Lighting Workshop

Today we had a workshop on lighting. For all of us this was completely new as last year we didn't focus on lighting, however this year its much more important. Firstly matt told us about the director of photography, they are in charge off the camera shots and the certain lighting if these shots.

The camera and the lights work together, the lights to the bare eye might look extremely bright or not look great but when you bring the camera into the picture the lights will make the shot look great.

the first lighting setup which matt showed us was using three lights. We used two lights which are called a blonde. We placed one blonde in front of the model and then one blonde behind the model.
We then used a light called a redhead, this goes on the side of the shot and it evens out the shadow which might be present in the shot. The front light we placed treated trace over the light which breaks up the light which makes the light slightly softer giving a nicer effect. The Blonde light at the back off the shot is present to give the model in the shot a slight edge and it brings them out of the background.

The next setup which matt showed us he called Beauty lighting, This consists of a very large panel seen below, you then place a blonde behind this large panel. This breaks top the light making it less harsh. We then got a large sheet of polystyrene which we placed behind the model. This reflects the light and removes and shadows and also looks very natural. If the picture is to bright lower the exposure which will make the image more focused. Also adjust the white balance which will remove any orange picture which might be present in the shot.

The next light setup which matt showed us he called the Blade runner, as this lighting setup is used in lots of the movie Blade Runner. With this setup its using just one light which is the blonde light. The light goes behind the model and the light goes on full beam. The polystyrene sheet is at the front of the shot which reflects the light and removes any shadows. If the character isn't exposed enough, lowering the light beam will make the character more apparent.

Matt then showed us the different shots which you can achieve with coloured lights. We used two long lights one blue and one pink, this contrast of colours gives a very nice effect on the camera. As they can be easily m over around it allowed you to get lots of different shots as each time you move the lights in a different variation it gives a different lighting effect.