Lighting Techhniques- The Importance of Lighting

http://www.lavideofilmmaker.com/filmmaking/film-lighting-tips.html



Some important techniques and tips to get inspiration from and potentially use in our project are: 

1)Soft front light / hot backlight

A popular technique in film lighting is to use a soft (diffuse) light source from the frontand a stronger, more directional light from the back, so that your subject has a hot edge. The soft frontal light is known as the fill light; the strong light at the back is known, unsurprisingly, as the backlight.

This technique can help to create a specific mood and gives the visuals a cinematic look.

2) Mixing color temperatures

This helps to create a strong visual style and can portray themes through the use of colors.

Film lighting techniques: examples 

1. Putting real film lights outside windows instead of relying on natural light – always worth it.

-This tip can help when more light is needed to look earlier in the day or to take away from unwanted shadows in the windows. It is a also a good way to redo a scene at a time that isnt during the day when the sun is out. Also, there are many times during the day when the sun changes position. 

2. No color in your shots must ever be an accident.

-If a certain tone is to be portrayed visualy it is important to keep a constants color theme and that it fits with the story. For exampe, if you want to portray sadness then bright colors shouldn't be used. Bright colors can be confusing if thw goal was to portray a dark or sad tone visually. 

---Exampleof controled light-

 ~A beautiful blue can be achieved with HMI lights and a digital camera set to tungsten balance.

"We did it by using HMI lights and setting the camcorder (Canon XL1) to a preset that the Director of Photography had worked out in advance, but essentially the camera was set up more or less on tungsten balance, which means that it read daylight-balanced light as blue rather than white."

-good way to create a strong cinematic look.

~ A beautiful “Matrix”-style green can be achieved by shooting with regular fluorescent lights with the camera set to tungsten balance.

_settig the camera to tungsten balance creates the perfect green color. 

~Soft pools of light on actors’ faces can produce a very interesting look.

The direction the light is going can be controled by using objects to block certain areas of light from going through. This creates a controled visual technique that can enhance an image.

~ Daylight-balanced light in the background with tungsten

light from the front, with the camera set on tungsten balance.

"This can be achieved if there is daylight in the background, tungsten light from the front and the camera is set up on tungsten balance, which means it will read daylight as blue and tungsten light as white."

~Backlight vs. no backlight

Using a backlight can hide inwanted shadows from coming out in a visual.

More of the shadow is placed on the face and than in the background.

~Bokeh-

is when there are certain blurred points in the visuals. This creates depth if feild and focuses on a point of interest.