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  • The Basics Of Video Lighting
    By Barbara A. Besteni

    Video is a process whereby light is converted into electricity. Without light, the camera will not operate. With too much light, it will render video that is washed out and unusable. Yet many videographers pay little, if any attention to proper use of lighting. If room light will suffice, why bother with bulky lights or worry about how aesthetically pleasing our shot looks?
    Does the thought of lighting a scene make you run for cover? Do you find yourself saying, "I want that grainy film look; it's more artistically correct." -when what you really mean is, "If only I could make those shadows go away, my life would be complete!"
    Video lighting is used to: 1. Insure peak performance of the camera, and 2. Add to the creative and aesthetic elements of a scene.
    Here's a scenario that will emphasize the importance of lighting for video:
    OK, so you spent hundreds of dollars giving your parents a 50th Anniversary Party. The house looked terrific. The food rivaled the best French cuisine this side of the Atlantic. The guests were all in place for the big surprise -and best of all, your kids actually managed to get some of the anniversary cake in their mouths instead of in each other's hair. And hey, how about that Canon L1 Hi8 beauty you used to capture all those moments for posterity? Bet you can't wait to start editing and showing off your masterpiece to all those people who were drooling in the corner when you propped your high tech beauty onto your SteadyCam JR. Woody Allen, watch out!
    But wait. Why does Aunt Ethel look like she's wearing a purple dress and orange shoes? And when did you buy that pink love seat she's sitting on? Who in the world is that green man with Uncle Joe? You try adjusting the colors on your monitor but that only makes everyone look like they came from a planet even further out in the galaxy. Oh no... could it be your camera is on the blink? Are gremlins invading your editing console?
    Relax, my friend. The bad news is, you're the latest victim of the Color Temperature Monster, and there's nothing you can do to salvage the footage you've already shot. The good news is, the Monster can be tamed and conquered so this will never happen again.
    The text book defines color temperature "as the different spectral mixtures of light as expressed in degrees Kelvin." The textbook works for the Color Temperature Monster -and its job is to confuse and intimidate you. This Report works for YOU -and its job is to turn textbook mumbo jumbo into stuff you can use NOW.
    The secret to taming the Color Temperature Monster is in remembering that each kind of light produces a different color. Early morning sun is reddish or orange. Late morning sun is yellow. A little later in the day, the light turns blue. The same applies to indoor lighting. Different light sources produce different color light. And, although these color changes are not always visible to the naked eye, the camera not only sees them, but obliges by changing the colors within your video to the corresponding color temperature.
    COLOR TEMPERATURE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HEAT. IT SIMPLY MEASURES HOW MUCH RED OR BLUE A LIGHT SOURCE EMITS.
    Outdoor light is predominantly blue. Indoor light is predominantly red. By counterbalancing the blues and reds, we control color temperature and allow the video camera to render truer colors. (The indoor/outdoor white balance settings on your video camera use this principle to adjust to proper color. The outdoor setting adds red to the scene to counterbalance the blue produced by the sunlight. The indoor setting adds blue to counterbalance the red produced by indoor lighting. If you've ever shot indoors with the white balance set to 'outdoor lighting' and wondered why your video appeared orange... you now know that you were affecting the color temperature balance by adding even more red to an already red indoor light.)
    Although the white balancing mechanism within your camera can adjust to certain color temperature changes, sometimes it can't adjust fast enough or accurately enough. That's where proper use of lighting comes in.
    Most cameras operate best at 3200 degrees Kelvin. This is a fairly white light -with just a bit of orange and yellow thrown in to give a warmer look. But if there's too much of this light, your colors will distort. The trick is to mix in a little blue light to ensure proper color balance. Blue light has an approximate color temperature of 5500 degrees Kelvin. So, if you had attached a 5500 degree Kelvin light to your camera, you could have salvaged your parent's Anniversary Video... and sent the Color Temperature Monster into hibernation. Pretty simple, huh? Yes, in theory it is. But things sometimes get a little complicated.
    For the most part, color temperature changes are most visible to the camera during indoor shooting. If you're shooting outdoors during daylight hours, the color temperature compensates for any slight deviations. But indoors it's a different story. It's possible for different areas in the same room to have different color temperatures -thereby making it almost impossible to get colors right every time. But if you can remember that indoor light leans towards a reddish color, and bring a blue light to offset this, you will stand a better chance of achieving correct color balance.
    Another important factor to keep in mind -to insure your camera will "see" well, is BASELIGHT LEVEL. All cameras are made to function best at a specific light level. The number of chips or tubes in a camera, the complexity of its recording mechanism, the lens, and number of other factors, all affect the baselight level. Giving your camera the proper amount of light to meet the required baselight level will help you achieve maximum results from your camera.
    Light levels are measured in foot candles or lux. A foot candle is the amount of light produced by one candle one foot away from an object. Ten foot candles is the amount of light produced by ten candles one foot away from an object. Foot candle measurements are always based on the same distance. The number of candles increases, but the distance remains at one foot. Got it?
    Now, ten lux equals one foot candle. So, if your camera is rated at ten lux, that means it needs at least the equivalent of one foot candle (the amount of light produced by one candle one foot away from an object) to operate. (Repeated reading of this will slowly turn the preceding sentence from technobabble into English.)
    The lower the lux or foot candle rating, the less light your camera needs. But remember that manufacturers highlight the low lux readings to sell cameras. And your camera won't necessarily work best at the lowest lux reading. It will "see" but what it sees may not be worth watching. And to make matters worse, inadequate lighting forces the camera's iris to open, thereby decreasing the depth of field, making it difficult to focus properly.
    Proper use of external light will produce the best video possible. But don't rely on the naked eye to determine whether or not you have enough light for shooting. The camera needs a lot more light to "see" than our eyes do. The best way to measure light intensity is with a light meter. These are relatively inexpensive, and when used in conjunction with a good light kit, can make your videos look a little more like what you're used to seeing on television. Light meters are calibrated in foot candles. So, if you take a reading in a room -and it measures one foot candle, you know you'll have to add light to remove that grainy look the camera produces when it can't see very well.
    A clip-on light attached to your camera may remedy this problem if you're shooting in a small, confined area. But if you're videotaping within a large room, a small light may not only be insufficient, it may also produce harsh shadows -giving the scene an eerie look. In this case, you'll have to apply the principles of 3-point lighting. This is the basic lighting plot from which all other lighting plots are created. Mastering this technique will correct most color temperature problems, provide more than adequate illumination, and eliminate or reduce unwanted shadows.
    Investing in a 3-point light kit is your first step towards professional lighting. These kits usually come with two hard light sources (to provide bright, concentrated light), and one soft light (to fill in the shadows produced by the hard lights). In addition, kits come with color gels, barn doors, and other accessories to control the spill and intensity of light. More about that later.
    A 3-point light system is made up of a Key Light, a Fill Light, and a Back Light. The Key Light is your principle source of light. It is a bright, direct, harsh light used to obtain proper baselight levels. It's placed at a 45 degree angle to either the left or the right of the subject. The Fill Light fills in the shadows that the Key Light produces, and also contributes to the baselight level. It's also placed at a 45 degree angle to the subject, on the opposite side of the Key Light. The Back Light separates the subject from the background and provides three dimensionality to a scene. The Back Light is aimed at the back of the subject or object -NOT at the background.
    Now that we've tamed the Color Temperature Monster, I'd like to introduce you to the Video Producer's #2 Enemy: The Backlight Gremlin. I'd also like to show you some creative uses of light, including using the Backlight Gremlin to create a popular TV News effect that hides the faces of fun-loving folks who don't want their moms to know what they've been up to lately. We call them "silhouette people" and they appear on programs such as 20/20, 60 Minutes, and America's Most Wanted.
    The Backlight Gremlin forms silhouette people -black, featureless blobs created when too much Back Light forces the camera's iris to close, thereby eliminating the features and leaving only the contours. But Silhouette Syndrome isn't fatal. All you need to do is balance the intensity of the Back Light with proper Key and Fill Lights -and the symptoms will be eliminated. On the other hand, if you want to create silhouettes on purpose, use an intense Back Light source and eliminate the Key and Fill Lights.
    Backlight Syndrome usually strikes a person who is indoors and positioned in front of a window. It also hits people who are outdoors against a bright sky. The most popular cures are:
    1. Move subjects away from the window. (Not very practical if a room has windows and/or mirrors on all four walls.)
    2. Go inside.< (Bad choice if it's a baseball game.)
    3. Add extra light. (By far the most practical and reliable choice.)
    If your subject is against a window, you've already got Back Light. So all you need are Key and Fill Lights to light properly. Same goes for outdoor shooting. The only problem is that the sun provides such an intense source of Back Light that unless you're MGM Studios, you'll find it hard to afford lights strong enough to counterbalance it.
    But don't despair. Just get yourself another sun. Or the next best thing... a reflector. A reflector can be something as simple as a large, white poster board or other highly reflective surface. It bounces the sun's light back onto the front of a scene and eliminates Back Light problems. You may still have to add additional light, but not as much.
    If you're caught unprepared (without extra lights or a reflector), give yourself a fighting chance against the Backlight Gremlin by setting your camera on manual iris, and opening it slightly during back light situations. Be warned that this isn't the perfect solution because as you open the iris to reveal the faces of your subjects, you set off what appears to be a nuclear explosion in the background. It's really nothing more than too much light entering an already over-lit scene (giving it a washed-out appearance), but it's definitely not a pretty site.
    When lighting a scene, you must also pay attention to Incident vs. Reflected light.
    Incident light is the amount of light falling onto an object or subject.
    Reflected light is the amount of light reflected by an object or subject.
    Reflected light can increase the intensity of the incident light, thereby washing out the scene. (An extreme case is when shooting in a room full of mirrored walls). Therefore, you must keep the intensity of your lights down when shooting a scene with either highly reflective objects or subjects wearing light colored clothing. Darker objects, on the other hand, absorb light and decrease the Reflective light. In this case, you should have to increase the Incident light to compensate for the decrease in Reflective light levels.
    You control light intensity by doing any of the following:
    1. Increase or decrease lamp wattage
    2. Increase or decrease light-to-subject distance
    3. Place scrims or screens in front of the lights
    A scrim is a translucent material that diffuses or softens the light. A screen is a wire mesh that reduces light intensity without diffusing it.
    Here are a few more creative uses of video lighting and tips on how to achieve them.
    CAMEO LIGHTING: To achieve a very dramatic effect, try eliminating all background lights so that only your subject is visible. Cameo lighting is achieved by using highly directional spotlights in front of the subject and removing all lights from the background. Use a black material to absorb the light and shield the background from any spill that might occur from the spotlights. This technique works best when shooting in black and white.
    COLOR BACKGROUNDS: Using colored gels or filters to change the color of your lights can be highly effective when videotaping stage performances. Gels are relatively inexpensive and can be cut to size to fit your individual lights.
    LIGHT FILTERS: Diffusion filters and Star filters are the two most popular filters used to affect the quality of video lighting. Diffusion filters soften the edges of a scene and give it a dreamy look. (Perfect for shooting dream sequences or romantic scenes.) Star filters change the light from high intensity sources into star-like images.
    Both Diffusion and Star filters can be purchased as lens attachments for your camera. An inexpensive way of creating a Diffusion filter is to place sheer panty hose in front of the camera's lens. Another popular method is to apply Vaseline to a piece of glass and place it in front of the lens. Do not apply Vaseline directly on the lens because it may cause permanent damage.
    PATTERN PROJECTION: When shooting in a studio, it may be fun to project certain patterns onto an otherwise plain background. You can purchase patterns such as stars, clouds, and abstract designs to fit in front of the lights. When lights are turned on, the pattern is projected onto the background.
    Equipped with the preceding information, you should now be ready to handle any lighting Monster that comes your way. Good lighting is both a technical and creative endeavor that takes practice to perfect. Spending time mastering lighting skills will put your videos head and shoulders above what you've been shooting up until now.

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