Film lighting styles and techniques tell audiences when a lm is set, where they should focus their attention, and how they should respond throughout the movie.
The art of cinematography is the art of lighting and making that light tell the story. -Stephen H. Burum, ASC (Apocalypse Now, Carlito's Way, Mission Impossible, etc.)
Lighting can emphasize important details or hide them. It can flatter a subject by bringing out positive attributes and it can de-emphasize or hide less attractive attributes. Lighting can even impart a sinister and hostile look. It all depends on how you choose to use the concepts we'll be covering in the next few modules.
The three basic characteristics of lighting
1.) Coherence, often called quality, is the hardness or softness of light.
In the photos above the objects are exactly the same. The first photo was shot with soft light, the second with a hard light source.
HARD LIGHT Light that is transmitted directly from a small point source results in relatively coherent (parallel) rays. This gives the light a hard, crisp, sharply defined appearance. The light from a clear, unfrosted light bulb, a focused spotlight, or the noonday sun in a clear sky, all represent hard light sources. Hard light casts a sharp, clearly defined shadow. When hard light is used to illuminate a face, imperfections in the skin stand out. The result is less than flattering. But in other applications, such as bringing out the texture in leather, or the engraving on a piece of jewelry, this can be an advantage.
SOFT LIGHT Soft (diffused) light has the opposite effect. It tends to hide surface irregularities and detail. Soft light sources are used in production to create a broad, even area of light.
2.) Color temperatureAlthough the second attribute of light, color temperature, refers to its basic color, we're also speaking of a characteristic of light that goes beyond the obvious. The color of sunlight can vary greatly depending on the time of day, the amount of haze or smog in the air, and the geographic longitude and latitude of the area. Because of its angle to the earth in the early morning and late afternoon, sunlight must travel through more of the earth's atmosphere. Sometimes the artificial lighting can cause color problems.
3.) Light intensityLight intensity (quantity) is measured in foot-candles (candela) in the United States, or in lux in most other countries. To provide some points of reference:
sunlight on an average day ranges from 32,000 to 100,000 lux
TV studios are lit at about 1,000 lux
a bright office has about 400 lux
moonlight represents about 1 lux
starlight measures a mere 0.00005 lux
Lighting instruments
Lighting equipment consists of a great deal more than just sockets with bulbs. Lighting equipment (briefly) consists of bulbs, fixtures, dimmers/power units, mounts, light control/quality.
Bulb Types Video/Film recording lights use many different bulb types. Tungsten: A tungsten light is basically a more powerful version of a common household lightbulb. Redheads: Redheads are a specific type of open-faced light. The term is often used to loosely describe smaller, open-faced lights. Blondes: Blondes are a 2k open-faced light. Because they are open-faced, they tend to put out more light than a 2k fresnel. Halogen-QuartzHalogen-Quartz bulbs, often known as "Halogens" or "Quartz" are a staple of lighting. Halogens rarely posses a color temperature outside of 3200°K. These same bulbs are often used in car headlights, portable worklights, and recently in house-decor lighting. HMI: The HMI light is a different type of light bulb than the more common tungsten. Fluorescent: Fluorescent bulbs were not used for lighting film and video until recently. Fluorescent lights tend to be very soft, but do not put out much light in comparison to other lighting instruments. LED: Recent advances in production costs and chemical advances used in the diode junctions have led to inexpensive LED 'bulbs' as well as even color temperatures in multiple bulbs. LEDs are manufactured in all colors, and white comes in many color temperatures. The front lens is parabolic, focusing the light to a small dot even several meters away.
The lighting key
A lighting key is another way of describing the kinds of choices cinematographers have to light a lm. Different lighting keys are signs lmmakers use to suggest certain meanings for audiences. In large part, the lighting key a cinematographer chooses to use will be determined by a lm’s theme or mood.
High key lighting suggests a natural or “real life” setting for a movie. It’s the kind of lighting we see in most Hollywoodmovies (for example comedies or musicals) and the important point to remember is that there is absolutely nothing natural about this kind of look. In order to create high key lighting, extremely bright lights, positioned very precisely for each shot, have to be used.
High contrast lighting is dominated by harsh lines of light combined with dramatic streaks of blackness. This lighting style tends to use shadows and can look haunting and eerie when it is used well. As a sign, high contrast lighting suggests a sense of anxiety or confusion. It can also be used to suggest a corrupt world which haunts and threatens the characters on screen. Low key lighting uses shadows and directed pools of light to create atmosphere and suspense. It is often seen in crime or gangster movies. Low key lighting suggests an air of mystery. Horror movies often use this style of lighting in exaggerated form by over-lighting (placing a light above the face) or under-lightingn(placing a light under a face) actors to create a dramatic or distorted effect.
It should be noted that different styles of lighting can be used effectively in the same movie to convey different moods and events. For example, the lmmaker may introduce low key lighting to indicate that the hero is in danger.
Exercise: Find examples for this three key lightings in movies seen! Plan three short sequences as examples for the three technics!
Standard lighting
In typical lighting setups, lighting instruments serve four functions:
key lights
fill lights
back lights
background lights
Example: standard lighting
If you study this photo you may detect four light sources:
one on the left (the key light ) KEY LIGHT: the main light is usually the strongest and has the most influence on the look of the scene. Placed to one side of the camera / subject so that this side is well lit, and the other side has shadow.
one of the right (a much dimmer fill light ) FILL LIGHT: The secondary light, placed on the opposite side of the key light. Use it to fill the shadows created by the key. The fill will usually be softer and less bright than the key. (It should be placed further).
one on the hair (a back light ), BACK LIGHT: Placed behind the subject to light it from the rear. Rather than providing direct lighting (like the key and fill) its purpose is to provide definition and subtle highlights around the outlines.
one on the background (a background light ) The role of the background light is to create spacial separation between the foreground and background of the image to create the illusion of 3D space in the photograph.
Three-point lighting is a standard method used in visual media such as video, film, still photography and computer-generated imagery. By using three separate positions, the photographer can illuminate the shot's subject (such as a person) however desired, while also controlling (or eliminating entirely) the shading and shadows produced by direct lighting.
It uses the first three lights: key light, fill light and back light.