Ultimate Guide to Cinematic Lighting — Types of Light & Gear Explained [Shot List Ep. 12]

Summary

This episode of 'Shot List' delves into the fundamentals of cinematic lighting, exploring the impact of light on storytelling and mood. It covers natural and artificial light sources, key terms like lumens, lux, and color temperature, and the contrast between high-key and low-key lighting. The video also introduces essential gear and techniques, such as light meters, diffusion methods, and the use of gels and reflectors, setting the stage for part two, which will apply these concepts to real-life scenarios.

Takeaways

• 🎥 Films are composed of sequences, scenes, and shots, with lighting playing a crucial role in storytelling and mood setting.
• 🔦 Lighting fundamentals are essential for filmmakers, including understanding natural and artificial light sources and their applications.
• 🌞 Natural light includes sunlight, moonlight, and firelight, while artificial light encompasses man-made electric light sources.
• 🏙️ Ambient lighting uses existing lights at a location, and practical lighting involves visible light sources within the frame.
• 💡 Motivated lighting requires a logical justification for the light in a scene, often provided by practical lights.
• ⚖️ Light properties such as lumens, lux/footcandles, and reflective light are important for cinematographers to measure and manipulate.
• 📉 The inverse square law describes how light intensity decreases with the square of the distance from the source, a key concept in light falloff.
• 🌡️ Color temperature, measured in Kelvins, affects the mood and tone of a scene, with daylight at 5600K and tungsten at about 3200K.
• 📸 Exposure involves the amount of light reaching the sensor, determined by aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, with f-stops and T-stops being crucial settings.
• 🌗 High-key and low-key lighting represent different contrast ratios, with high-key for bright scenes and low-key for dramatic ones.
• 🖌️ Hard and soft light create different visual effects, with hard light producing stark shadows and soft light offering a more diffused appearance.
• 🛠️ A variety of lighting gear is necessary for achieving desired lighting effects, including different types of lights, gels, light meters, and diffusion materials.

Q & A

What are the fundamental components of a film according to the script?

The fundamental components of a film are sequences, scenes, and shots.

What is the role of lighting in filmmaking as described in the script?

Lighting is one of the most important elements of filmmaking, playing a massive role in visual storytelling. It helps determine the mood of a scene, provides insights into a character, and guides the viewer's eye.

Who are the key crew members responsible for lighting decisions on set?

The Director of Photography (DP) and the Gaffer, who is the head lighting electrician, are primarily responsible for making lighting decisions on set.

What are the two main categories of light sources mentioned in the script?

The two main categories of light sources are natural and artificial light. Natural light includes sunlight, moonlight, and firelight, while artificial light includes man-made light powered by electricity.

What is the difference between ambient and practical lighting?

Ambient lighting refers to any lights that are already on location and not brought by the crew, such as street lamps or neon signs. Practical lighting refers to any light source that can be seen in the frame, whether it is ambient or placed there by a gaffer.

What does 'motivated lighting' mean in the context of the script?

Motivated lighting means that there is a logical or reasonable justification for the light in a scene. Often, practical lights exist simply to justify or motivate the light.

How is light intensity measured and what is the term for the reduction in light intensity as it moves away from the source?

Light intensity is measured in lumens, which indicates how much light a source produces. The reduction in light intensity as it moves away from the source is called light falloff.

What is the inverse square law and how does it relate to light intensity?

The inverse square law is an equation that states the intensity of light is equal to one over the distance squared. This means that every time you double the distance away from the light source, the light intensity is reduced by 75 percent.

What is color temperature and how is it measured?

Color temperature is a measure of the hue of a light source and is measured in thermodynamic units called Kelvins. For example, daylight is bluer and has a higher color temperature of about 5600 Kelvin, while tungsten lights have a lower color temperature of about 3200 Kelvin.

What are the differences between high-key and low-key lighting?

High-key lighting expresses a low contrast ratio with even lighting on the background and subject, often used for brighter, happier scenes. Low-key lighting uses a high contrast ratio with a larger difference between light and shadow, often used for darker, dramatic scenes.

What are some common lighting terms used on set that the script helps clarify?

Some common lighting terms include exposure, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, T-stops, contrast ratio, hard light, soft light, magic hour, dumb side, smart side, lens flares, and bokeh.

What types of lighting equipment are mentioned in the script as essential for a professional film set?

Essential lighting equipment includes tungsten lights, HMI lights, fluorescent lights, Kino Flos, LED lights, gels, light meters, diffusion materials like softboxes and silks, reflectors, flags, barn doors, egg crates, and mounting equipment like light stands and c-stands.

Outlines

00:00

🎬 Fundamentals of Cinematic Lighting

This paragraph introduces the concept of cinematic lighting as a crucial element in filmmaking, emphasizing its role in storytelling and mood setting. It outlines the roles of the Director of Photography and the Gaffer in creating a lighting plan. The video promises to cover the basics of lighting in part one, and practical applications in part two. The different forms of light, such as natural and artificial, are discussed, along with the importance of understanding light properties like lumens, lux, footcandles, and color temperature. The paragraph also touches on the inverse square law and the impact of light falloff on intensity.

05:02

🌞 Key Lighting Terminology and Techniques

This paragraph delves into essential lighting terminology used on film sets, explaining concepts like exposure, contrast ratio, and the difference between high-key and low-key lighting. It introduces the viewer to the idea of chiaroscuro, a dramatic low-key lighting style often used in film noir. The paragraph also discusses the distinction between hard and soft light, the significance of lighting placement, and the use of lens flares and bokeh. It concludes with an overview of common lighting equipment found on a professional film set, such as tungsten, HMI, fluorescent, Kino Flo, and LED lights, as well as the use of gels for color control.

10:04

🛠️ Lighting Equipment and Techniques

The final paragraph focuses on the practical aspects of lighting, including the use of a light meter for measuring incident light and the importance of understanding light ratios through tools like waveforms, histograms, and false color. It discusses various methods of creating soft light, such as using softboxes, diffusion paper, silks, and natural diffusers. The paragraph also covers the use of reflectors, neutral-density gels, flags, barn doors, egg crates, and cookies to manipulate light. It mentions the importance of mounting and positioning lights with stands and c-stands, setting the stage for the next episode which will apply these concepts to real-life lighting scenarios.

Keywords

💡Lighting Fundamentals

Lighting Fundamentals are the basic principles and techniques used in the art of cinematography to manipulate light to tell a visual story. In the video, this concept is central as it sets the stage for understanding how different types and qualities of light can affect the mood and storytelling in a film. For instance, the script mentions 'Today we'll focus on lighting fundamentals, from different types and qualities of light, to essential lighting terms and gear.'

💡Director of Photography (DP)

The Director of Photography, or DP, is the chief officer responsible for the visual aspects of a film and makes key decisions regarding lighting. The script highlights the role of the DP in conjunction with the Gaffer to create a lighting plan, emphasizing their collaborative effort in achieving the desired look for a scene: 'On set, these decisions are made primarily by the Director of Photography and the Gaffer who is the headlighting electrician on the crew.'

💡Gaffer

A Gaffer is the head of the electrical department on a film set and is responsible for executing the lighting plan decided by the DP. The script illustrates the Gaffer's role in obtaining necessary lights and overseeing setups: 'the gaffer executes it by obtaining the necessary lights and gear, and overseeing the setups.'

💡Natural Light

Natural Light refers to any light that occurs naturally, such as sunlight, moonlight, and firelight. The script differentiates natural light from artificial light and discusses its role in filmmaking: 'Natural light is any light that occurs naturally like sunlight, moonlight, and firelight.'

💡Artificial Light

Artificial Light is man-made light powered by electricity, which is in contrast to natural light sources. The video script explains that artificial light encompasses a wide range of lighting options used in filmmaking: 'Artificial light is everything else. Man-made light powered by electricity.'

💡Color Temperature

Color Temperature is measured in Kelvins and indicates the color characteristics of a light source. The script explains how daylight and tungsten lights have different color temperatures, affecting the mood and look of a scene: 'Mixing these two light sources therefore can add a variety of color to your shot.'

💡Exposure

Exposure is the amount of light that reaches the camera sensor or film stock, determined by the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. The script relates exposure to the control of light and shadow balance in a scene: 'Exposure is the amount of light that reaches the sensor or film stock.'

💡Contrast Ratio

Contrast Ratio is a measure of the difference between light and shadow in an image, expressing the visual balance between these elements. The script uses contrast ratio to differentiate between high-key and low-key lighting: 'This is a shorthand for how we measure the difference, between light and shadow in two areas of an image.'

💡Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro is a type of low-key lighting with a high contrast ratio, often used in film noir to create a mysterious and dramatic atmosphere. The script mentions Chiaroscuro as a specific technique within cinematography: 'Chiaroscuro is a type of low-key lighting with a high contrast ratio.'

💡Hard Light

Hard Light is a more directional light that creates stark shadows, often used in dramatic or intense scenes to enhance the mood. The script contrasts hard light with soft light, indicating its use in specific contexts: 'Hard light is more directional light that creates stark shadows, which works best in more dramatic or intense scenes.'

💡Soft Light

Soft Light is diffused light that generates less defined shadows, often used in happier or romantic scenes for a more approachable feel. The script describes soft light in the context of creating a certain mood: 'Soft light is more diffused and generates less defined shadows.'

💡Magic Hour

Magic Hour, also known as golden hour, is a period shortly before sunset or after sunrise when the sunlight is less harsh and more colorful, creating a naturally soft light. The script mentions magic hour as a source of soft light: 'Some of the best naturally occurring soft light comes during magic hour or golden hour.'

💡Bokeh

Bokeh refers to the aesthetic quality of the out-of-focus areas in an image, often created by points of light that add a romantic or painterly texture. The script describes bokeh in relation to its visual effect in cinematography: 'Bokeh are out-of-focus elements in a shot.'

Highlights

Films are composed of sequences, scenes, and shots, each playing a role in the storytelling process.

Lighting is a crucial element in filmmaking, influencing the mood and guiding the viewer's eye.

The Director of Photography and the Gaffer collaborate on lighting decisions, with the Gaffer executing the plan.

Light can be categorized as natural or artificial, with further distinctions like ambient and practical lighting.

Light properties such as lumens, lux, and color temperature are fundamental to understanding and working with light.

The inverse square law predicts light falloff, a key concept in controlling light intensity.

Cinematographers use terms like exposure, aperture, and T-stops to balance light and shadow.

Contrast ratio, high-key, and low-key lighting are techniques to manipulate the mood and atmosphere of a scene.

Chiaroscuro, a form of low-key lighting, is often used in film noir to create a mysterious and dangerous mood.

Hard light creates stark shadows for dramatic scenes, while soft light is used for more romantic or happy scenes.

Magic hour or golden hour provides naturally soft light with a warm color tone.

Lighting placement, such as the dumb side and smart side, affects the subject's appearance and mood.

Lens flares and bokeh are aesthetic elements created by light interacting with the camera lens.

A variety of lighting equipment, including tungsten, HMI, fluorescent, Kino Flos, and LED lights, are used on film sets.

Gels, light meters, and various diffusion techniques are essential tools for controlling light color and quality.

Reflectors, flags, barn doors, egg crates, and other tools are used to shape and control light direction and intensity.

The video series will continue to explore real-life lighting scenarios and setups from professional cinematographers.

A PDF Cheatsheet is available for download, summarizing the discussed lighting fundamentals and more.

Transcripts

Films are made up of sequences.

Sequences are made up of scenes.

And scenes are made up of shots.

"- That's a kill."

- In previous episodes, we covered camera movement,

editing techniques,

and composition.

Today we'll focus on lighting fundamentals

from different types and qualities of light

to essential lighting terms and gear.

"- And then there was the light."

- This is Episode 12 of the "Shot List".

Cinematic Lighting - Part One.

Hit subscribe and enable notifications to get all future episodes of the "Shot List".

At the end of the video, we'll explain how you can download

your own cheat sheet for everything we're about to cover.

"- Let there be light.

Ah, my eyes."

- Lighting is one of the most important elements of filmmaking.

More than just illumination

lighting itself plays a massive role in visual storytelling.

Lighting can help determine the mood of your scene.

Provide insights into a character.

A guide to a viewer's eye.

On set, these decisions are made primarily by the Director of Photography.

and the Gaffer who is the headlighting electrician on the crew.

Once a lighting plan has been decided by the DP,

the gaffer executes it by obtaining the necessary lights and gear

and overseeing the setups.

In part one of this video, we'll cover the lighting fundamentals.

In part two, we'll dive into how to light subjects and their surroundings.

Before you begin setting up lights,

it's important to understand the different forms light comes in.

"- Explain all to me now."

- All light can be split into two categories.

Natural and artificial.

Natural light is any light that occurs naturally like sunlight,

moonlight, and firelight.

Artificial light is everything else.

Man-made light powered by electricity.

From there, we can branch out into additional categories.

Ambient lighting refers to any lights that are on location

which the crew didn't bring.

This includes street lamps, neon signs, or the moon.

Practical lighting refers to any light source that can be seen in the frame

whether it be ambient or placed there by a gaffer.

Motivated lighting means that there is a logical or

reasonable justification for the light in a scene.

Often practical lights exist simply to justify or motivate the light.

To be able to work with light, cinematographers also need to understand its properties.

For example, how does one measure light?

Lumens is a measurement of how much light a source produces.

Lux or Footcandles measures how much of that light hits the subject.

Otherwise known as incidental light.

Reflective light is the amount of light that reaches the camera.

The amount of light is dependent on both the strength of the source

and its position in relation to the subject.

As soon as light leaves the source

it begins to lose intensity.

This is called light falloff.

And we can predict an account for this loss

using an equation called the inverse square law.

The intensity of light is equal to one over the distance squared.

Basically, this means that every time you double the distance away from the source

the light is reduced by 75 percent.

Another aspect of light that cinematographers measure is the color temperature

which is measured in thermodynamic units called Kelvins.

Daylight is bluer than most artificial lights at about 5600 Kelvin.

Daylight can also be imitated by artificial light sources with the same temperature.

Tungsten lights are a common artificial source

with a color temperature of about 3200 Kelvin

though this can vary based on the source.

Mixing these two light sources therefore can add a variety of color to your shot.

With tungsten lights adding orange and daylight adding blue.

For a thorough explanation on color temperature, check out our video linked below.

Once you understand your light sources,

you'll need to know some basic concepts and terminology.

To the uninitiated, hearing cinematographers talk about lighting

can sound like a foreign language.

Let's look at some of the most commonly used terms on set.

Exposure is the amount of light that reaches the sensor or film stock.

In previous videos, we explained the mechanisms that determine the exposure.

The aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.

The aperture is an adjustable mechanism

that determines how much light enters the lens

and the various sizes are measured in f-stops.

Each f-stop either doubles the amount of light

or reduces it by half.

T-stops are another common setting in cinema lenses

to measure exactly how much light actually hits the sensor.

All cinematography is a balance between light and shadow.

And one of the ways this relationship is expressed is called the contrast ratio.

This is a shorthand for how we measure the difference

between light and shadow in two areas of an image.

Usually between the two sides of a subject's face.

Or between the subject and the background.

High-key lighting is a term that expresses a low contrast ratio

where the background and the subject are lit evenly with minimal contrast.

Low-key lighting on the other hand uses a high contrast ratio

where the difference between light and shadow is much larger with maximum contrast.

Both high and low-key lighting are used in a variety of genres

to evoke specific moods and atmospheres.

Overall high key lighting is used for brighter happier scenes.

While low-key lighting is often used for darker dramatic scenes.

"- You're sheltering enemies of the state, are you not?"

- Chiaroscuro is a type of low-key lighting with a high contrast ratio.

This is seen most frequently in film noirs

to enhance the sub-genre's mysterious and dangerous qualities.

Check out our video on Chiaroscuro to learn more.

A cinematographer must also choose between hard light and soft light.

Hard light is more directional light that creates stark shadows

which works best in more dramatic or intense scenes.

Soft light is more diffused and generates less defined shadows.

This type of lighting is often used for happier or romantic scenes.

Some of the best naturally occurring soft light comes during magic hour or golden hour.

This occurs twice a day just before sunset.

And just after sunrise

when the sunlight is less harsh and more colorful.

Lighting placement in relation to the camera should also be considered.

The dumb side also called the broadside

is lighting the side of a subject which is closer to the camera

often giving the subject a more approachable feeling.

The smart side also called the short side refers to

lighting the side of a subject that is not facing the camera

giving the subject a more dramatic look.

Lens flares are created when light hits the lens.

The shapes and colors of which differ depending on the lens.

"- For me, it literally is just this aesthetic thing that I like

which I absolutely am guilty of overusing,

and realize that it can be insanely distracting

but I do love the look of it.

And it's just this incredible look that for some moments feel appropriate."

- Bokeh are out-of-focus elements in a shot.

Typically points of light that often add a romantic or painterly texture to the image.

Now that we've got these key terms and concepts under our belts

let's look at the gear necessary to achieve them.

"- Yes, we'll find expensive gear you brought out here, Mr. Hooper."

- A professional film set often has an expansive variety of lighting equipment

but there's some gear which are almost certain to see on any set.

Lights themselves come in a variety of forms.

There are tungsten lights which are powerful and have a warm color temperature.

Daylight is usually achieved with HMI lights

which are even stronger but have a cooler temperature.

Fluorescent lights which offer soft cool light.

Kino Flos which are banks of tube lights adjustable to various temperatures.

And LED lights which provide a high amount of control over color and strength.

For more control of a light's color, gaffers will often use gels.

Thin plastic sheets which come in an assortment of colors.

Used in concert with a light's color temperature gels

help cinematographers achieve their desired hues.

A light meter is used to measure the amount of incidental lighting hitting a subject

which then informs the exposure settings on the camera.

Some models also include a spot meter

which allows you to pinpoint an exact part of the image for exposure.

Many cameras themselves also have different modes

to measure the reflective light actually reaching the lens.

Other ways to measure lighting ratios include waveforms,

histograms,

and false color which we'll cover in a future video.

Once you've made the choice to use soft light in the scene,

there are many ways to create the necessary diffusion.

Diffusion is when a semi-translucent material is

placed between the light source and the subject.

This scatters the light making it softer

and there are a few methods used to do this.

Softboxes use translucent cloths placed in front of a light.

Diffusion paper can achieve a similar effect.

Silks are often used for larger sources.

Of course, there are also natural diffusers like clouds,

fog,

dust,

or smoke.

Bouncing the light with reflectors creates diffusion while also redirecting light.

Reflectors come in a variety of colors and textures

each bringing a unique type of diffusion.

Bead boards are styrofoam boards with imperfect surfaces

that scatter light differently than a piece

of foam core which bounces light more evenly.

Another way to mitigate the intensity of the light is with neutral-density gels.

These can be attached to the light

or applied to windows to reduce the sunlight.

Flags are opaque boards that shape and block unwanted light.

Barn doors are adjustable flaps on the light itself

which have a similar function.

Egg crates direct light and help prevent it from spilling into unwanted areas.

Cookies add texture to a light.

Short for the term 'Cucoloris'

cookies are boards with patterns cut into them

that create a dappled effect when placed in front of a light.

Mounting and positioning lights on set

can be done with light stands

or with c-stands which are also useful for setting up diffusion, flags, and reflectors.

Just about anything needed to complete the desired setup.

Believe it or not, we've just scratched the surface on cinematic lighting.

"- This is only the beginning."

- There are more terms, gear, and concepts out there

with more arriving every day.

In the next episode, we'll take everything we learned here

and apply it to real-life lighting scenarios

including how to light a subject versus how to light the background.

With actual lighting setups from the best cinematographers working today.

In the description, you'll find a link to the StudioBinder blog

where you can download a PDF Cheatsheet

with everything we've covered in this video and more.

That's all for now.

We hope we've illuminated these lighting fundamentals properly.

Stay tuned for part two.

We'll see you there.