Working Under Lights

Just like with human eyes, a camera can only capture the images for a movie through light. Whether using available lighting, natural lighting of the surroundings or using professional lighting equipment, every production requires a suitable lighting design according to the needs of the film's story and the director's vision. Every lighting set-up provides a specific mood, emotion and atmosphere to the overall film viewing experience. Without light, it is not possible to see anything, and it is not possible to shoot a film.

Today, we studied lights and how they effect our images in terms of setting, the mood and the atmosphere. For example, a low lighting would create a gloomy atmosphere, while a bright image would lead to the anticipation of a good news. 

In cinematography, we were taught about the 3-point set-up whereby we need three lights to create a good balance between the lights on the subject. This set-up deals with the key light that is the main source of lighting a subject, a back light which is used to light up the contours of our subject and a fill light that is used to scatter or balance the key light on our subject in such a way that all the shadows are filled in with a warm light. 

Key Lights:-

The placement of lights when producing a key light is ideally at an angle of 45 degrees from the subject and at eye-level. Had the lights been placed at a higher angle than that pf the subject, it would have caused shadows on the subjects face, leading to the impact of dark circles under the eyes, wrinkles on the face as all the details are exaggerated in this placement, however, this placement would work best if one wants to give an old, tired look to the subject. Key light is basically of two types, depending on the sort of environment we want to create for our subject. 

High Key Light:

A high key light deals with an overall bright image with no contrast levels whereby the subject is lit up on all sides and evenly through the image, leading to the formation of a balanced image. A basic drawback of a high key light is the exposure compensation of our cameras so as to ensure that the correct exposure is formed. A high key image usually depicts a happy, joyful environment or individual.

Low Key Light:

A low key light deal with an overall dark image with black as the controlling colour. A low key image has high contrast levels and it is usually based on a silhouetted image whereby the placement of lights leads to the flaring of the image around the contours of the subject alone. A rim light may be an example of a low-key image. A low key light usually depicts a gloomy and sad environment and gives a depressing feel to the mood of the film.

                        

Back Light:-

Back lighting, also known as Rim Light, refers to the process of illuminating the subject from the back. In other words, the lighting instrument and the viewer are facing towards each other, with the subject in between. This causes the edges of the subject to glow, while the other areas remain darker. Back lighting helps to provide separation between the subject and its background. A fill flash may be used with a back lit subject to yield more even lighting.

The vertical angle of the back light can change the effect. A low angle could cause the light to hit the camera lens, causing a lens flare. A high angle could cause the nose of the subject to extend out from the mostly-vertical shadow of the head, producing a potentially unwanted highlight in the middle of the face.

Following is my experiment with the back light.

                                         

                                      

Fill Light:-

In television, film, stage, or photographic lighting, a fill light is used to fill the shadows created by the key so that the image doesn't look so dark. The fill will usually be softer and less bright than the key. To achieve this, you could move the light further away or use any light-scattering medium such as a diffuser or a reflector. These devices redirect or alter the amount and direction of existing light. Disc or oval-shaped reflectors and diffusers are available  in several different sizes. Portable, they collapse and fold so you can store and carry them in handy carry cases.

Diffuser:-
 In our school premises, we have limited availability of studio lights due to which our ability of achieving a balanced light image with correct exposure. Due to these constrains, we  either have natural daylight to work with or the artificial lights of over-exposure. To overcome this limitations, we can use a diffuser which is a light-scattering medium such as a piece of thin fibre, placed in the path of a source of light to reduce the sharpness of shadows in order to soften the lighting.

Without Diffuser

With Diffuser

Reflectors:-
Reflectors in photography are simply any item used to reflect light towards your subject. Reflectors are either placed on a stand or other support, or held by an assistant to direct light onto a subject. Reflectors are generally held at an equal angle from the light source and the subject. Reflectors, which are available in white, gold and silver surfaces, bounce light onto a subject to fill in shadows and can add highlights and contrast to a subject.
Gold reflectors bounce a “warmer” light onto a subject, giving the subject the appearance of being photographed in the late afternoon or early morning.
Silver reflectors bounce a “cooler” light onto a subject giving a more intense or harsher feeling.
White reflector is used to bounce your key light to 'fill' in shadows on the opposite side, or to bounce a little light anywhere where you want to throw a little light to lift the shadow or add a small highlight. It's obviously not as powerful as a separate fill light.
Black reflector is used to stop light spill or by helping in stopping it from bouncing around all over the place, or sometimes may be used as a 'flag' to stop light from, say like, spilling backwards onto the subject.

Following is my experience with a diffuser and a white reflector.

   Without White Reflector

With White Reflector