Studying lighting

Lighting is so important. Lighting is more important than your camera. Lighting is more important than you.

While that last line of my terribly crafted introduction is (probably) untrue, but I definitely agree with the first two. One of my aims with this project is to get a professional look. In my analysis of previous coursework projects by other students, one thing I couldn't get past was the lack of a realistic crime drama feel. It was the lack of a professional feel. Having done some research into lighting in real films, I see now that a large part of achieving that professional look lies in the understanding of lighting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y6bB86HmdA&ab_channel=FilmRiot

This is the first video I watched in my research into lighting. It has some very useful tips on working lights over a key subject. What struck me the most, however, was the examples they showed of different lighting demonstrated in film scenes. I don't think I ever realised that some of those scenes had artificial lighting in them, and I never realised the effect that it had. It didn't seem obvious in the films themselves but I'm sure if I look out from now on, I'll see it. 

However, the problem with lighting, and why it seems so many previous students have got it wrong, is that it's hard to sort out. Lighting kit is expensive, and our school currently doesn't have the required gear. With it being quite hard to access, it probably proves difficult to a lot of people to learn to use lighting, as you aren't able to experiment with it. In addition, it requires power to run outside, and lots of space to set up the reflector umbrellas etc. In light of these difficulties (pun intended?) I also decided to look into how I can make use of natural lighting. 

Natural lighting, it seems, is maybe even harder than artificial lighting. This article by Indiewire gives a few tips for making use of natural lighting. While the first two tips are hard to apply to me, with me not having a Blackmagic Cinema Camera or multiple lenses, the rest of the tips are quite useful. 

-Make the Sun your backlight

-Choose the right locations

-Use practicals (lights visible in the shot)

-Preparation and rehearsing

-Use Reflectors and Flags (to reflect the sunlight and to reduce the light)

This video demonstrates a few of the things. Most importantly, it demonstrates how to position a subject to make use of the natural lighting properly. I think a lot of it is quite intuitive because when you are working against the lighting, you will automatically try to position a subject to catch the light. A lot of us already know, somehow subconsciously even, to imitate what we see on the big screen whenever we try to recreate something ourselves.

Like the first video, this article also explains the basics of lighting. Two things I learnt a bit more about than I already knew from the article in particular, was the difference between hard lighting sources and soft lighting, and the importance of making sure colour temperatures on lighting is just right, the intricacies of which I should probably learn in deeper detail if I get to work with proper lighting.

I decided to try some of the techniques I learnt from these sources while helping a friend of mine who was making a short video of their own. A warm sunny day proved perfect for recreating the silhouette effect and the full portrait lighting, and I also took the chance to recreate some framing in shots that I've noticed recently used in films, such as "short sighting" (placing the subject at the edge of the frame). I love the feeling of discomfort it creates because it's not a composition we are used to seeing. I also tried out a shot where you look up at the character from about shoulder level, which can be used in a very intimate or important emotional scene for the character as it captures them from an angle you'd never see them through in real life. The video below is just me experimenting with the environment and trying to get a grip with shooting video with subjects in them.

As side note, I'd like to add something else I learnt. When I filmed this and looked back on the raw footage, I wasn't very impressed with what it looked like. However, while I was stitching the shots together for to create this compilation video, I used a colour adjustment preset on the clips, and the difference is starkly visible. It is much better looking, much more reminiscent of a professional production. It's also worth noting the important of the anamorphic 2.40:1 ratio that I letter boxed the video into. I always use the 2.40:1 ratio in all videos I create and the coursework production will be no exception.

Having created this short experimental video, I now have new confidence in creating the clip I need for my coursework project. Whether I end up using natural lighting or actually am able to get my hands on proper lighting equipment, I feel like I know enough to put up at least a rudimentary lighting arrangement to film in.