What is lighting?
Lighting is essential in films to show what is happening to the audience.
- It helps create mood, tone, and atmosphere.
- It guides the audience’s attention.
- It helps develop character traits
- It establishes the time and place of a scene.
Video - lighting
Lighting is essential for any filming- you need to be able to see what is going on.
But the way you light the scene is one of the quickest ways to create a mood.
Same person, but totally different feel.
In an interview situation you just want to see the people clearly, but in a horror film you might want the lighting to be dark and menacing.
Light can sometimes direct the audience’s attention.
If it’s bright and even, that’s called high-key lighting. If there are more shadows and contrast, that’s low-key lighting.
Lighting guides the audience. Changing the lighting can change the mood and atmosphere of your film.
Key points
Lighting can:
- create feeling, mood and atmosphere
- change throughout a film, to reflect the changing story and tone in each scene
- create the visual style of your story
On screen examples - lighting
- Image source, Warner Bros. Pictures / Village Roadshow Pictures / The Roald Dahl Story Company / Landmark Media / Alamy
Image caption, High key lighting
In 'Wonka', high key lighting is used in the fantastical sweet shop scenes to create a bright, colourful, and magical atmosphere. The bright lighting reduces shadows and highlights the colourful set design, reinforcing the film's sense of magic, optimism, and childlike wonder.
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Try this - lighting
Watch this video and give this lighting exercise a go!
How you light a scene can change the atmosphere of what you are filming.
Set up a scene, a character or some props.
Use one light source , this could be a lamp, torch, camera light.
Move the light around and see what changes.
Try front light, side light and back light.
Film three short clips and pick the mood you like best.
Roles and departments
Cinematographer - Works with the director to understand the desired effect of the lighting in each scene and work with the gaffer to create this.
Gaffer - Runs the lighting department and works with the cinematographer to design and carry out lighting set-ups.
Lighting department - The team that sets up and moves lighting equipment, following instructions from the gaffer.
Think about
- What kind of feeling do you want to create in this scene?
- What light sources do you have around that you can use?
- What happens to the way the scene feels when you change the source or direction of light?
Things to look for
- High key or low key lighting?
- Front light, side light, back light or a combination?
- Which different sources can be used for natural and artificial lighting, eg window, lamp, torch?
Things to consider
If you are using natural light, this can change at different times.
- If you are filming outside the direction and strength of light can change throughout the day and may look different between shots.
- If you are filming inside, the light will be different at different times of day depending on where the sun is and which way the windows face.
When setting up lights, check if they make any noise that might be picked up in your sound recording.
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