Pro Moviemaker Autumn 2019

ACADEMY

ULTIMATE GUIDE TO LIGHTING

If you are just trying to mix your own lights with ambient daylight, then daylight-balanced lights can be ideal. Or you could use gel tungsten hot lights, although these have largely fallen out of favour as LEDs have rightly muscled in on the action. Many LEDs are bicolour, meaning they can be set to daylight or warmer tungsten balance. More advanced lights have a precise colour temperature or tint you can set to get the balance perfect. But it’s not always about getting the white balance to match perfectly, as the colour of light can affect not only the mood, but the whole feel of the film. Setting a white balance to make the light THINK ABOUT COLOUR A keyway of modifying the light is to bounce it off something. This could be a plain white wall or ceiling, for example, so the light source is aimed away fromyour subject. More often than not, this involves using a reflector, which can come in more sizes, shapes and budgets than just about any other bit of kit. There are vast, colour-corrected silks stretched over purpose-made aluminium frames, pop-up circular and triangular reflectors with handles and removable covers in different finishes. And they can come in sizes from just a few inches across to huge super reflectors. But they all are aimed at doing the same job – controlling the light on the subject, usually by bouncing light onto it. This can be to add highlights, reduce contrast or give a subtle colour shift, such as warming up pale skin. And there are even black velvet reflectors to take light away fromwhere it’s not wanted, sometimes called negative fill. When choosing and using a reflector, it’s important to understand the differences between each of them and how they can be used most effectively. Just like with a normal light source, the relative size of the light compared to the

IMAGES Changing the colour of the light on the background makes a big difference to these two portrait-style shots

more warm than daylight can give a real warmth to the shot, like low summer sunshine. Setting it cooler can give a more wintry or spooky look, or even night-time. Now, some lights have full RGB control, meaning you can dial in any colour you want. You can completely change the look of your shot with bright red or blue light. An impressive example of an RGB light is the Litepanels Gemini. Although Litepanels makes a whole range of LED lights in different sizes, the Gemini is a very advanced unit and you can dial in not only power and white balance, but any

colour you like. Just dial in hue, saturation and intensity – or use gel mode to select an exact colour gel – then get as creative as you like!

BOUNCE IT RIGHT! IMAGES Bouncing the key

light off a large reflector gives a soft and flattering look. Reflectors and scrims can also be used outdoors

more subtle effect. Gold reflectors give a very warm look. And for beauty shots, often a soft overhead light is used and a reflector under the model’s face to fill in any shadows. The studio may seem like the ideal place for a reflector, but they are just as useful outdoors in natural light. Of course, the issues are that you’ll either need to hold it yourself, which can be tricky, or get an assistant to hold it. Alternatively, use a light stand with a special reflector clamp.

subject, plus how it is diffused, is a key factor in how hard the light output is. And it’s the same for reflectors, where a large reflector will give the effect of a larger secondary light source and wrap around the subject more. A reflector bounces the light from the main light source to the subject, so the closer it is to the path of light from the main light and closer to the subject, the more ‘powerful’ its output becomes. However, this proximity is usually governed by the framing of the picture and making sure the reflector isn’t in shot. A far more important factor in a reflector is how efficient its surface is at bouncing light. A shiny silver metallic reflector acts like a mirror and is hugely efficient. Often, this can be too much and act like an exact replica of the main light source, giving the effect of competing shadows. Awhite fabric reflector is far less efficient and gives a

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AUTUMN 2019 PRO MOVIEMAKER

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