Lighting Techniques Investigation

3- Point lighting:
The key light lights the subject of the cameras front using a harsh light to
really draw out parts of the face. This is the brightest of all of the lights.
The fill light fills in the shadows created by the key light and soften the
look of the subject by providing light on darkened areas on the face,
smoothing out the contrast from face colour to dark shadow. This light will
be darker than the fill light so there is some texture. The backlight is
placed as exact to 90 degrees from the subject without being in view of
the camera. This is used to make
Backlight
the focus of the camera both
more captivating and attention
drawing by differentiating it from
the background. Any lights can
be used, usually redheads or
blondes.
Fill light

Key light

Lighting for green screen:

A green screen works by filming in front of a green wall and using software
that will perform a Chroma key. This is where the computer software will
isolate all of a certain colour and change it to pre-recorded footage or
Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) to give the illusion that the subject of
the camera is at a different location. This means that sometimes there
cannot be a shadow or it will look out of place. Because of this there will
be 2 (usually redhead) lights pointing at the green screen from either side
about a foot away to negate any shadows caused from the subject of the
camera, who will be lit from the front
directly.

Lighting for factual programming

Lighting for factual programming can
be easier or
much harder to get right. In a
newsroom there is plenty of room for lights cameras microphones and
editing suites to improve the quality of programming, however factual
broadcasts can provide a lot more problems than this. For example how to

light an animal in a documentary or set up an interview in the street, and

while I could not find much on how to combat the issue, as I presume most
is leant through experience, I did come up with an idea personally. Set up
a 3 way lighting system before finding interviewees and broadly light large
areas with large lights with diffusers and lay bait for the subject of the
documentary.

Four point lighting

Four point lighting is like 3 point lighting, but with an extra light on the
background. This is used a lot of the time in live programming and
interviews where the background needs to be bright and interesting as
well as the main focus of the lights. The backlight is
still pointed at the back of the cameras focus and is
still differentiated form the background, but there is
now a light on the background creating a lighter
background. This can be combined with lighting for
green screens easily because there already might
be a backlight set up in green screen studios. Any
lights can be used, usually redheads or blondes.
Stage lights
From my research on stage lighting I have found
that the best techniques for lighting a sage is to
have the lighting arrangements fixed as in the
diagram to the right above the stage. Additionally 2
controlled spotlights to centre on the main character
on the stage would be helpful. Stage lights need
Lighting for portraiture
There are 6 main techniques for lighting pictures for
portraiture, and they are used differently. This is how they are used:
1. Split lighting- split lighting is where the face is split in halves by a
light on one side. It is done by creating a light source directly 90
degrees of the face. It is used to create dramatic effect for prorates
of important people.
2. Loop Lighting- loop lighting is where you create a small loop of
shadow around the nose and cheeks. To create this the light source
must be 45 degrees from the camera slightly above eye level. This
created a very recognisable shadow formation, but if the light is too
high it may distort the look of the face somewhat.
3. Rembrandt Lighting- This lighting technique (named after the
painter) creates a little triangle of light on the cheek. It is most

effectively used with a natural light source to the side and between
the camera and the subject.
4. Butterfly Lighting- With butterfly lighting a lot more of the face is lit,
giving it a fuller and glowing feel. To get this effect, the light will be
placed directly behind and slightly above the camera, so the
camera is shooting under the light.
5. Broad Lights- All of the above lights can be either broad or short.
Broad lights are when the face is turned slightly away from the light
source, so it creates a broader light across the face.
6. Short lighting- The exact opposite of broad lighting, short lighting is
where the subjects face is turned towards the light source, so it
lights a smaller surface area of the face and casts a larger shadow.