This book has been updated with the following items added:
• Information on newly designed lighting instruments (i.e. LED lights)
• Expanded sections on HMI and Fluorescent lighting
• A chapter on how to light specific scenarios with exercises for students to duplicate the set-up in addition to come up with their own lighting plan using the same instruments as well as different ones
• Lighter and smaller lighting instruments and how to use them effectively
• Color images throughout
As the title of this book implies (Placing Shadows: Lighting Techniques for Video Production), when you illuminate a set or location, your desire is to have a purpose for each shadow and where it falls. In other words, you are “placing shadows” exactly where you yearn for them to be (or not to be, that is the question).
When I first started in this illustrious field back in 1978, my idea of lighting was to erect a 1000 watt open faced light or 300 watt photo flood in a scoop and immediately start shooting. Luckily that was a long time ago and I’ve learned a bit more over time. Through time, watching others, and experience, you learn that there is much more than setting up a light and being satisfied that the set is now “lit.”
Knowing where and why each shadow is placed on your set or location puts you in control. Since we are the ones with the brains, we should decide where an inanimate object like a light is going to reside on a set and what we desire it most to do. Although this book may not be a beginner’s guide to lighting, it will stress the initial concepts of the art, and by using the tools of the trade, achieve the success (in lighting) that you are after.
It is my goal that this book will be your guide to help you better understand and appreciate all that film and video lighting can actually do.
I’ve been told that lighting is the hardest thing to do in film or video production. This isn’t true. I guess it is difficult to set up a light, plug it in, and turn on the switch. The easy part is positioning the instrument, silking or gelling it, and generally making it do exactly what you want it to do. You are only limited by your imagination.
My belief is that you learn best by doing. You can gain understanding and knowledge from this book, taking courses, and learning from others in the field—but until you actually set up the light and see what it does yourself, the picture isn’t complete. Read and learn what each lighting unit can do, what happens if you raise or lower it, put it at an angle, diffuse or gel it? After this reading and learning phase, take the light and see if what you learned is true in your application.
My strength in college and film school was the camera. I was able to frame shots well and handhold a camera steadier than most—I was extremely fortunate.
However, the main role of a cinematographer or DP (director of photography) is to create the illusion for the camera to record. Part of that illusion is lighting. Since my main focus (pardon the pun) was camera work, I had to learn a new skill: lighting. By practicing, experimenting, and just doing it, I was able to learn which end of the light not to look into. Throughout the rest of film school and graduate school I was asked to light and shoot every-one’s student films. Most of the other students aspired to be directors, but I wanted to shoot. We all got what we wanted.
Once out of college I was faced with two dilemmas: the real world and videotape. The techniques of lighting video aren’t any different than film. The cameras and editing equipment have changed totally, but the same lighting concepts apply to both. I don’t want to underemphasize the importance of practicing and experimenting. I’ve learned a great deal from others by watching (not copying) what they did. I could have easily taken a picture of their setup and duplicated it on my set. Like cheating, that would have accomplished nothing. I want to know why the lights are set up a specific way.
A friend of mine copied another colleague’s lighting setup down to the extension cord. When he finished with the duplicated setup, the client didn’t like it. He said,“Change it.” If my friend would have just learned the technique the original party used, he would have saved a lot of setup time. The clients are always right (except when they’re wrong), and if they don’t like your setup, you’d better be willing to change it. They will be paying the bill, and you are working for them. That’s why it is so important to learn your craft and not just blindly “do it.”
More light doesn’t mean a better lighting setup. Some people can work wonders with three lights, others need an arsenal. Some have also said, “Oh, if I just had a 10K, then I’d be able to light the scene.” You might be able to light it brighter with a 10K, but you better know what you’re doing. Although large lights offer more illumination, they aren’t better lights. These “big boys” were designed for a specific purpose—lighting large areas—and they do it well. If the director wants sun streaming in through the windows, these units are the sun. If he later wants a soft shaft of moonlight to fall on the leading lady, the 10K would have to be strongly diffused or the talent would be charred.
Through common sense and a little experience, you will learn what each lighting instrument does best.
If your lights are the paints, then your light meter is the brush. Instead of throwing the paint all over the place so it covers everything, use your brush to put light only where it’s needed and looks best. This technique separates the artist from the painter.
This book won’t have all the answers, but hopefully it will help you generate more questions. Through experimentation (after learning the concepts) your skills will grow. You never stop learning, and if you ever do—you’re dead. This book has been a great learning experience for me. Some of the solutions to the problems I encountered while on the set may help you in your specific situation.
Surround yourself with talented people in the art of lighting like I did. Some of it is bound to rub off on you. I’ve learned from lighting masters that I’ve been fortunate enough to work with: George Winchell, Greg Ressetar, Tom Landis, Mike Gorga, Tom Mooney, and countless others. I even interviewed one of the greatest living masters of lighting and cinematography: Director of Photography Vittorio Storaro A.S.C., A.I.C. He has always inspired me and his work is untouched by others. “The details are in the …” I would like to complete that famous quote by adding only one word—lighting.”
Never allow yourself to say on a set in reference to lighting, “It can’t be done.” Nothing is impossible. It might be extremely difficult to do what you want with the equipment you have, but it is never “impossible.” This is where experimentation comes into play again. Pull from the knowledge you do have and tackle the problem from that angle. I’ve worked with people who know all the terms and concepts and say, “what you are trying to do won’t work.” Don’t believe them until you try it. It may only take a few minutes and after you’ve seen for yourself, they may be right. But you need to see and prove that first before you just blindly accept that. Along that same lines, if I tell you something is so—don’t take that as gospel. I make mistakes, have typos, but to the best of my knowledge, the concept has worked for me. Try it yourself and see if I am smoking kitty litter.
In writing for trade magazines like Videography and Government Video, I write about only what I’ve learned from a specific situation. This is the situation, this is how I attempted to light it, and this is what happened. Sometimes I was fortunate enough to come up with something better.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Steven Bradford, Media Arts Chair at Collins College in Tempe, Arizona for reviewing my manuscript for this book, pointing out areas that needed improvement, and offering suggestions on how to make it better. This took a lot of his valuable time and I appreciate his effort. Thank you!