Films are made up of sequences.
Sequences are made up of scenes.
And scenes are made up of shots.
"- That's a kill."
- In previous episodes, we covered camera movement,
editing techniques,
and composition.
Today we'll focus on lighting fundamentals
from different types and qualities of light
to essential lighting terms and gear.
"- And then there was the light."
- This is Episode 12 of the "Shot List".
Cinematic Lighting - Part One.
Hit subscribe and enable notifications to get all future episodes of the "Shot List".
At the end of the video, we'll explain how you can download
your own cheat sheet for everything we're about to cover.
"- Let there be light.
Ah, my eyes."
- Lighting is one of the most important elements of filmmaking.
More than just illumination
lighting itself plays a massive role in visual storytelling.
Lighting can help determine the mood of your scene.
Provide insights into a character.
A guide to a viewer's eye.
On set, these decisions are made primarily by the Director of Photography.
and the Gaffer who is the headlighting electrician on the crew.
Once a lighting plan has been decided by the DP,
the gaffer executes it by obtaining the necessary lights and gear
and overseeing the setups.
In part one of this video, we'll cover the lighting fundamentals.
In part two, we'll dive into how to light subjects and their surroundings.
Before you begin setting up lights,
it's important to understand the different forms light comes in.
"- Explain all to me now."
- All light can be split into two categories.
Natural and artificial.
Natural light is any light that occurs naturally like sunlight,
moonlight, and firelight.
Artificial light is everything else.
Man-made light powered by electricity.
From there, we can branch out into additional categories.
Ambient lighting refers to any lights that are on location
which the crew didn't bring.
This includes street lamps, neon signs, or the moon.
Practical lighting refers to any light source that can be seen in the frame
whether it be ambient or placed there by a gaffer.
Motivated lighting means that there is a logical or
reasonable justification for the light in a scene.
Often practical lights exist simply to justify or motivate the light.
To be able to work with light, cinematographers also need to understand its properties.
For example, how does one measure light?
Lumens is a measurement of how much light a source produces.
Lux or Footcandles measures how much of that light hits the subject.
Otherwise known as incidental light.
Reflective light is the amount of light that reaches the camera.
The amount of light is dependent on both the strength of the source
and its position in relation to the subject.
As soon as light leaves the source
it begins to lose intensity.
This is called light falloff.
And we can predict an account for this loss
using an equation called the inverse square law.
The intensity of light is equal to one over the distance squared.
Basically, this means that every time you double the distance away from the source
the light is reduced by 75 percent.
Another aspect of light that cinematographers measure is the color temperature
which is measured in thermodynamic units called Kelvins.
Daylight is bluer than most artificial lights at about 5600 Kelvin.
Daylight can also be imitated by artificial light sources with the same temperature.
Tungsten lights are a common artificial source
with a color temperature of about 3200 Kelvin
though this can vary based on the source.
Mixing these two light sources therefore can add a variety of color to your shot.
With tungsten lights adding orange and daylight adding blue.
For a thorough explanation on color temperature, check out our video linked below.
Once you understand your light sources,
you'll need to know some basic concepts and terminology.
To the uninitiated, hearing cinematographers talk about lighting
can sound like a foreign language.
Let's look at some of the most commonly used terms on set.
Exposure is the amount of light that reaches the sensor or film stock.
In previous videos, we explained the mechanisms that determine the exposure.
The aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.
The aperture is an adjustable mechanism
that determines how much light enters the lens
and the various sizes are measured in f-stops.
Each f-stop either doubles the amount of light
or reduces it by half.
T-stops are another common setting in cinema lenses
to measure exactly how much light actually hits the sensor.
All cinematography is a balance between light and shadow.
And one of the ways this relationship is expressed is called the contrast ratio.
This is a shorthand for how we measure the difference
between light and shadow in two areas of an image.
Usually between the two sides of a subject's face.
Or between the subject and the background.
High-key lighting is a term that expresses a low contrast ratio
where the background and the subject are lit evenly with minimal contrast.
Low-key lighting on the other hand uses a high contrast ratio
where the difference between light and shadow is much larger with maximum contrast.
Both high and low-key lighting are used in a variety of genres
to evoke specific moods and atmospheres.
Overall high key lighting is used for brighter happier scenes.
While low-key lighting is often used for darker dramatic scenes.
"- You're sheltering enemies of the state, are you not?"
- Chiaroscuro is a type of low-key lighting with a high contrast ratio.
This is seen most frequently in film noirs
to enhance the sub-genre's mysterious and dangerous qualities.
Check out our video on Chiaroscuro to learn more.
A cinematographer must also choose between hard light and soft light.
Hard light is more directional light that creates stark shadows
which works best in more dramatic or intense scenes.
Soft light is more diffused and generates less defined shadows.
This type of lighting is often used for happier or romantic scenes.
Some of the best naturally occurring soft light comes during magic hour or golden hour.
This occurs twice a day just before sunset.
And just after sunrise
when the sunlight is less harsh and more colorful.
Lighting placement in relation to the camera should also be considered.
The dumb side also called the broadside
is lighting the side of a subject which is closer to the camera
often giving the subject a more approachable feeling.
The smart side also called the short side refers to
lighting the side of a subject that is not facing the camera
giving the subject a more dramatic look.
Lens flares are created when light hits the lens.
The shapes and colors of which differ depending on the lens.
"- For me, it literally is just this aesthetic thing that I like
which I absolutely am guilty of overusing,
and realize that it can be insanely distracting
but I do love the look of it.
And it's just this incredible look that for some moments feel appropriate."
- Bokeh are out-of-focus elements in a shot.
Typically points of light that often add a romantic or painterly texture to the image.
Now that we've got these key terms and concepts under our belts
let's look at the gear necessary to achieve them.
"- Yes, we'll find expensive gear you brought out here, Mr. Hooper."
- A professional film set often has an expansive variety of lighting equipment
but there's some gear which are almost certain to see on any set.
Lights themselves come in a variety of forms.
There are tungsten lights which are powerful and have a warm color temperature.
Daylight is usually achieved with HMI lights
which are even stronger but have a cooler temperature.
Fluorescent lights which offer soft cool light.
Kino Flos which are banks of tube lights adjustable to various temperatures.
And LED lights which provide a high amount of control over color and strength.
For more control of a light's color, gaffers will often use gels.
Thin plastic sheets which come in an assortment of colors.
Used in concert with a light's color temperature gels
help cinematographers achieve their desired hues.
A light meter is used to measure the amount of incidental lighting hitting a subject
which then informs the exposure settings on the camera.
Some models also include a spot meter
which allows you to pinpoint an exact part of the image for exposure.
Many cameras themselves also have different modes
to measure the reflective light actually reaching the lens.
Other ways to measure lighting ratios include waveforms,
histograms,
and false color which we'll cover in a future video.
Once you've made the choice to use soft light in the scene,
there are many ways to create the necessary diffusion.
Diffusion is when a semi-translucent material is
placed between the light source and the subject.
This scatters the light making it softer
and there are a few methods used to do this.
Softboxes use translucent cloths placed in front of a light.
Diffusion paper can achieve a similar effect.
Silks are often used for larger sources.
Of course, there are also natural diffusers like clouds,
fog,
dust,
or smoke.
Bouncing the light with reflectors creates diffusion while also redirecting light.
Reflectors come in a variety of colors and textures
each bringing a unique type of diffusion.
Bead boards are styrofoam boards with imperfect surfaces
that scatter light differently than a piece
of foam core which bounces light more evenly.
Another way to mitigate the intensity of the light is with neutral-density gels.
These can be attached to the light
or applied to windows to reduce the sunlight.
Flags are opaque boards that shape and block unwanted light.
Barn doors are adjustable flaps on the light itself
which have a similar function.
Egg crates direct light and help prevent it from spilling into unwanted areas.
Cookies add texture to a light.
Short for the term 'Cucoloris'
cookies are boards with patterns cut into them
that create a dappled effect when placed in front of a light.
Mounting and positioning lights on set
can be done with light stands
or with c-stands which are also useful for setting up diffusion, flags, and reflectors.
Just about anything needed to complete the desired setup.
Believe it or not, we've just scratched the surface on cinematic lighting.
"- This is only the beginning."
- There are more terms, gear, and concepts out there
with more arriving every day.
In the next episode, we'll take everything we learned here
and apply it to real-life lighting scenarios
including how to light a subject versus how to light the background.
With actual lighting setups from the best cinematographers working today.
In the description, you'll find a link to the StudioBinder blog
where you can download a PDF Cheatsheet
with everything we've covered in this video and more.
That's all for now.
We hope we've illuminated these lighting fundamentals properly.
Stay tuned for part two.
We'll see you there.