Lighting Research

Lighting

There are a few simple techniques that can be used to get the lighting correct for any film-based project. Therefore, I will be looking to apply this to my own product in order to ensure its best possible success in fulfilling its aims. The first of these is basic three-point lighting involving Key, Fill and Back light:

Key Light

This is the most focused, directional light used in the three-point setup. It is used to illuminate the strong or dominant side of the subject (determined by which way they are facing, normally from the left by default).

The key light creates the largest amount of light out of the three and will usually be set the furthest away from the subject, being directed in a slightly narrower beam than the others if possible. As a result it also tends to create the most obvious shadows. Therefore I can use this lighting technique if I wanted to create a shadow, perhaps of the antagonist, to invoke fear.

Fill Light

The fill is used to offset the roughness and the sharp shadows that can be caused by the key light. It is a softer, more indirect light that not only fills out the opposing side of the subject, but lights up the surrounding area.

Using a diffuser or filter on the fill light is a good way to make it spread out and give it some added softness. A thin piece of white vinyl or tissue paper can be placed in front of the light to obtain this effect. However, anything but too close can become too hot during filming.

Back Light

The backlight provides a border around your subject to set it off from the background. This is great for shooting portraits and close-ups, and the back light can be placed slightly low and angled upwards to provide a softer effect.

In situations where the subject is near a wall and you don’t want such a feathery effect, you can actually turn the backlight toward the wall and bounce the light off to better lighten the background.

There are various other lighting techniques that I will also be looking at to use when filming my own film trailer so that it is at the best possible quality. Listed below are some of the lighting techniques I have researched in to:

Bouncing Light

You may find that you don’t have very much control over how to light a scene, especially when using cheap shop lights or other inexpensive lighting tools. The direction, spread, temperature, and sharpness of each light might not seem as if they are adding the proper types of lighting to the set. In these cases it is possible to bounce light off of an object to create a softer glow rather than a stark beam.

By simply using a piece of foamcore from your local craft store, a car windshield sun reflector, or any other lightly colored reflective object. Turn the light away from your subject and use the reflector to send the light back in that direction. It may take some tweaking time to angle the reflector so that the light bounces off of it correctly and lands on the subject in a more pleasing way. In terms of my own filming I will have to adopt many of these techniques, as the lighting equipment I will be using will not be of such a high quality. Therefore by using a simple car windshield sun reflector to bounce the lighting off will be a very useful technique to try whilst filming for my product.

Get It Right

In many locations when in an enclosed space there may not be enough room to set each light just as needed. It may also be found that altering the height of your light sources changes the feel of your shot e.g. higher key lighting offers an angelic effect, while lower, up-angled lights cause a more rigid, spooky look. Therefore this will be a technique I will often use in my film trailer as it displays the common conventions found within the horror genre with a rigid, spooky look.

These lighting techniques will help me find the right balance of lighting, contrast and brightness for my own product and apply the correct type for the correct scene. This way my product will look more professional and better meet it’s aims and have a greater appeal to the target audience. Using lower, up-angled lights to create a spooky look to a scene will be key in the parts of my trailer where the disequilibrium is presented and darker lighting in general to connote evil and fear. In the early stages of my trailer, where all appears to be fine, a more angelic effect is required with a general brighter look.