RTV 322 Lighting

Types of Light Incident: comes directly from the light source Reflected: has come in contact with some other material before entering our field of vision Our ability to see largely the result of reflected light Incident and reflected light meter

Film vs. video Gaffer – head of electrical Lighting Director Works with DP / cinematographer Lighting Director Simpler kind of operation like a TV news studio or simple on-location prductions

Lighting Director’s Goals Meet artistic needs of the program General Illumination needs Develops a lighting plan so that all performers and parts of the set are lit as required/desired Lighting should be ‘invisible’ Lighting is done ‘per camera’

Measuring Light Levels Measured with a light meter In footcandles (ftc)--amount of light falling on a surface one foot from the light with the illumination level of one candle Also used, lux: About 10 lux = 1 ftc Measure incident & reflected

Light meter using a meter But also, ‘pocket light meter’ -- apps

Lighting ratio Incident light measurement Reflected – spot meter reading At the subject’s location Capturing and controlling light

Other lighting issues 1--Contrast Ratio: brightest to darkest: human eye 100:1, TV 30:1 Outdoor / stadium daytime shots (shader) AGC automatically adjusts 2--Color Temperature: measure of the frequency of the light wave 3,200° K / 5,600° K / red / blue

Lighting uses & objectives Flat Lighting (shape/texture) High-key / low-key for mood Follow spot Limbo (subject ‘in limbo’ against softly lit cyc) Cameo (subject lit / background dark; angelic) Silhouette (subject dark & background lit)lighting-focus attn. …cont...

Lighting uses & objectives To imitate reality Shoot on a set for ‘outdoor shot’ Using lights shooting outdoors Use of shadow and lighting effects

Lighting Instruments Quartz lamp (‘bulb’) 3,200° K 500 / 1,000 / 2,000 watts / 10,000 New High Speed Fluorescent (HSF) Traditional / HSF at 3,200° K HMI lamp -- 5,600° K LED emergence

Lighting Instruments Spotlights Other major spotlight type Barn doors Controlled beam / pinned & spread Fresnel Other major spotlight type Ellipsoidal / leko / cutters / cookies / gobos Open face spot Barn doors

Lighting Instruments Floodlights Sometimes covered with scrim/scrims Pans/broads --rectangular shaped Scoop -- Bowl shaped Strip lights for background Softlight -- lamp points inward Sometimes covered with scrim/scrims

Newer lighting instruments HSF / HMI ~ HID (lights for sale) LED

Three point lighting Key --spotlight -- 35-40° angle Fill -- flood or spread spot (1/2) Back--spotlight (1.5-2x the key) Compare to background Separation / hair light

Multiple Camera Lighting Talk Shows, sit-coms, soaps 3-point vs. flat / combining Base lighting vs. creative

Studio Lighting Light Board / dimmers / pig tails Grid vs. floor stand / c-stand Gobo arm / mafer clamp etc. Extension poles, c-clamp, safety Inverse square law--as light to subject distance doubles, light level is reduced to 1/4 previous level # lighting effects

Silhouette Vs cameo or limbo (black / white)

Side lighting example A better effect than front lighting (‘sun at your back’)

Diffused Lighting

Short lighting

Broad lighting side of face toward camera is lit

A few other terms specularity is the size and brightness of a light source on a subject. Catch lights are the reflections in a subject’s eyes from the key light Light intensity (or quantity) measured in footcandles or lux Coherence, often called quality, is the hardness or softness of light.