Advanced Lighting Workshop

On Monday we were in the studio with Matt learning about lighting and how we would use specific lighting for our music and why it is used.

Essentially, lighting is used to make things look nice and make the video look more aesthetic and profesional. During filming shoots there is a Director of photography. This role is to work with director, interplaying with camera and light , trying to  make the nicest possible pictures for the director to see for the video. 

You must be careful when your'e in the studio with lights because you could trip over the cables as well as the lights are very hot meaning that you could accidentally touch the light and it will burn.Before turning on a light you need to tell people “eyes down” “sparking”.

It is easier to reposition the lights rather than the camera if you want to change the shadows or get rid of a lense flare when the light is in the shot.

There are many different lights you could use during the shoot to get the perfect picture you want. These include;

Red head light - this light helps give sharp shadows around the artist creating a very nice image.

Blonde - Blonde light will have a sharp outline of model and it a light that you place at the back of the shot

Soft Box - Should flood over the model

Florescent lights - Where you can change the colour.

Practical lights - Are the lights that you could see in the shot while looking real in set. For exmple a lamp desk.

3 point lighting is a commonly used technique which is used alot in interviews ect. This contains; Key light - fill light -back light. The Key light helps highlight the forms and dimensions of the model. The Fill light helps removes shadows and the Back light helps add light to the background stands person out through background.

A good technique to use is putting “trace” on top of the light. It is often used to soften the shadow that the light creates.

A matte box is another good device to use to make the picture more clear. It goes over the lens and it will lose the extra light

On the camera you can adjust the aperture of the shot which will let more light in.

We also learnt how we could use thing to make the shot look better. For Example, we used polystyrene as it reflects the light of the person and makes the image look softer.

It is a must that when you set the lights you see what it looks like on the camera rather than what you see in real life as it will look different on camera and that's what the viewers will see meaning it has to look great.

Both of these picture use the same lighting however look slightly different.