The importance of lighting

When you’re watching a video it is really easy to take lighting for granted. That is if the lighting technique used has been successful.

Just as we often bang on and on about sound, lighting too should never-ever be overlooked. Even if your budget is tight we would always advise carefully considering your light set up.

Natural light is great, yes, but extra support lights can make or break your video.

Consider today for example. It was dull, wet, rainy (British summer eh!). Definitely, you would need extra light on a day like today, particularly if you are filming indoors.

Hold on, how about a sunny spells kind of day? Well, lighting then will be ever changing with clouds constantly blocking the sun and changing the light temperature and intensity.

Funnily enough, overcast weather makes for easier filming conditions than a super bright day.

Remember:

Lighting can help determine mood. Think thrillers and horror flicks. Those shadows playing mind tricks are everything, right?
Poor lighting will make for more expensive post production, more time in the editing suite. More importantly, imagine you have to suddenly go back out and film everything again. Now, that would be expensive!
At a professional level, one of the most popular lighting techniques is called the Three Point Lighting technique:

You have a key light/main light, placed to the side of the camera and lights the main subject.
A fill light or secondary light is placed opposite to the main light to help fill shadows cast by the key light.
Back Light: It is placed behind the main subject to add some space between the background of the scene and the subject and give a more 3D look on camera.
In our beginner’s workshops, we always discuss many alternatives to take advantage of available light when filming.

Get in touch if you would like to learn more.