Learning Target: Discover the best lighting for you and your video
Light is one of the most important aspects of filmmaking. Depending on how you use it, light can be your greatest enemy or your biggest ally. Directors often manipulate light for many reasons such as creating contrast or emphasizing a message. It can also negatively affect your video by overexposing skin color or creating undesirable shadows. In the next two exercises, you will be playing with lighting to see what works best for you and your video.
Before we begin, let’s go over the different types of lighting:
- Tungsten lighting is a light source that produces a warm color with yellow/orange undertones.
- Daylight lighting is a brighter light source that produces a cold, blue-toned color.
These different types of light sources can greatly affect the appearance of your skin tone while on camera. It is important to not only know which type of lighting works best for your skin, but also to find where that light is most accessible to you. Keep in mind that lighting will change depending on your location and time of day.
Exercise One: Use your phone to take a selfie in daylight lighting. This can be done by either standing outside or by a window.
Exercise Two: Now, use your phone to take a selfie in tungsten lighting. This light will be produced
artificially (i.e. not by the sun). Be sure that you are not using an LED light, for that type of bulb
will emit daylight-type lighting. An incandescent bulb or flood light is best.
What type of lighting works best for you?
Where do you get you get the best light in your house/office?
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