Lighting

Types of Light Incident: comes directly from the light source Reflected: has come in contact with some other material before entering our field of vision Our ability to see largely the result of reflected light

Lighting Director’s Goals Meet artistic needs of the program General Illumination needs Develops a lighting plan so that all performers and parts of the set are lit as required/desired

Measuring Light Levels Measured with a light meter Video levels? Audio levels? In footcandles (ftc)--amount of light falling on a surface one foot from the light with the illumination level of one candle Also used, lux: About 10 lux = 1 ftc Measure incident & reflected

Other lighting issues 1--Contrast Ratio: brightest to darkest: human eye 100:1, TV 30:1 Sports Stadium daytime shots (shader) Monitors and adjusts the iris opening AGC automatically adjusts 2--Color Temperature: measure of the frequency of the light wave 3,200° K / 5,400° K / red / blue

Lighting uses & objectives Flat Lighting (shape/texture) High-key / low-key for mood Follow spot, limbo (subject ‘in limbo’ against softly lit cyc/cameo (subject lit & background dark)/ silhouette (subject dark & background lit)lighting-focus attn. More specific definition to follow- - …cont...

Lighting uses & objectives To imitate reality Shoot on a set for ‘outdoor shot’ Using lights shooting outdoors Bouncing light shooting outdoors Use of shadow and lighting effects ‘Natural’ look / invisible lighting

Lighting Instruments Quartz lamp 3,200° K 500 / 1,000 / 2,000 watts / 10,000 New High Speed Fluorescent (HSF) Traditional / HSF at 3,200° K HMI bulb -- 5,500° K NEWEST – LED, 5500° K

Lighting Instruments Spotlights Controlled beam / pinned & spread Fresnel Other spotlights Ellipsoidal / leko / cutters / cookies Barn doors / light pole / light stand

Lighting Instruments Floodlights Pans/broads --rectangular shaped Scoop -- Bowl shaped Strip lights for background Softlight -- bulb points inward Sometimes covered with scrim or gels

Three point lighting Key --spotlight ° angle Fill -- flood or spread spot (1/2) Back --spotlight (1.5-2x the key) Subjects and foreground Compare to background -- also important Kicker --comes from the side over the camera left shoulder of the subject (added to 3-point lighting) External lights must be eliminated / mixing light sources

Lighting effects Silhouette--subject is not lit; background is evenly lit Limbo--subject is lit evenly; background is vague or nondescriptive Cameo--subject is lit with a spotlight directly above; background is not lit

Studio Lighting Light Board / dimmers / pig tails Grid vs. floor stand Extension poles, c-clamp, safety Inverse square law--as light to subject distance doubles, light level is reduced to 1/4 previous level ###