Directions Unit: Lighting Workshop

Today we had a workshop on how to get effective lighting from studio lights. We were taught the film noir three point lighting technique, consisting of a key light, back light and fill light to create fantastic shadowing on a persons face. It gave a very artistic look to the shots and made the character's face look quite mysterious.

We also learnt step by step how to use the lights, and what we could add to them to give different effects. Such as filters and gaffas, making a huge difference to the strength and colour.

We took turns individually getting to grips with and controlling the lights by operating them for other people, then using the camera while directing what kind of lighting we want to use in our tests.

Below are some snapshots from my camera work and directions on lighting...

A shot with the exposure set low ready for when the light is on him.

A shot with low exposure and one key light. I think the shadow it creates gives a very artistic look.

A shot with a blue gel over the light. This created much more of a daylight kind of look, which I found useful for my work.

A shot with a red gel over the light. I love that the shadows turned slightly green. An amazing contrast.

A shot with a back light behind him, and a white sheet over the key light that softened the lighting on his face.

The same shot with the key light creating hard light (no sheet). A very clear difference. 

A shot with the back light directly behind him. I love the clear outline it creates.

The same shot with the exposure set lower. I simply used this to experiment just how low you can set it with the light still able to break through. I think it's a very effective shot.

I found today very useful. I hadn't had proper training with the lights before now, and after today I feel very confident with setting them up and using them. I've decided to use a light on set when I film my directions work. I will be using it for my indoor scenes with a blue filter to create a daylight effect instead of fluorescent. Along with this I will use a reflector for the outside shots in an alleyway to highlight my actors faces.