Advanced lighting workshop 

For the advanced lighting workshop we looked at different lights and their job.This prepared us and helped us know what lighting we’d like to use  for our music video and how different lighting creates different atmospheres and effects.

The camera we used for this workshop was a black magic

In the studio it’s important to be cautious of the lights and cable around. Before the house lights are switched off everyone should be warned to make sure that they don’t suddenly trip on the lights or cables which could lead to someone getting hurt.

Protective cover

With the lights the protective cover should be on and incase the the lights overheat and burst its important that no one panics and everyone should check their surrounding,

The four main pieces of equipment we learned about were fluorescent lights , red head lights, blonde lights and a soft box. Fluorescent lights are used to make shots more aesthetic and to also create warm or cold atmospheres by changing the light with different colours. 

To change the different colours you have to take the coloured plastic sheet and wrap it round the bulb and it should be covering the whole bulb.

Red head lighting is used when you need more powerful light than normal/house lighting. They can be used in large areas or as fill or backlights.

Red head light

A blonde light is slightly bigger than a red head light and is also used in large areas. Unlike a redhead or blonde light a soft box produces soft light that creates shadows and is used for key, fill, or back light.

A matte box blocks out unwanted light from reaching the lens and it also filters the light that goes in.

The role of the director of photography is to look at the production of the film in terms of photography. They look at the screenplay and work with the director to see the feel of the movie.  A cinematographer is in charge of the camera and the lighting and they create the color, lighting and framing for the whole film. The difference between a director of photography and the cinematographer is that the cinematographer looks at the lighting  for the whole film while the dop oversees the lighting for the first take.Unlike the dop or cinematographer the director is in charge of all the creative aspects from pre-production to post.

We adjust the lights for the camera and not the other way round as this has a better effect when shown on the monitor. Adjusting the lights ensures the colors are presented accurately and a  certain atmosphere is created. 

The monitor is also used to see the effect the lights have  because what is going to be shot will  be shown on the monitor and not what we see in real life.

Tracing paper is used to stop  the light  from being too bright and this is used by placing a clip on the tracing paper onto the lights so the paper lies over the lights.

Adjusting the aperture to be wider lets in more light into the lens and closing it lets in less light  affecting the shot’s exposure.

The three point lighting is made up of three types of lights which are key, fill and back lighting. Key lighting is the main light in a scene and is the most intense and direct. It’s used to illuminate the form of a subject or actor. Fill light is used to enhance shadows and control the contrast of a scene. Back light is used to illuminate an actor or object from the back and is used to separate objects or actors from a background.

Dress lights or practical lights are regular lights like a  lamp or candles and they are used to intentionally create a realistic cinematic scene. We also learned about foto flow lights and how they are used to create serious and tense atmospheres, the light itself is strong and tense.

We looked at the effect of different filters and how they looked on the monitor aswell. We did this to see how changing colour can affect the mood or the tone of the scene.