LIGHTING

Lighting in Films

• Lighting is one of the most important elements in film. It defines what it on a screen.

• A badly lit scene will ruin the film. This is because the way in which a scene it lit will is responsible for the mood and the audience’s perception of what you are trying to express.

Natural Light

• For low-budget films natural light is the best solution to make the scene look good. This is because it cost absolutely nothing!

• Filming at different times in the day is one of the major obstacles because you will get contrasting images, which will spoil the consistency of the film.

• This can be overcome by diffusing the sunlight through thin cloth shades or by using filter lights to eliminate hard shadows.

• Another solution is to use reflectors, which bounce a source of light onto the actors to soften the shadows.

Colour Temperature

• A film can be affected by the colour temperature.

• This is a chart which is divided into Kelvins –

• To gain accurate colour in your film you balance the image by using the filters.

Artificial Light

• When you use one light, the shadows become more visible as the angle increases betweens the camera and the positioning of the light.

Artificial Light

• When you use two lights, extreme darkness is avoided. To do this one light has to be placed 45 degrees to the camera and the other placed close to the camera.

Artificial Light

• When using three lights the background is illuminated. Shadows are slightly disappeared meaning that the background has more exposure level.

Extra Resources

• To better my knowledge in lighting I came across this helpful website - http://www.lavideofilmmaker.com/filmmaking/film-lighting-tips.html

• All of my research in lighting allowed me to understand the importance it has to the images on screen. This will provide me with basic skills and techniques that will be useful to transfer in my short film.