studio lighting workshop

 

In todays lesson we focused on lighting and creating an effective studio set up. Using equipment we had not been introduced to yet which we will go on to use and will be a big part of our music video. The first bit of equipment we were taught which we will use the most is this screen which you can easily move around, the screen displays what the camera is filming therefore it helps us see the picture clearer and can make adjustments to the light and screen looking through the screen. For our music videos this will be very useful for our whole group to look at and we can all input ideas for how to make it better. In the workshop we placed a student as the subject to clearly display which lights do what and how they effect the shot. Using a subject showed us the shadows it creates and the intensity of the light on a model which we will use in our videos. 

We were introduced to various lights and other equipment these included: Red head light this light had a very intense brightness which also created harsh shadows. A scrim this is used as a layer of protection against the glass, as typically the bulb will blow and smash the glass so the scrim prevents this from happening. Both Gels spun and frosting is all used to soften the lights it is very effective with getting rid of the harsh shadows created. Blonde light which we will often use as it is very powerful and the brightest light, you tend to place it behind the subject this helps separate the subject from the background. 

We also learnt about the idea of bouncing light back to reduce the shadows, this is instead of adding more light. Matt showed us the many things you can use to do this including this polyester sheet. This was very effective as it bounced the light back into her face. We also used other people using their hands and backs to a also bounce the light back. Then we explored the different effects you can create with coloured lights, we used the fluorescent tube lights. These are very fragile and break easily when moving around. These lights make the scene more interesting as it adds colour and you can use more than one, you can also stick the lights in the scene as a prop, they are useful for constructing a scene. However when using these lights you still need a key light and back light to achieve the correct lighting.