Lighting is a very important part of film production yet its rarely talked about or given any importance. Any scene's mood and tone can be set through lighting schemes. One misbelief I had is that I needed a very good camera to produce a good quality film and that is not the case.
"A film shot on a cheap DSLR can look excellent with good, well-thought-out lighting. A film shot on an expensive camera will look like amateurish garbage with poor lighting." -Nick Larovere
The key steps in the lighting process are:
- Identify the requirements
- Determine the method of lighting
- Select the lighting equipment
- Calculate the lighting parameter and adjust the design as required
(Disclaimer: yes I know that website is not about production lighting but they have good tips for lighting regardless and here is what I gathered from it)
Breaking down these steps from Electrical Engineering Portal, they basically say that you need a plan before jumping into picking what lighting products you're gonna use. First steps say determining what you will need for the scene you are recording. Consider what tone you want the scene to set. Will it need high-key lighting or low-key lighting?
After realizing that you can select the lighting equipment you're gonna use, and it does not need to be the fanciest lights you could afford, any equipment available to you can be used and produce a good quality film if you know how to. You must learn how to opperate the equipment obviously, and also consider using different colored lights to set tone, and that can be done by something as simple as placing a colored sheet over the lighting equipment you're using.
After realizing that you can select the lighting equipment you're gonna use, and it does not need to be the fanciest lights you could afford, any equipment available to you can be used and produce a good quality film if you know how to. You must learn how to opperate the equipment obviously, and also consider using different colored lights to set tone, and that can be done by something as simple as placing a colored sheet over the lighting equipment you're using.
Why is lighting important?
- Lighting tells the audience where to look. The lighting setup guides the eye to a specific actor, prop, or part of a scene.
- Lighting reflects the psychology of characters. The amount, size, color, and harshness of light surrounding a character can be adjusted to match their emotions.
- Lighting defines and supports the genre of the film. Lighting is the tool that conveys mood most clearly. For example, one of the film genres most known for its distinct lighting style is film noir, characterized by stark contrasts between light and dark, dramatically patterned shadows, and unique framing and composition choices.
Since my scene will be shot at a dark room with the only light coming from the character's phone screen, I researched how to film a scene in a dark room. One good thing about this is that the focus of the scene will be on the character's face, which is ideal.
Here are things I will need to consider:
- Arranging the lighting in a frame
- Adjusting the white balance
- Beware of casting shadows
- Focus/brightness
- Consistency is always key
- Find props that are already at the location
Fortunately I took creative photo last year at Cypress and I remember all the different tips and tricks for Iphone's camera settings, and will be using that to my advantage. For example, since the rest of the room will be dark but the phone I can set the focus of the camera on the outside to make it darker and turn the brightness down and if needed I will research more tips for filming with an Iphone.
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