Cinematography-Theory-And-Practice

Figure 7.36. (top) Direct sunlight isharsh, contrasty, and unflattering. Ifyou do have to shoot in direct sun,try not to do so during the middlepart of the day. Sunlight is softerand at a lower, more flattering angleearly in the day or late in the afternoon.Figure 7.37. (bottom) Here we justhave the actor back up a few feet sohe is under the awning of the building.This is open shade; it is softer andless contrasty.larger sense, of course — not if you really care about the qualityof your lighting. At best, you need a smaller generator and lightergauge distribution cable and slightly smaller lights.Think of it this way — say you light a scene beautifully with fourlights: a 12K creating a beautiful shaft of light through the window,a 10K raking down the hallway, a 2K bounce for a key on the scene,and a baby-junior for a backlight. Let’s now assume that the speed ofyour video camera doublesthat you all of a sudden need fewer lights?Not unless you want to do less lighting — that is, give up somethingimportant. You still need four lights to accomplish what youdid before. The only difference is that instead of a 12K you needspeed is a giant leap technologically, but in terms of exposure andlights? Of course you can. But as a cinematographer or director, ifyou are willing to say that just getting an exposure is your only goallighting basics127