Advanced workshop Lighting

In this workshop, we took a close look at different lights, lighting techniques and how it all can help us with our future music videos.

Lights

So, there are some key lights that we covered which are used in the studio:

• Fluorescent - is usually a tube-like light which contains containing mercury vapor, it gives a very bright effect of white if you don't put a filter of a different colour on it.

• Redhead and Blond - are both the exact same model of light that is mainly used in the studio. These lights are often the lights you would use filters, dimmers and etc. on. The names blond and redhead are given due to their colour so it is easy to refer to when shooting.

• Beauty/Diva-  is a circle of LED lights. You can put in over the lens but as well as that you can place it anywhere else depending on the effect you are trying to achieve. It is mainly used for close-ups and known for being called “diva light” because it beautifies the face. It is a very soft/dreamy light.

Light roles

Each light on the set also has a role, for example:

• Key light: the most important light on the set, no matter where it stands.
• The fill light: the fill light as it says in the name, fills in a certain place to you want to be filled. For example, if the key light gives someone’s face a big shadow that you don’t want, you can fill that in with light from the other lamp.
• Back light: It is often used to fill the hollow space behind the person, this can be seen with stand up comedians and interviews.

How light can be controlled 

We were also taught about something called "the lighting board": it is a number of switches that can reduce or increase the amount of electricity going to the lights, which can make the light dimmer or brighter.
Each lamp has a certain amount of electricity it can handle. Only some lights can have fixed electricity, for example, if you send less electricity to a  fluorescent light to make it less bright it will just think that you want to turn it off.
Sometimes it is best to adjust the light manually, to get the best out of the lens if you don’t want to change the aperture or shutter speed to adjust to the light.

We were told that when fixing and using the light it is alright to look at the tv to see where you want the lamps to stand, however for the actual light it is best to look in the camera, it knows best and the tv doesn’t always project the light correctly.

Dimmers

We then moved on to dimmers and in general tested out each lens by looking through the camera and see all the differences. The Redhead/ Blond light is usually the lamp that all the filters. and dimmers are used on like I mentioned before.

• Material: different fabrics can be put on top of the lamp for different dimming effects. Matt showed us two examples which are a stitched fabric and a shower curtain like one. They both bade the light smoother however the majority of the class preferred the shower curtain cover because it made the light warmer and smoother overall.

• Softbox: a softbox speaks for itself. It makes the light very soft, makes the skin look very smooth and gives it an overall dreamy look which is very pleasing to the eye.

Reflecting/bouncing

Light reflects off of everything. There are many different ways to bounce or reflect the light around the room, as well as that the light can be completely "eaten" by certain materials.

Plaster is one of many materials that can reflect the light off itself very well. Since it is white the light does not go into the material and completely bounces off. This can be useful for getting rid off unwanted shadows.
 In general, reflectors are really useful because they can play a role of a whole separate light, which saves up energy and space in the studio.
A classic well-known reflector would be a reflecting circle which is usually just sold on its own.
If you wish to reflect the light, it is best to use white material, each material will give a different effect. Some can reflect the light in a very harsh way, meanwhile, others will be barely noticeable.
If you wish to get rid of some unwanted light, for example, a shine, you would use black fabric, because black consumes light.

Extra advice

The roles on the set are important to keep in mind. A director has to look at the whole project, it is someone who cares for the narrative and etc. Director of photography is in charge of the look, of the set and etc. So actually both of them have no power over the camera, however they are in charge of the scenery and that is important to keep in mind.