Lighting?

I know that lighting is an extremely important aspect of cinematography... does anyone have any links to books, videos, websites, etc. that teach lighting techniques?

Thanks!

PS- If it matters I'm asking about more interview and talking head lighting-- I realized I need to learn it because I asked about the "black background" talking head (a la apple) and had no idea what was going on in terms of the lighting.

Here are some great places to start:



https://vimeo.com/album/1799949/video/52394158

nofilmschool dot com and videomaker dot com have some information you might find useful.

I can't post the urls, but no film search for interview lighting and for videomaker search for 3 point lighting.

Do you need a light meter? The one video said you do. What would you use it for?

You need a good incidence light meter at min, with both "flat" directional and "dome" probe. You will use it to establish lighting ratio between main and fill lights. You could also use a "studio" HD monitor 17" or larger in Monochrome mode. But you really should have both. There are several good "Cinema" meters out there too.

To really,learn lighting, you,should seek out an experienced Portrait photographer and spend some time with him/her learning "basic" Portrait lighting, in addition to your reading. Nothing replaces experience. I spent a year working with a successful Portrait Photographer as his assistant, learning both lighting and composition with figure study, learning lighting, posing of people in different situations. Studio and location lighting have some overlap, but are also different situations to learn to deal with.

Set up a studio situation, where you can control lighting, and start with one light (Key) and a basketball or globe mounted on a 3-foot stand, then start adding additional lights to see resulting effects, adding first one fill, then back light, and finally a "hair" light. Play with "rim" lighting too, then add them together.
take lots, and lots of photos, study the results, and keep detailed notes of what you are doing.

Do you need a light meter? The one video said you do. What would you use it for?

if you plan on being a cinematographer a light meter is of more importance than any piece of gear you will ever own. a dp without a lightmeter is a camera operator...and a joke.

if you plan on being a cinematographer a light meter is of more importance than any piece of gear you will ever own. a dp without a lightmeter is a camera operator...and a joke.

This is the kind of opinionated nonsense that I hate about these forums. Do you think docu filmmakers have the time or luxury of using a lightmeter?

You don't "need" one. It is a tool, like anything else and helpful when used correctly. Thousands of productions go on daily without one.

There are many, many ways to help judge exposure. For one, knowing your camera and having a good understanding of lighting (even with a light meter)through practice is one of the best things you can do to get great images. False color, or even the exposure meter on your external monitor are other ways. Or simply applying the exposing to the Right methology preached by many BMC owners.

Don't ever ever ever let anyone, even if they're a seasoned "pro", tell you what you need and don't need. It's best to gather as much knowledge you can, assess it, and see what techniques work best for your style of shooting/budget/workflow.

We were discussing using a light meter to setup lighting ratios in a studio situation, not for judging exposure, although it could also do both. I Gree for exposure there are numerous alternatives, with Zebras and False color at the top of the list on a good monitor. You can use both "tools" together for max benefit.

What is the "Right Method" preached by BMC owners?

This video breaks it down pretty straightforward.

... does anyone have any links to books, videos, websites, etc. that teach lighting techniques? … If it matters I'm asking about more interview and talking head lighting-- I realized I need to learn it because I asked about the "black background" talking head ...

You'd be amazed. Even something as deceptively "simple" as an video interview shot against a black background can be done successfully using an almost infinite number of different techniques.

For example, I shot several such interviews earlier this week. These were shot using a GH3 camera, but I'd use similar techniques if I'd used one of BMD's cameras.

scb.jpg (112.62 KiB) Viewed 4395 times

ss.jpg (110.37 KiB) Viewed 4395 times

ps.jpg (121.42 KiB) Viewed 4395 times

Lighting: Hot tungsten lights. The key light is a 650w fresnel mounted with a 24"x32" diffusion chimera/softbox (w. a black egg crate baffle mounted on the front of the softbox), located about 6' from the subject and about 6' to the left of the camera. The front of the soft box is a bit above the subject's eye line and aiming down at them (so the subject is "looking towards the light"). The back/hair light is a 250w fresnel with a white diffusion gel clipped in front, located about 4' behind & 4' above the subject. A 32" round white bounce reflector is located just off-camera to the right of the frame (opposite side from the key light) to reflect some of the key light back onto the subject.

A 10'x12' black background cloth is hanging about 8' behind the talent. The distance helps keep the key light from lighting-up the cloth (which would make it appear gray instead of black). The egg crate on the soft box helps keep the key light off the backdrop, too.

Again, this is just one of hundreds of ways to do this sort of thing. And of course every technique can be improved on, including this one.

For example, some black background (and white background) shoots are actually shot against a green or blue screen, with the green/blue screen chromakeyed-out in post. As I said, there are many ways ...

There's lighting related info & links in one of my blog post:
http://herefortheweather.wordpress.com/ ... beginners/

-

Thanks guys!

Anyone else have thoughts?

Try these books:

Film Lighting: Talks with Holllywood's Cinematographers and Gaffers by Kris Malikiewicz

and

Motion Picture and Video Lighting by Blaine Brown

if you plan on being a cinematographer a light meter is of more importance than any piece of gear you will ever own. a dp without a lightmeter is a camera operator...and a joke.

This is the kind of opinionated nonsense that I hate about these forums. Do you think docu filmmakers have the time or luxury of using a lightmeter?

You don't "need" one. It is a tool, like anything else and helpful when used correctly. Thousands of productions go on daily without one.

There are many, many ways to help judge exposure. For one, knowing your camera and having a good understanding of lighting (even with a light meter)through practice is one of the best things you can do to get great images. False color, or even the exposure meter on your external monitor are other ways. Or simply applying the exposing to the Right methology preached by many BMC owners.

Don't ever ever ever let anyone, even if they're a seasoned "pro", tell you what you need and don't need. It's best to gather as much knowledge you can, assess it, and see what techniques work best for your style of shooting/budget/workflow.

I agree with you Misterkofa.

This is nonsense. I´ve seen many supposed DP´s do horrible lighting with their lightmeters and i´ve seen beautiful shots composed and lit by camera operators. "Buy a light meter and you´re a DP"... man...

Learn to look at lighting and trust your eyes, take in the right references and develop good taste and sensibility. You can get tools to help do that but they will not make you a good DP by themselves.

As for the punchline regarding DP´s and Camera Operators, it´s just unfortunate...

bump

Let's keep these threads alive and kicking .. good stuff guys !