In this section we’ll break down everything that goes into building an extensive set-up. Few years ago we found the need for creating more than just a conventional set. Most budget today are not big enough to hire a large crew and a grip truck but the need for that style of quality is still there. It was in our best interest to come up with something in between. The solution was extensive lighting, grips and a lots of imagination, [...]
What you’ll see here are behind the scene time lapse videos that we often record when producers need to show other crews around the world how they would like set-ups done. These are raw, unedited and uncorrected videos intended only for internal training purposes.
The demonstration in this chapter is intended to show the basic number of lights, their purposes and placement traditionally used to illuminate a subject. Each individual light and any possible variation and placement is further discussed in the following chapters. The basic lighting set up for an interview can consist of up to 4 lights on the subject and as many lights as needed or desired on the background. This set-up is the most widely used but keep in mind [...]
The Chiaroscuro Principle In the 15th century, renaissance artists like DaVinci and Caravaggio discovered that by applying a succession of lights and shadows to different planes in their images they were able to add the illusion of dimensional depth on an otherwise flat canvas.This innovative lighting technique is known as “Chiaroscuro”.In Italian that means light and dark.600 years went-by since the chiaroscuro technique was created and is still widely used to produce quality images in photography, cinematography and television. [...]
For most interviews there are three fundamental Key Light placements. Each of the placements could be for creative reasons or as we’ll see below for specific needs or requirements. Note that in all three placements the light is always directed from the far side of the camera therefore the wider portion of the face that the camera sees is in the dark. When photographing people, being video, film or still photography, we must remember that the viewer’s attention will always [...]
The main purpose of the fill light is to soften lines on the face of the subject and reduce the contrast ratio between highlights and shadows. If the key light would be placed directly in front of the subject there would be no need for a fill light as no shadows would be created on the subject’s features. A full flat light however would make a very flat, dull and uninteresting image. Creating well controlled shadows is what gives us [...]
The main purpose of the hairlight or backlight is to create separation between the subject and the background. Most photographers use a small light such as an Arri 300 Fresnel mounted on a boom arm or a grip arm. A better way to create separation is to use a large softbox as a hairlight A large softlight will result in a softer shadow and more pleasant highlights For subjects with thin or no hair the large [...]
Edge light is one of those things that the photographer can do when time allows to make his/her work a little better. The easiest light to use for an edge is a small (300 w) Fresnel with a gel attached to the exterior of the barn doors and extend the barn doors by attaching two pieces of black foamcore (see the ENG/EFP Light chapter for more information on Fresnel lights). The extended barn doors are important because [...]
In this section we’ll break down everything that goes into building an extensive set-up. Few years ago we found the need for creating more than just a conventional set. Most budget today are not big enough to hire a large crew and a grip truck but the need for that style of quality is still there. It was in our best interest to come up with something in between. The solution was extensive lighting, grips and a lots of imagination, [...]
What you’ll see here are behind the scene time lapse videos that we often record when producers need to show other crews around the world how they would like set-ups done. These are raw, unedited and uncorrected videos intended only for internal training purposes.
The demonstration in this chapter is intended to show the basic number of lights, their purposes and placement traditionally used to illuminate a subject. Each individual light and any possible variation and placement is further discussed in the following chapters. The basic lighting set up for an interview can consist of up to 4 lights on the subject and as many lights as needed or desired on the background. This set-up is the most widely used but keep in mind [...]
The Chiaroscuro Principle In the 15th century, renaissance artists like DaVinci and Caravaggio discovered that by applying a succession of lights and shadows to different planes in their images they were able to add the illusion of dimensional depth on an otherwise flat canvas.This innovative lighting technique is known as “Chiaroscuro”.In Italian that means light and dark.600 years went-by since the chiaroscuro technique was created and is still widely used to produce quality images in photography, cinematography and television. [...]
For most interviews there are three fundamental Key Light placements. Each of the placements could be for creative reasons or as we’ll see below for specific needs or requirements. Note that in all three placements the light is always directed from the far side of the camera therefore the wider portion of the face that the camera sees is in the dark. When photographing people, being video, film or still photography, we must remember that the viewer’s attention will always [...]
The main purpose of the fill light is to soften lines on the face of the subject and reduce the contrast ratio between highlights and shadows. If the key light would be placed directly in front of the subject there would be no need for a fill light as no shadows would be created on the subject’s features. A full flat light however would make a very flat, dull and uninteresting image. Creating well controlled shadows is what gives us [...]
The main purpose of the hairlight or backlight is to create separation between the subject and the background. Most photographers use a small light such as an Arri 300 Fresnel mounted on a boom arm or a grip arm. A better way to create separation is to use a large softbox as a hairlight A large softlight will result in a softer shadow and more pleasant highlights For subjects with thin or no hair the large [...]
Edge light is one of those things that the photographer can do when time allows to make his/her work a little better. The easiest light to use for an edge is a small (300 w) Fresnel with a gel attached to the exterior of the barn doors and extend the barn doors by attaching two pieces of black foamcore (see the ENG/EFP Light chapter for more information on Fresnel lights). The extended barn doors are important because [...]
Having the knowledge of creating good camerawork and good lighting is important in this profession. A client who hire us expect that from us. However, the most important skill in this business is the ability of problem solving. There are always problems in 90% of assignments, and I don’t mean something breaking down. Things don’t always go as planned or as we were hoping they would. There are always unforeseen and unexpected obstacles in most jobs that would cause [...]
If you’ve seen the previous chapter on “The chiaroscuro techniques” then you should know that good background lighting is just as important as the lighting that goes on the subject sitting in front of the background. While getting good lighting on the subject is a matter of following fundamental lighting techniques, creating good lighting on backgrounds can be challenging. There are no specific techniques to follow and how well the background is created and lit will make the difference between [...]
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