Skills Lesson 1. Lighting

In this lesson we covered lighting such as, the classic three point lighting where the object is placed in the centre of three lights, the back light, the key light and the fill light, this forms a ‘T’ shape and the camera is then placed between the key and the fill light. This particular method help lighten up all aspects of the object.

Other aspects of lighting we came across was, silhouettes, this was created by placing the key light directly behind the object and the camera filming directly in front.

We also experimented with different coloured gels, which are a transparent colored material which come in various colours such as, blue, yellow and red, these gave of different lighting effects making the image seem either warmer (red and yellow) or colder (blue) depending on the colour.

We also used scrims, which help to modify the light. There are a variations on types of scrim, depending upon its use, whether with natural light, or on man made light sources. However, their basic use is to reduce intensity, and/or harshness of light.

Reflectors we also experimented with, these reflect light when you hold them opposite the light source: redirect light to open up darker or shadowed areas, while controlling highlights.

White: Provides a clean bounce to balance highlight areas and add exposure to the shadow without affecting color balance.

Silver: Its reflective surface produces an increased reflection value.

Gold: Produces a warmer reflection. Excellent for capturing people, this provides a little boost when ambient light is on the cool side of the color spectrum.

We also looked at the use of a blackdrop and the ways I which to create low key lighting.