is used here to make the light less intense.
The background light subtly rounds out this sequence of lights. The background is usually just used to help set the general mood of the shot. Scenes here are usually lit to the middle of the gray scale so they don’t detract from the center of attention. Got all that? That was super basic lighting (Lighting 101 we’ll call it)… now, let’s round out those basics with extra detail.
Movement adds new considerations to the lighting. First off, what type of movement: long distance or short, indoors or outdoors, straight path or more random? For a long and/or winding path of movement, the entire area to be moved through is set with soft diffuse lighting known as ‘base light;’ as the subject moves through the back-ground, the other lights are used as necessary to give everything a flat dull appearance and minimize shadows that distract the audience from the main focus. Short or straight movement can be handled by filling the entire path with the same light. Sometimes you won’t even want to use all or some of your other lights while the subject moves from point A to point B.
When shooting outside, natural light and weather have big roles to play in the illumination of your scene. The intensity and angle of the natural overhead lighting will have a major effect on whatever
image you are attempting to construct. Basic lighting techniques can still help out here, sometimes. Mad skills and/or experimentation helps you achieve the right lighting here.
Now, to help craft properly illuminated images that are not stark but, at the same time, remain crisp, spotlights can sometimes be added to help sharpen up an image. What you are recording with will also have an effect, of course. The increasing use of digital video, for example, also necessitates softer light than previously used because of resolution often in excess of 480. One trick that can be used to produce softer light that’s more flattering to ‘character lines’ (i.e., creases and wrinkles) in a person’s face is to bounce a spotlight off a silvered umbrella. The art of lighting is full of such tricks.
Cross lighting is a technique
often used with spotlights. The beams are narrowed and intensified (“spotted down”) and aimed at opposite corners of the room creating the crossing light pattern. If you have to come up with a lighting solution quick this is a good place to start. By taking the focus of the spotlight beam off the subject of the shot avoids shiny foreheads deeply shadowed backgrounds. Spotlights are also good for the ‘bally-hoo’ effect – that’s the wildly rotating light beams you see at some movie premieres and other special events.
This completes our lighting 101 for the day. An expert lighting technician will use these and many other neat tricks, techniques and doohickeys in the course of their careers. The camera operator has a vital job in filming, but there’s no picture at all without light.
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