[Music]
three fingers of Drambuie and maraschino
cherry
thanks gonna turn fingers usually you're
a two fingers kind of guy pause right
now this scene is completely raw and is
only lit by the light coming from the
windows there's no additional lighting
equipment being used
it shows what might happen if someone
like me is an unset my name is Andy and
I'm a gaffer let's go in and see all the
different techniques a gaffer might use
to light a scene rewind let's start
things off by firing up some lights this
is what we call flat lighting it's when
the main source of light in a scene
called the key light comes from the same
direction as the camera this removes all
shadow and definition from the subject
which seldom looks good three fingers of
drede Bowie and maraschino cherry thanks
Gilda three fingers usually you're a two
fingers kind of guy right now we're
using too many lights which causes the
scene to lose any sense of mood another
day you're trying to forget another day
I gotta remind myself not to repeat yes
these subjects are lit but this lighting
is too intense and there's no
justification within the context of the
bar for where these light sources are
coming from let's take a look at this
lighting setup and see what we can
improve there are a lot of lights here
especially for what's supposed to be a
dark dingy dive bar let's turn some of
these off since this is a bar and tear
in the late afternoon less lights will
feel more natural for our location while
also taking the time of day we're trying
to replicate into consideration
[Music]
that's all right the mysterious dancing
lady over there said she'd take care of
whoever comes in next shadows play a
huge part in determining the mood of the
scene
adjusting the direction of where a key
light is coming from say from the front
of this mysterious woman to her side can
add shadows that make her appear even
more mysterious a sliver of sunshine for
your dim day Donny watch as the dancing
lady moves into a poorly lit spot this
doesn't make sense of the lighting we've
already established adding in small
sources of light from the bar in the
front of the establishment will tie
everything together however a large
light source creates softer shadows that
are less defined and fade at the edges
we should probably go with a smaller
source so we have harder more defined
shadows that's better
[Music]
booyah cherry that's been my dream since
I was 7 years old maybe were cut from
the same fabric like a Rottweiler on
fire in addition to our key light fill
lights and back lights are commonly used
back lights help create a high light
which separates our subject from the
background take a look here at how the
lawyer pops more with the backlight on
on the other hand fill lights light and
shadows without notice ly affecting
what's being lit by the key light with
the fill lights on the shadows disappear
from the lawyers face but preserve what
is already lit wait your Paris frittata
right is your last name really frittata
let's wrap this up so my my feed bet
that can go back to her dancing now that
we've set some of our lights we may
start running into other issues like
double or triple shadows is seen here we
can often eliminate unwanted shadows by
repositioning or adjusting the lights so
the shadows move out of frame
check out this shadow the key light is
casting on the back wall trying to
remove it with another light here looks
unnatural and adds more unwanted shadows
in new places instead it's often smart
to use a tool like this flag to control
light sources field of play removing
shadows without moving or losing in the
actual lights now tell me is the toast
in your pocket I'm sorry I don't follow
toast in your pocket
do we got our guy right now the lawyer
is being lit with a top light in general
unless it's a creative choice it's good
to try and avoid doing this since it
casts dramatic unflattering shadows that
highlight the nose and leave eyes darker
however these hanging lights are what we
call practical lights or lights that
appear on camera as part of the set
design and they motivate a top-down
source by pulling the top light forward
a bit we can avoid many of the
unflattering shadows while still
representing the practical lights oh
yeah we got the toast and the honey to
put on the toast any more fingers a dram
Donny the same goes for under light it's
normal for light to be coming from the
underside of a bar but when it's this
intense it creates a creepy unnatural
structure on the human face however if
we manage the intensity by diffusing the
light with something like this bleach
muslin we can keep things looking
natural while still accurately
representing bar lighting sometimes
these dramatic top and under lights can
be used for effect let's turn on a light
over the creepy guy to purposely give
him unflattering shadow so it will make
him look even more menacing
[Music]
now that the cats out of the bag how
long till we get to the pony show late
this week verse so we've positioned our
lights but they're all set at about the
same intensity and it feels pretty
boilerplate a scene like this should be
moodier and simply tweaking our existing
lights can help us achieve this let's
see what we can do here if we place a
silk in front of our key light it will
diffuse it reducing its intensity and
softening it turning off our fill light
will bring more shadows back which well
suits this shot the top light is
spilling onto the walls and our actors a
bit too much so we can put a grid on it
to help with directionality forcing the
light to be more directly focused
beneath it even with the silk our key
light still looks a bit too bright
many lights have dimmers on them and
lowering the intensity of the light
itself might be a good idea here there
we go using our same lights as before
the scene feels much moodier let's see
this part again now now that the cats
out of the bag how long till we get to
the pony show that's her
can i leak this snake first no I want to
know did she spill the beans
I want the whole enchilada
another way to create a moody or
atmosphere in a scene is to add what we
literally call atmosphere this is a
Heiser which fills the room with a light
fog watch and see how it can separate an
actor from the environment creating a
more volumetric lighting that makes our
light sources glow did you spill the
beans
I want the whole enchilada in a bar this
kind of effect makes sense this place
safe I think this could get me banned
from the bar you're sweating more than a
chimp in a Cheesecake Factory
you're getting a good slice here honey
everything we've done so far has created
a nice mood and appropriate atmosphere
but there is something else we can do to
make the scene really pop color can
bring more personality to a scene we're
in a bar so let's throw on these pink
and blue lights to simulate glowing neon
signs color can also be used to give us
more information about a character
adding red over our creepy guy can make
him look even more sinister we Square
honey
square as the pyramids honey now after
taking all these lighting techniques
into consideration we've turned a
boilerplate bar into something that
better complements the mood of our
script is full of character yet stays
true to this type of location I might
have brought my rottweil into Joanne's
fabrics and she might have destroyed 17
rolls of fabric but I did not set that
place on fire but I did not set that
place on fire
no matter the genre having appropriate
lighting can turn an average scene into
a killer one
sorry I forgot to leak the snake
none of these are steadfast rules
they're all tools that help tell a story
well most of these choices are
ultimately up to the director of
photography and the director the gaffer
plays a critical role in executing these
ideas not only must they be done smartly
and efficiently you must be done with
the right intention