Objectives Measurement of Light Light Meters Contrast Ratio Lamps ...

Objectives
• sufficient amount of illumination
• 3-dimensional look
• guide viewer's attention
• establish mood
• aesthetic look
Measurement of Light
• footcandles = amt of lt falling on a sphere 1 ft from a lt source of 1 candlepower.
• lux (European measurement): 10 lux = 1 ftcdl
Light Meters
• Incident: amount of light falling onto a particular person or area of a set.
• Reflected: amount of light reflected by subject
• Spot Meter: for a small, specific spot.
• Automatic Metering Systems
Contrast Ratio
• brightness vs darkness within a scene. 30:1:1
• monitors to help exposure, especially for video.
Lamps
• Tungsten: basic, color temp and output changes as ages
• Quartz-Halogen: burns at constant color temp and light output
• Power: watt x volts = amps
Color Temperature (degree Kelvin): different mixtures of visible light
• 3200º K: studio lighting, bright yellow
• 5500º K: sun, daylight
• 10,000º K: noontime
• 4500º K (approximate): sky at sunset, reddish hues
Balancing for Video
White Balance: for video, to get proper color rendition.
• use appropriate filter wheel
Balancing for Film: choice of film stock
• film balanced for daylight = outdoor. Can use this indoors w/ an 85 filter (reddish).
• film balanced for lights (tungsten) = indoor

Lights
Spotlights: fresnels, ellipsoidal, lensless spots, HMI (outdoor use), follow spots
Floodlights: scoop, soft, broads, strip
Control Beam of Light
Barndoors
Snoots
Flags: rectangular metal pieces to block part of light
Shutters: for lekos
Cookies
Control Light Intensity
Scrims/spun/screens
Diffusion material
• silk: white artificial material, cuts down volume of light, have metal frames
• net: looks like mosquito netting, diffuse lighting slightly, less than scrims
• frost & tough white: milky-looking gels (cellophane-like material)
Lighting Methods
3-Point: Key / Fill / Back - keep in mind, indoors & out, use sun
Available Light: note where light is coming from
Camera Placement: note best areas and consider that when placing your camera
Windows: don't shoot with window in background = silhouette, unless going for that
effect
• Blue filter or light-blue color gel: to raise the color temp of indoor light to outdoor
light (3200º K to 5600º K)
• Light-Orange filter material to window: to lower outdoor lt (3200º K to 5500º K)
Sun: don't shoot at it = silhouette. Use it as key.
Reflector Boards: use to bounce light to subject. Large white boards, crinkled foil.
Time of Day: consider best time of day. 11 am-2 pm can be difficult due to intense sun.
• early morning/late afternoon: greater sense of relief, more dramatic image
• color tones: different at different times of day, warmer in late afternoon
Falloff: the degree of change from light to shadow
• Slow: more gradual change
• Fast: abrupt change from light to shadow, high contrast
Film-Style Lighting
Changes for every shot.
Work with stocks, can shoot with lower light levels. Greater contrast range.

Lighting For Movement
Lighting plot: diagram of set that shows camera position, location of lights, their size, type
and direction.
Easiest way: illuminate the entire area with soft, diffused lighting.
Common way: 3-point in areas needed, fill in gaps w/ fill light.
Overlapping: areas of key, fill, back.
• Use same lights for different purposes.
• Use meters: incident and reflective
To Avoid Shadows: more pronounced against a light-colored backgrd.
• Adjust lights to a different angle.
• Place shadows out of frame.
• Place actors further away from wall.
• Use flags or barndoors to block off light that is causing shadow.
• Move boom or don't use it.
• Change quality of light: diffuse, soften
Lighting Ratio: relates to the ratio of the key to the fill.
Film: most common is 3:1 (has a 1 1/2 f-stop difference)
Video: 2:1 or 3:1.
High-key lighting: bright, even illumination. Key-to-fill is low, low-contrast. Bright,
happy and relatively flat.
Low-key lighting: shadowy. Key-to-fill is high, high-contrast. Darker, brooding, harsh.
Emotional impact of lighting: depends on direction, angle, quality (hard or soft).
Front: tends to reduce shadows and flatten image. If soft & diffused, smoothes out the
texture of surface illuminated.
Side: sharper shadows. Models the subject and can highlight the texture with small
shadows.
Back: emphasizes depth.
Angled: from above or below create more distinct, dramatic shadows.
Use fewer lights what with faster lenses and more sensitive imaging systems.