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Just a note...lighting is under appriciated

L

Libby

I am taking a production class. I am gung ho about learning to use the camera and sound system and where to place what and eventually editing.

What I forgot about was the importance of lighting. This place where I am taking production classes has a small studio with quite a number of lights above, each one its own entity. Taking a ladder (not me, someone else) around and moving them just so slightly and dimming one light while enhancing another. Placing gels on another light and so on. A back light for reasons I forgot - to separte the subject from the background I think.

I don't know if there is a rule of thumb but it seems to be the one thing that is lost on me. Perhaps because it is something I forgot to think about in this whole filmmaking thing.

I was watching a tv show last night and was trying to note the lighting, noticing whats not there are shadows. Very well lit faces.

Just something to observe in future.
 
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I think there's so much focus on the technology of the camera, that everything else gets ignored by many (myself included) when they are starting out.

What you are capturing is more important than what you capture it with. Both together will get you phenomenal results.
 
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Ain’t it the truth? Now more than ever.

How many times are short films posted here and the first thing we
notice is it doesn’t look “professional”? Sure, the image is
sharp, in focus, often well framed and fully exposed. But there
was no attempt at lighting. Since a modern video camera can pick
up light so well, the image on the monitor is there and looks
fine. But that just isn’t good enough.

Throw a light on the back wall to add some shadow and suddenly the
image looks better. A back light on the actor makes it even
better. Increasing the shadows on the actors face immediately
gives the shot a more “realistic” feel. In a wide shot, areas of
light and dark makes the room look like a real room and not a set
- even if it’s shot in a real room.

Cameras are important. The lens is important. But doing some
simple lighting of your movie can make a huge difference
especially if all you have is a consumer camera.
 
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I just watched Tiger and the Snow (the Roberto Benigni film) and I couldn't stop thinking about the lighting choices.

Almost everyone in every scene was backlit with a really bright light that was really highlighting the dreamlike beauty that I'm sure he was going for (every other aspect of the film also conformed wonderfully to this dreamlike state, especially the poetic writing).

I've heard people say that making films ruins the experience of watching them since you are always thinking about the technical aspects or how you might have done it or whatever. I find the opposite true, I get so much more enjoyment from movies now that I can pick them apart and appreciate what they did. The weightlessness in Apollo 13, anyone? Even with CGI I don't know how you'd do it! (Turns out they filmed in 23 second takes on the Nasa planes that simulate weightlessness, craaazy cool)
 
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Got in a big row on another board about how (some there thought) lights (and makeup) aren't "necessary" items for a low budget feature. To which I responded, well, only if you don't want it look like crap. The DP isn't the highest paid guy on my set because he can pull focus well, or do a nice follow (though they are part of it). He's mostly getting paid for his lighting knowledge.
 
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I always find it amazing how (insert adjective: weird, crummy, dark, unrealistic, bad) a properly lighted set looks to the naked eye but I never get tired of how AWESOME it looks when I finally see it on a screen of any size.
 
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Lighting is extremely important. :)

I get so much more enjoyment from movies now that I can pick them apart and appreciate what they did.
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I went through a phase of a few years, where I couldn't watch a film without tearing apart the editing. I hated that. All I wanted to do was relax and watch a bit of excapist entertainment. :(
 
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This is sort of silly to me, I've always paid attention to lighting, even before I really knew how to examine the technical aspects. Seriously, we're capturing light to create the image, how can lighting *not* be important? Silly. :D
 
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David.rhsc said:
This is sort of silly to me, I've always paid attention to lighting, even before I really knew how to examine the technical aspects. Seriously, we're capturing light to create the image, how can lighting *not* be important? Silly. :D
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Silly David, its VIDEO! Were capturing data not light... (just funnin ya) but seriously the abstraction from the photographic process that video requires, and that consumer video encourages, causes us noobs to have to "learn" that it is indded a process that uses light "as it is found"
 
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wheatgrinder said:
Silly David, its VIDEO! Were capturing data not light... (just funnin ya) but seriously the abstraction from the photographic process that video requires, and that consumer video encourages, causes us noobs to have to "learn" that it is indded a process that uses light "as it is found"
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Pretty much. I was fortunate enough to have shot 16mm almost exclusively in college. Lighting considerations aside - I'm part of that camp that laments the work flow/style that is often created when folks learn on video. Not that I'm some big expert either - but there is a lot to be said for the planning and the need to light something in order to really get a nice image of it that develops into good habits when people start that way. I just wish schools would teach hand processed 8 or 16 just to get young director types thinking in film terms rather than in wedding video terms. Like all generalizations, this one is not always true. :)

Technically, even film is 'data capture' - the data is just stored chemically and retrieved optically. ;)

Even with the cheapest of consumer cameras, a little attention paid to shaping the light can't hurt.

Oh, and I really recommend watching "The Conformist" (1970). Just watched it, twice, while stuck in a hotel room for work. Showed a few scenes to the G&E guys when they came over for drinks and the next day it was in all of their netflix queues. :lol:

Even on a laptop I was floored by the lighting. There is an okay bit of special features where Storaro talks about his choices in using shapes, colors, shadow, and light to portray the internal state of the main character as well as to complement the exposition of the story.

It's also a great object lesson in blocking and camera movement - but that's a topic for another thread. Moral of the story is that I really wish I had seen that movie years ago. :(
 
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In this class I am taking, lighting is something that I overlooked. I realize you need light but to manually position a light fixture is very detailed. Move it slightly to the right or left, and that is each light above...and avoiding annoying shadows or making one actor look pale and the other dark. To make someone look better than they are in real life...you know what I mean and it comes from good lighting.

We have these prosumer cameras that we can take out for loan to make a movie...that can be aired on the local station. I have to keep thinking about lighting...in whatever ideas pop into my head because it was something I never thought of before in regards to making some indie flick.

Now I have ideas in my head about making a short something or other for this station in due time...in addition to creating a nifty story idea and knowing what I am doing with the camera and my limitations with creativity (I think)...there is now lighting to take into consideration. I mean, why go through the great trouble of writing a nifty story, getting a location/cameras/actors/costumes if your flick looks like it was shot in a basement (even if it was).

It was just something out there that appears to be under appriciated.
 
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In related news:
The only way for me to figure out lighting is by trying.. its art after all, whats hard about that is getting humans to stand around for the hours it takes me just to try something with lighting. What I need in is a "stand in" that wont complain... so now its Craigslist looking for a mannequin.. :)
 
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You want to see fantastic lighting that isn't boring and typical?

Watch Dario Aregento's SUSPERIA. Italian cinema has some very fantastic lighting that will inspire you for sure. It's on Netflix stream right now...I HIGHLY recommend it for the visual styling (http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/Suspiria/60037424?trkid=921403)

Yes, Hollywood and Television have mastered the 'well lit' and subtle realism, and it works well. But to me, it's boring. I want to see things fantastical and unique...as my noted indie director friend says, 'If I wanted realism, I'd go to K-mart.' And it's true...I'm much more entranced with a movie when the lighting is unique and stylized. I want to see the light painted on a scene...not just 'typical.'

Not to knock on union lighting designers or cinematographers...they have skill for sure. But the movies that inspire paint with their light (Blade Runner...Brazil...Susperia).

And far too many indie directors especially either don't know what to do with lights, under-light, over-light or use only practical available light. Mostly I think it's because they are lazy. It takes a lot of time to set up nice lighting design...and because--typically--no one on set is a lighting designer, they set up whatever makes their scene look lit (if we're lucky). And now with the advent of DSLR cameras that shoot well in low light, this is giving indie filmmakers even *more* of an excuse not to light effectively...bleh.

Take more time. Don't be afraid to paint with light...don't be afraid to use red gels or blue gels...or green. Take risks. Watch Susperia, and marvel at the use of lighting and color.

Take care.
 
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M1chae1 said:
You want to see fantastic lighting that isn't boring and typical?

Watch Dario Aregento's SUSPERIA. Italian cinema has some very fantastic lighting that will inspire you for sure. It's on Netflix stream right now...I HIGHLY recommend it for the visual styling (http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/Suspiria/60037424?trkid=921403)



Watch Susperia, and marvel at the use of lighting and color.

Take care.
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most people i know who watch that movie who are into film making totally change the way they think about lighting the first time they watch it. i LOVE that movie.
 
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wheatgrinder said:
In related news:
The only way for me to figure out lighting is by trying.. its art after all, whats hard about that is getting humans to stand around for the hours it takes me just to try something with lighting. What I need in is a "stand in" that wont complain... so now its Craigslist looking for a mannequin.. :)
Click to expand...


I have thought about that. In this studio where I am - it is set up to do interviews as well. So in these mock interviews we are doing right now, the cast has to sit there for a long time while the lights are moved around. I was thinking that if I ever did an interview with someone and I don't want to have them sit there forever while I trial and error the lights, I would get some dummie to sit there. Why not?
 
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