importance of looking through the camera to examine the lighting.
*Once its all set up take the fill light away and discuss the effect. Does it change the mood or perception of the subject? Put the fill back, remove the key and lower and intensify the kicker. How does that look? Remove the kicker; using only the fill. Now use just the Key light but move it around.
*Be sure during all of this to demonstrate the use of snoots and or barn doors and changing bulbs.
Its important to notice that not everything in film needs to be or even should be evenly lit. Shadow is interesting. Many young film makers think they have to eliminate shadows and then wonder why their dramas aren’t taking seriously. Shadows are dramatic. What you need to ask yourself when lighting is what is important for the audience to see. The audience can tell an expression without seeing ALL of a face, so don’t be afraid to use shadows.
Its also important to remember that not everything needs to be lit from scratch. Sometimes you have to create all of your lighting with your film lights. Sometimes, especially when daylight is in the mix, you don’t want to add lights. Use what God has given you and make something interesting out of it. The world is a beautiful and interesting place as it is. If a set looks great as is to your eye, turn on a camera and see how it looks in the camera. If it needs help, help it. If not, don’t mess with it.
Exercise:
Make room for two lighting stations and have the students in pairs set up the lights in a standard 3 point fashion and then let them experiment. Have them record their lighting with their cameras and tell us what each lighting is supposed to suggest in terms of mood.
Its also important to remember that not everything needs to be lit from scratch. Sometimes you have to create all of your lighting with your film lights. Sometimes, especially when daylight is in the mix, you don’t want to add lights. Use what God has given you and make something interesting out of it. The world is a beautiful and interesting place as it is. If a set looks great as is to your eye, turn on a camera and see how it looks in the camera. If it needs help, help it. If not, don’t mess with it.
Exercise:
Make room for two lighting stations and have the students in pairs set up the lights in a standard 3 point fashion and then let them experiment. Have them record their lighting with their cameras and tell us what each lighting is supposed to suggest in terms of mood.
Image Manipulation
The look of the image, its “feel” plays an important role in what the audience perceives. Do you want your footage to look colorful? Black and White? Grainy? Crisp? Soft? Like old film? Like television news? What will this communicate to the audience?
Video Example:
Example #26 examine how the different filters applied to the footage effect the 'feel' of the footage. What do each of these examples say about what you’re watching? What could it mean to your story?
The change can be subtle: Look at the image above of the Civil War soldier. This short is supposed to be set in December. Does the image transmit the feeling of winter? Does it look cold? Now look at the image below. This is the same frame after a little color tinting and desaturation.
Video Example:
Example #26 examine how the different filters applied to the footage effect the 'feel' of the footage. What do each of these examples say about what you’re watching? What could it mean to your story?
The change can be subtle: Look at the image above of the Civil War soldier. This short is supposed to be set in December. Does the image transmit the feeling of winter? Does it look cold? Now look at the image below. This is the same frame after a little color tinting and desaturation.
Exercise: Filtering
Try taking your footage of the conversation from the earlier exercise. Try applying each of these three filters in your editing software. Be extreme as well as subtle in your changes. Experiment and get a feel for what these filters can do. And if you have time play with every other filter you can get your hand on.
Try taking your footage of the conversation from the earlier exercise. Try applying each of these three filters in your editing software. Be extreme as well as subtle in your changes. Experiment and get a feel for what these filters can do. And if you have time play with every other filter you can get your hand on.
Exercise: Scene Remake
This exercise is called a scene remake. What you will do is pick a scene you like from any movie. Then replicate it as closely as you can. Study the different shots in the scene one by one and recreate them yourself. The idea here is similar to learning to write music. You first start by learning to play music other people have written. Once you know the mechanics involved you'll be better prepared to create your own material. When you've finished, post it on youtube and send the link to filming101@learntofilm.org along with reference to the movie you have taken the scene from. I will get back to you with feedback.