Category: Studio Lights Education

“Lighting is to film what music is to opera”

– C.B. Demille [Brown 1996]

Lighting is commonly used in the film shooting industry. Through the application of lighting technology, the visual effects of film can be improved, and the recognition of audiences can be improved.

 

1.The history of lighting in the film shooting industry

1.1 Eyes, camera, and the three-dimensional world

 

The world in our eyes is not the real world. It is the light reflecting objects in our daily life. The world is constructed by various wavelengths of light, which bring us huge visual information. And through brain calculation, it becomes our thoughts, understanding and emotions.  Eyes are the principle and foundation model of the camera. The light pass through a small hole (iris) and inverts the image on the other side of the hole. And then the reflective surface flips the image back. And finally formed the world. The brain of the image mapped by the light of the human eye will form a 3D model, but the camera can only do 2D module composition.

Cinematographers and producers have been researching and improving the technology and skills of sculpting images and manipulating light for so many years to construct three-dimensional moving images.

 

 

1.2 The evolution of lighting in storytelling

Humans’ control of light originated from fire. People must have very familiar images in their minds about the scenes of storytelling: people gather around the campfire and tell stories of the past. In fact, this impression is also very common sense. In the age when electricity was not invented, fire was the only lighting tool, providing us with a warm and safe environment. When warm, light, food, etc. these things which makes people comfortable appearing, people gathering together, and when the fire light is the only visual focus, the storytelling unfolds naturally. And when the bonfire burns out, it is also the time to end the story. This scene looks so harmonious, not against harmony, and convincing.

As the content of the story gets enriched, with the cooperation of props, the improvement of the actor’s acting skills, and the increase of the audience’s psychological needs, human storytelling has gradually developed into a dramatic performance. So there is a problem, if there is not enough light, these performances cannot be interpreted well. Therefore, in the early days, theater performances relied on daylight to illuminate the performance. It wasn’t until 1781 that a French chemist named Laviosier invented a controllable directional lighting method that used mirrors to reflect the light of oil lamps, although some wealthy theaters could still use lanterns for lighting at that time. It wasn’t until the gas lamp was invented that there were more extensive indoor performances. In the end, the application of the spotlight also created a common phrase ” Step into the limelight”.

The gradual development and advancement of lighting technology has enhanced the audience’s experience in the theater. However, when the film was created in 1888, the camera could only obtain a decent exposure with the help of natural daylight outside. Early movies, such as Thomas Edison’s Black Maria, used the scaling of the roof ceiling to capture natural light. In 1912, the White Flame Carbon Arc was developed and applied, and indoor lighting got a relatively good solution, but the disadvantage is that they emit noise and are accompanied by a certain degree of danger. Soon after, the tungsten lamp was also invented, a relatively safer lighting tool, and it has also become the main film lighting fixture for a long time. At that time, in 1927, panchromatic film stocks were also invented.

Since the beginning of film production, camera, lighting, film and digital technology have been continuously improved.

1.3 The formation of film theory and style

However, in the process of the formation of film theory, film type and lighting style are set as a certain standard.

The style of the film is not divorced from the shadow of early human narration around the campfire, and on this basis, many elements are added to construct different narrative methods, such as comedy, drama and other types of stories to show the process of human struggle, the moment of achievement and emotional changes. In these narrative processes, light and color play a very important role. Few elements are as infectious as light and color. They directly contact the emotional nerves of the audience from the visual aspect. Because the human nerve will make different emotional reactions to the changes of light, so the visual display is realized through the style of lighting, and various schools are formed due to different characteristics.

Film theory holds that lighting styles are crucial, even as time goes on, they are still an indispensable part.

To be continued…

 

Section(Ⅱ): https://www.ledsfilm.com/analysis-of-lighting-in-film-shooting-industry%E2%85%A1/

Section(Ⅲ): https://www.ledsfilm.com/analysis-of-lighting-in-film-shooting-industry%E2%85%A2/

 

Rembrandt effect:

a standard cinematic lighting technique derived from some Rembrandt paintings. A three-quarters forward light is used to create a triangle patch spot on the shadow surface of the familiar face. The supplementary light and auxiliary light are added to achieve the standard three-point lighting effect. The light and shadow are matched to form a certain pattern with the shading effect and the shading contrast method.

Rough lighting:

an experimental, initial lighting layout that will be refined when the actor’s position is finalized and the camera’s position is also determined.

Flow fill:

Works with tracking and moving shots. The light is either fixed to the camera, or the camera is on a mobile car, or clamped with a device. The idea is that wherever the camera goes, the filling follows. With reference to obies such as astigmatism fixed on the camera, they can be used as general filling for any lens.

Half silhouette:

a foreground image that is underexposed by about two apertures, usually against a bright background. Similar to silhouettes, except that the actors are not completely black.

Scene light:

light used to illuminate part of the scene, usually the background. Same as background light.

Side main light:

main light from the side of the camera / subject axis. Lighting the front face with the camera height side main light is a classic lighting layout. The lighting splits the face in two with a vertical shadow.

Silhouette:

Illuminating a white background 5 or more apertures brighter than the subject and dimming the background can form a familiar black outline on the white background.

 

Soft light:

Object / background ratio: the object / background ratio indicates the difference in intensity, which is expressed by the ratio between the object plane and other planes, mainly the background plane.

Three point lighting:

three quarters of forward main light, supplementary light and auxiliary light are combined to form a triangle for actor’s lighting, which is called three-point lighting. The term is also used to refer to any combination of main light, supplementary light and backward light.

Three quarters forward main light:

it is a favorite main light position in the classic Hollywood lighting style. It is located at an angle of about 45 ° above and produces a common triangular patching light on the shaded surface of the face.

 

3 / 4 backward main light:

it is the back version of 3 / 4 forward main light. It is a dramatic and emotional main light, which is often used for outdoor shooting at night. When hard light and black film or blockbuster film are used, three-quarters of the back main light is the best.

 

Underexposure: underexposure

occurs when the brightness range of the subject is arranged too low on the characteristic curve. It makes the resolution of the dark tone insufficient, and the scale of the bright tone wasted. The total effect of underexposure is dull.

 

Interval 5 exposure:

the incident light type light meter is designed as interval 5, gray, reflectance 18% points, converted to the intermediate density on the characteristic curve. This is called interval 3 exposure. Exposure according to interval 5 will make the other two intermediate intervals 4 and 6, high brightness intervals 7 and 8, and low brightness intervals 2 and 3 fall on their corresponding density points.

The interval 5 exposure reproduces the black facial tones as interval 4, the brown facial tones as interval 5, and the white facial tones as interval 6. For details, please refer to Intermediate Density Point, Gray, Reflectance and Partition System.

Partition system:

Eleven levels constitute the basis of the partition system proposed by Ansel Adams. The gray level is related to the brightness and density of the negative film, but the final performance is the change of the tone on the screen.

 

Function

The main light is the light of the main subject, which forms the direction of the light source and the logical complement of lighting scheme, mood and shape. It supplements the main light by weakening the density of shadows, and is mainly used for human face.

Back light and contour light supplement main light and supplementary light. It emphasizes and separates actors and objects from the background to make them have a three-dimensional sense.

The background and set lights illuminate the background at an intensity proportional to the main light. Special lights, including eye light and head light, are used to fine tune the layout. The main light is the most important light source that affects the shooting. It establishes the direction of lighting and the originality of light source. Five important positions: forward, three fourths forward, lateral, three fourths backward and backward. These designs result from a simple angle of 45 ° with reference to the camera / subject axis.

When a forward light is placed at the height of the camera or a little higher, direct lighting does not emphasize the deepest, forming a two-dimensional feeling. This forward lighting minimizes the effects of wrinkles, lines and other markers on the face.

In some main light position, soft light is the best, side main light is an example. Lighting the front face with the camera height side main light is a classic lighting layout. The lighting splits the face in two with a vertical shadow.

The light from the back direction can automatically produce a dark and emotional effect for a person with the main light from the back direction, which is very useful for the interior and exterior scenes at night.

Incident light: the light that illuminates an object, measured in foot candle.

Reflected light; the light we see and the light used to expose film

Reflectance the percentage of light reflected by an object. Brightness: the amount of light reflected, measured in feet Lambert

Object illumination range: the ratio of the highest and lowest effective brightness values of the object

Partition system is a kind of “language”, which enables us to make a more accurate oral description of the influence changes. Learning partition system not only enables us to imagine the lighting effect in advance, but also provides us with a method to analyze, understand and discuss the film image according to its brightness arrangement.

Such a language can be used to discuss the relationship between the change of tone and the characteristic curve and the image on the screen. This kind of language is the (zone system) incidence method, which has been used in the field of photography for a long time. The reflection method is carried out by measuring the reflected light from the subject to the camera and the brightness range of the subject.

Overall impression:

in order to achieve the visual style, we need to use a strong, high-profile, brilliant, appropriate color saturation and larger depth of field impression.

Subject / background ratio: the ratio effect will vary with the scene, but low ratio is rarely used to get that high-profile, shiny look.

Exposure: arrange the brightness range of the subject on the characteristic curve of the negative film to ensure that the density increment of all brightness from black to white is proportional to the brightness increment of the original subject. Overexposure: it means that the brightness range of the subject is arranged too high on the characteristic curve.

Underexposure occurs when the bright spot range of the subject is arranged too low on the characteristic curve, which makes the resolution of the dark tone insufficient and the scale of the bright tone wasted.

Illumination contrast ratio refers to the comprehensive comparison of all the above ratios, and it is also the comparison between the highest value and the darkest value. Object illumination ratio (illumination ratio) refers to the first ratio above, the ratio between the light surface and the shadow surface of a subject. “Contrast ratio”, “illumination ratio” and “fill ratio”. Phiilip court uses “illumination ratio” and “illumination contrast ratio”. Anton Wilson used “illumination rate”.

The subject / background ratio range refers to the second ratio listed above. The difference of illumination intensity is expressed by the ratio between the object plane and other planes (mainly the background plane). Also known as “ritsko,” “Miller,” and “court.”.

Over illumination means that too much light is used, especially for the actors, too much supplementary light and outline light, and the tendency to use too high intensity light for the background.

Key tone:

the most important section in cinematography. The middle range and height range reflect most of the facial tone and height shadow, so they are the most important.

Auxiliary light:

in this book, it represents a special type of contour light, which is used with the main light in three-quarters forward position and comes from three-quarters backward position. This term is also commonly used in the United States to represent contourlet, which is more commonly used in the United Kingdom.

The auxiliary light is also used to highlight selectively a part of the lens, for example, a perfume bottle in a commercial advertisement. This type of auxiliary light does not have to come from a backward position.

Sensitivity range:

The traditional term for the length of the linear portion of the characteristic curve projected on the loge axis, measured in loge units. It is the same as the loge range of the straight part, but it will be discussed in more detail. Sensitivity range is a regrettable term, because even if the contrast of the subject is low, it will show an exposure error.

The sensitivity range has nothing to do with the “reasonable tolerance”, but with the projection length of the straight line on the loge axis. We should avoid using this term and replace it with “length of straight line part” and “logarithmic range of straight line part”.

Light source direction:

refers to the lighting direction in a specific layout with the camera / subject axis as the reference. This is usually determined by the arrangement of the main light. The direction of the light source is also called the angle of light incidence. The direction of light source has an important influence on the number of shadow areas in a frame.

Lighting:

technically, lighting is the creation or control of the brightness range of the subject. Exposure establishes the relationship between the brightness range of the subject and the emulsion. Aesthetically speaking, lighting is the use of light on the subject to create the desired image mood and meaning. These are simple definitions, but the whole book is full of branches.

Illumination contrast ratio:

it is a comprehensive term of various illumination ratios used in movies — subject illumination ratio, subject / background ratio and subject brightness range. It is the comparison between the highest value and the dark value, and it is a combination of the above three ratios. Illumination rate is often used to represent what we call the illumination rate of the subject.

Perception:

refers to the surface properties of the image, its special style. From the impression made by Almendros in the film dsys of heaven to the commercial advertisement of modern music TV box, the impression of an image can be obtained and encountered instantaneously is the basis of lighting style.

Low-key:

Low profile is the opposite of high profile. Low-key effects include shadows and a lot of dark tones, and are accompanied by mystery, gloomy, and dark tones. Like high-key, low-key is also a subjective term used to mark and enhance midtones and deep tones, with only a small area of bright lighting layout.

Brightness:

refers to the actual amount of light reflected by a specific subject under a given amount of illumination measured in feet Lambert. For example, if a subject is illuminated by 100 foot candle incident light, a subject with 90% reflectivity will reflect 90 foot Lambert light. In the final analysis, the subject constitutes a series of brightness values, which we must reproduce on the emulsion.

Luminous object:

an object having a photographic luminance value independent of incident light. The main light sources are fire, light bulb, neon lamp, fluorescent, candle and “luminous objects”, such as TV, photo slide board, stained glass window, computer monitor, sunset, sun in fog, etc. A large area of light in a lens can also be like the presence of a luminous object, which has an important influence on the exposure discussed in this paper.

Intermediate density point:

if the top and bottom of the characteristic curve are projected horizontally onto the density axis, we get two density points of the photosensitive emulsion. The middle density point is in the middle of this density point. The incident light meter is designed to set the interval 5. The reflectance of gray and 18% is the middle density point on the characteristic curve.

Medium gray:

Hurter and Driffield calculated that the average of all naturally formed diffuse reflectance is an 18% reflectance. This is called medium gray and is used as the basis for an interval of 5 exposures.

Creative lighting:

Lighting that appears to come from a particular light source, such as a window, a desk lamp or a ceiling lamp.

The light source is either within the lens or can be clearly identified. In some cases, photographers make up a seemingly real and imaginary light source based on our common lighting experience. Lighting without creative light source may come from anywhere, which is often more symbolic than the reality of creative lighting.

Natural light:

Lighting principles believe that we should light lenses as they are found in nature and daily life. Natural light method was very popular in 1960s and 1970s. The introduction of high-speed lens and relatively fast film emulsion made it possible. Philosophically speaking, the natural light method is a response to the exaggerated and overemphasized photographic lighting in the 1940s and 1950s.

Normal exposure:

interval 5 exposure is the normal exposure in the movie, which arranges the brightness of interval 5 in the subject at the middle density point on the characteristic curve, so as to ensure the accurate reproduction of the key intermediate interval. Other intervals are arranged just outside the key points. Of course, falling at the top and bottom of the range and distortion.

Overall brightness range:

the same as the brightness range of the subject – the ratio between the maximum effective brightness value and the minimum effective brightness value. The overall brightness range of the subject is often extended to 500:1 or more.

Overexposed:

The brightness range of the subject is arranged too high on the characteristic curve. It makes the dark tones lighter and the bright tones are compressed, resulting in an illusory representation of the object. The overall effect of such an image is blurry.

Excessive lighting

Refers to the tendency to use too much light, especially the use of too much contour light and supplementary light for the actors, and the tendency to use too high intensity light for the background, resulting in a lower subject background ratio. Excessive lighting will destroy the inherent mood of an actual location and inhibit the creation of mood in a studio shooting situation.

Local lighting:

This is a kind of lighting technology popular in black, sensational events and other dramatic films in the 1940s and 1950s. The cinematographer blocks the light from the body to strengthen the actor’s face, and blocks the light from the forehead to focus the audience’s attention on the actor’s eyes.

Practical light source:

refers to the light source in the lens, such as a desk lamp, a candle or a light bulb. Practical light source is used to create creative lighting layout and as props, but generally not for lighting actors.

Prelighting:

a technique commonly used in feature films. It refers to the lighting electrician’s lighting for the next shooting site or scene when the film shooting is under the ground of an obviously illuminated shooting site.

Reflectance:

as with diffuse reflectance, most objects emit only a percentage of the light they emit. This property of an object is represented by the term diffuse reflectance or reflective system. We say that a white object has a 90% reflection system. A black object has a 4% reflection system, etc.

reflected light:

The light reflected from an object into our eyes. The reflected light is the light we see and the light we expose the film. The light reflected by an object can be measured with a reflection photometer in feet, and the unit is expressed in feet-Lambert.

Common movie lighting terms

Light incidence angle:

refers to the direction of illumination from a specific device, with reference to the camera / subject axis. Also called the direction of the light source.

 

Existing light:

the natural light of the shooting site. It may be outside sunlight or artificial light; for example, sunlight shining into a room from a window, or neon signs and street lights on the streets of a big city at night.

 

Background light:

light that illuminates the background with the same intensity as the main light. Sometimes it’s called set light.

 

False shadow:

Refers to the area that light can’t reach. Therefore, it is not a real shadow (caused by the object blocking the light), but a dark area on the subject that cannot be illuminated. In photography, it is equivalent to a shadow area. The false shadow is actually caused by the gradient of hue.

 

Range of brightness:

the range of brightness on the subject. In earlier terms, it refers to the overall range of brightness. We replace it with the term subject brightness range. Cast shadow: it is the standard shadow type. It is the shadow formed by an object or a person to block the light in a certain area of the lens.

 

Characteristic curve:

curve describing the reaction of photosensitive emulsion to light. During exposure, the cinematographer projects the brightness range of the subject onto the characteristic curve, which actually reproduces the brightness value as the corresponding density, first on the negative film, and then on the copy.

 

Swindle:

refers to the actor, props and lights slightly change position to get better effect. For example, having an actor turn around and get a more satisfying facial shadow, or moving a subject slightly to take a close-up of it. Deception implies that change won’t get the audience’s attention.

 

Eclectic exposure:

Exposure between the readings of the two poles, so as to retain the image tone of the two poles within the brightness range of the subject. A typical example is a person in front of a window. We read the light meter readings for the location and the exposure readings for the actors. Then exposure is made according to the intermediate value of the two. If we don’t have to compromise exposure, we can also line up the subject illumination where possible, making its brightness range easy to handle.

Diffuse reflectance or reflectance coefficient:

a percentage of the light reflected by most objects. This property of an object is represented by the term diffuse reflectance.

 

Exposure:

place the brightness range of the subject on the characteristic curve of the negative in a controllable way. In more technical terms, exposure is a scientific method to establish the relationship between the brightness range of the subject and the density value of the negative film and the final printing value.

 

Eye light:

it is used to make a reflection to make the eyes feel fresh. Eye light does not need to illuminate the whole subject from the angle of exposure, as long as the eyes have reflected light. The intensity of eye light is usually low. Any open incandescent bulb is enough. The eyes are often illuminated with main light and supplementary light, so there is no need to add additional eye light.

 

Facial tone arrangement:

it refers to the position of the face on the characteristic curve in the partition system. In the usual interval 5 exposure arrangement, the black facial tone is arranged in interval 4, the brown facial tone is arranged in interval 5, and the white facial tone is arranged in interval 6. Some cinematographers may set the facial tone to a higher or a lower range in order to have a good picture.

 

Sense:

refers to the emotional, subjective nuances of a lens – stanza

Play, texture, color and shadow tone value, so as to become an observer. For example, the lens is composed of emptiness, boredom, nostalgia and so on. Sense is used for the depth of image, which means grade.

 

Fill light:

It is used to control the black depth of shadow areas, especially the facial shadow areas. The main light determines the layout of shadows, and the fill light is used to illuminate those shadows to avoid the formation of new shadows. The fill light is almost always soft, even when the main light is hard, because the slow attenuation of soft light can provide more natural filling, and its effect is almost invisible.

 

Foot candle (fc):

the unit used by an incident light meter to measure incident light. Technically, when illuminated by a standard candle at a distance of one foot, the light reaches a surface of one square foot. Foot Lambert: a unit of reflected light used by narrow angle and average type reflectometer. Technically, light reflected by an ideal surface illuminated by a foot candle of light. The relationship between reflected light and incident light is as follows: ft Lambert = ft candle light × reflectivity.

 

Hair illumination:

direct illumination on the hair to enhance its backward and contour light. Commonly used in shampoo advertising and magic film shooting technology.

 

Hard light:

Term used to describe small, intense light sources, such as direct, high-intensity light from the sun. The inherent high illumination of hard light makes us think its shadow is very black and clear. Hard light is highly directional and concentrated, just like spotlight light. Direct sunlight, arc lights, elliptical and Fresnel spotlights are good hard lights source.

HDTV:

the rising TV technology has higher resolution than the existing TV system. It can provide higher quality TV images and compete with movies. The TV of this system will be in the form of large screen.

 

High key:

a term used to describe the lighting layout that produces a relaxed, bright and joyful overall mood. This term is subjectively used to represent an image with almost gray value.

 

High brightness method:

mainly concerned about the exposure method of high brightness tone arrangement.

 

Incident light:

light that illuminates an object. It can come directly from a light source: the sun, the sky or a light bulb, or it can be reflected from other objects onto an object. For example, the moon reflects light to the earth; a white wall reflects light around the room. The incident light meter measures the intensity of the incident light in foot candles.

Main light:

the light of the main subject, which sets the hue of the rest of the lighting and determines how the subject will be reproduced. Just as its name implies, the main light is the most important light source affecting the lens. It forms the lighting space logic and motivation source, and determines the position and shape of the facial shadow, so as to determine the overall image mood. Many light sources can be used to simulate the effect of a primary light.

 

Key tone method:

an exposure method that emphasizes certain key tones in exposure. In cinematography, facial tone is the most important. The middle region contains most of the facial tones, so when we arrange them on the characteristic curve, we should ensure that they have the best reproduction and the best resolution. Key tone method will be interval 4, 5. 6 is arranged in the middle of the characteristic curve.

Theoretically speaking, the key tone method is the same as the incident method discussed above. Conclusion: through exposure, we can arrange the key tone at the predetermined point on the characteristic curve; the rest of the interval will automatically fall on their respective positions.

The meaning of light for photography

Photography and videography are actually the art of light.

Very often we complain that the things we shoot are not aesthetically pleasing. Regardless of factors such as costumes and performances, perhaps the quality of the lighting can affect the beauty and texture of the picture to a large extent.

Therefore, how to illuminate the main body of the screen is a highlight of film and television lighting. British Free Spirit Film & TV company is a professional film and television production company. They summarized 10 suggestions for lighting the main body of the screen, hoping to help more people.

 

What I want to talk about today is the same as the previous film and television lighting series, how its content can make your subject look good in front of the camera (sometimes it takes a lot of help to achieve this). They are not very important techniques, but they are very useful.

Ten tips to make the subject look good:

1. Hard light, direct light is never flattering:

It all depends on what kind of video you want to shoot, but if you want a flattering light, I use diffusers (screen or woven fabric) and install them on the main light and fill light. If you do this, you must always maintain the ratio at 3:1, remembering that the main light must be stronger than the supplementary light. This technique has another advantage. If the main light is not too strong, the interviewee will not be so shy (this is very good, especially when lighting women).

 

2. Think about your background:

It’s not just about the people in the viewfinder, but what’s behind them. Be sure to pay attention to interesting backgrounds and be creative in lighting. But specifically, you have to pay attention to the shadow of the subject. Try to keep the subject (interviewee) away from the background, especially to avoid their head or body leaving unsightly shadows on the wall/background.

 

3. Not enough space? Increase the lamp position:

If you are shooting/interviewing in a relatively narrow place, you cannot keep the interviewee away from the background/wall to get rid of their shadows. At this time, raise the light. This will allow their body/head shadows to “fall” to the wall, away from the camera. Hurrah!

4. Main light position:

For interviews, I personally prefer to use the main light from the side of the interviewee so that the interviewee will look in the direction of the main light and avoid unsightly nose shadows.

 

5. There is no veil or spinning cloth? reflection:

Another way to provide soft fill light (not directly using screens or woven fabrics) is to use reflectors to reflect and diffuse light. If the wall of the room you are in is white, you can reflect the fill light to the wall, it will reflect on the interviewee and provide a very subtle and soft fill light.

 

6. Looks too boring? Try the light film:

You can use colored light film on the backlight, but make sure it is not too conspicuous: when doing interviews, the light straw (amber) light film works well, it will give people a pleasant luster. When shooting a TV series, you can bring several light films to make the scene beautiful (don’t use purple and green… of course, unless you’re making a zombie movie!)

7. Make your room without reflection:

If you shoot people with a soft focus lens, you must find the best position for the main light and fill light so that the light does not reflect into the soft focus lens.

 

8. Know your subject:

When shooting a series, you are likely to instruct the actors how to move within the frame. But in a documentary or interview, you will not interrupt those spontaneous moments. Therefore, if possible, it would be better for the interviewer to sit down before shooting. You will see how they move as they talk, and you can adjust the lighting accordingly (this is not always possible and depends on the nature of the interview).

 

9. Give the actors powder:

Remember, always prepare some neutral color powder and paper towels around, because people tend to sweat during interviews. Sweat can produce unattractive highlights and reflections, making the skin look greasy with an unpleasant glow. No one wants to sweat in front of the camera! So don’t worry, just ask them “Do you mind using powder to cover up some blemishes?” Maybe you will find yourself secretly passionate about makeup and styling (Of ​​course, it’s best to have a professional makeup artist on hand, but we Not always so extravagant)!

10. Bokeh:

Finally, building on the second point, keeping the subject away from the background will allow you to “defocus” the background. This is more obvious in telephoto lenses, and can create beautiful effects. In today’s world, “background bokeh” is king, and I think many readers will be keen on it!

Lighting Technologies

Film lighting technology can make commercial short films, movies or TV shows look more cinematic, and help stories jump off the screen.

Lighting technology is invaluable to filmmakers of any level.

For the director, lighting technology can help him communicate with the photographer more efficiently. For a writer, lighting technology can help him to design the text more carefully on paper to set the tone of the story. For the other staff on the set, it will take a lot of time to wait for everyone to adjust the lighting of the movie.

Therefore, it is very important for everyone on the set to understand the lighting technology of movies.

1. Natural lighting

First, let’s look at the light that does not need to be moved manually. These lights are in motion all the time. The definition of natural film lighting technology is the use of existing light. In most cases, a film will find a location surveyor before shooting, and then get site-related information, you also need to consider the daily shooting time on the location before shooting.

 

Summary of natural lighting:

Use reflectors or hoods to change the natural light.

Make sure you have done a location survey.

Consider the time spent on location each day.

 

2. Main lighting

The main light is the main light source of the scene, it is the strongest and most direct light source. Generally speaking, the main light will illuminate the subject.

 

 

About the main light:

Avoid placing the main light in front of the camera, as this will make the light dim and uninteresting.

The main light behind the subject can be used to create a dramatic effect.

The main light is the main light in the three-point lighting.

 

3. High-profile lighting

The definition of high-key lighting is a lighting method for movies, television or photography, which reduces the proportion of lighting in the scene. In the original film, high-key lighting was used to handle the contrast of the lighting, but now it is used by filmmakers to adjust the mood and tone of a scene.

About high-profile lighting:

Dominated by white tones under bright lights.

Minimize the use of black and mid-tones.

The color tone can be optimistic or hopeful.

Used for lighting of many popular music videos.

 

4. Low-key lighting 

The definition of low-key lighting is a cinematic lighting style that uses a hard light source to enclose the scene in shadows. Low-key lighting needs contrast and darkness.

 

Regarding low-key lighting:

Dark tones, including black and shadows.

The picture has a sharp contrast.

Used to show ominous and warning in black or thriller films.

 

5. Supplemental lighting

The fill light fills in the shadows caused by the main light. The fill light is placed on the other side of the main light, usually not as strong as the main light.

 

About fill light:

Fill in the shadows caused by the main light.

It may be its characteristic that it does not produce shadows.

 

Three-point lighting:

The main light, backlight and fill light constitute three-point lighting. Three-point lighting is a standard lighting method commonly used in visual media. By using three separate positions, photographers can illuminate the subject in any way they want, while also controlling the shadows produced by direct lighting.

 

6. Backlighting

Backlight refers to illuminating light from behind actors or objects. It is placed at a higher position than the object it illuminates. The backlight is used to separate objects or actors from the background, and the backlight gives the picture a three-dimensional effect.

 

Regarding backlighting:

The sun is a good backlight, you can use reflectors or reflect sunlight back to the subject with a smaller intensity.

If the backlight is placed behind the actor at an angle, the backlight is called “contour light”.

7. Practical light source

What if you want to use a light source in a location? Consider things like lamps, candles, and even TV sets, which are usually referred to as practical light sources when used. Most of these equipment are added to the set by the set designer to help create the atmosphere.

 

About practical light sources:

Consider using multiple practical light sources to assist in illuminating the subject.

Count the number of available sockets in each location.

Ensure that the color temperature matches.

8. Strong light

Strong light is a very strong light that is produced by a light source or a direct beam of sunlight. This kind of light produces sharp shadows and rough lines. You can use it to attract people’s attention anywhere in the picture, especially on the subject. It can also create silhouettes and highlights.

About strong light:

You can use a diffuser or hood to block it.

Any content in the screen will be highlighted.

Produces great shadows.

 

9. Soft light

Soft light is not a strict definition of a light source. Soft light is an aesthetic that photographers use to eliminate shadows and reproduce the subtle light from external light sources.

 

About Soft Light:

It can be used as a fill light.

It can add youthfulness to a person’s face.

Gives a sense of illusion in reality.

 

10. Reflected light

You can use a white board or white card to reflect the sun, lights or any lighting tools in the movie to highlight the subject in the picture in an indirect way. Using reflected light can produce a larger area and evenly distributed light. If used in the right way, the reflected light can also be used as soft light, fill light, top light, metering, and even backlight.

 

About reflected light:

It can be used in any type of movie lighting.

Produced by direct light and indirect reflection.

Highlight the subject through the reflection of light.

11. Side light or chiaroscuro lighting

Just like its name, side light refers to the light that enters the frame from the side to highlight a person or object. It is often used to add drama and atmosphere to the scene.

 

Many people refer to side lighting as chiaroscuro lighting. In order to achieve a contrast between light and dark, a strong contrast and low tones are needed to emphasize the outline of the subject. If the side light is used to fill the scene, then it may be necessary to reflect light or use high-tone effects for processing.

 

About side light:

Used to highlight people or objects.

In the case of non-diffusion of light, strong shadows may be produced.

Can produce contrast effect.

12. Simulated lighting

Assuming that no natural light can be found in the shooting scene, simulated lighting can be used at this time. Simulated lighting is a technology that imitates natural light sources. This means it can replace sunlight, moonlight, street lights, and even car headlights. You can use a hood or reflected light to make them more natural.

About simulated lighting:

Used to imitate natural elements.

It can be changed with any tool in the set.

13. Ambient light

Unless you are shooting in a dark night or a built indoor scene, there will always be some sunlight, lights, or overhead light penetrating the picture. This kind of light is called ambient light. So you need to consider the light around the scene when shooting, especially when shooting outdoors or near windows.

As time changes, the ambient light will also change, so consider this when shooting a scene for a long time.

Regarding ambient light:

Be sure to take time into consideration when shooting.

The ambient light here refers to the light entering the picture.

Brief Introduction to Film Art

From the perspective of cultural form, the film and television culture itself is a comprehensive culture involving sociology, psychology, aesthetics, art and art, communication and other social sciences and humanities.

From the perspective of cultural value orientation, film and television art embodies the integration of elegant art and popular art. From the perspective of the uniqueness of film and television communication and the complexity and inclusiveness of the audience, film and television art has the most extensive and complex audience groups, which can also be said to reflect the integration of different cultural classes, races, groups, gender and age.

Of course, generally speaking, the synthesis in the theoretical circle is mainly from the perspective of the integration of film art and other art means. It is precisely this that deserves careful treatment.

Dialectically speaking, although the so-called “synthesis” is “the combination of things of different kinds and different properties”, it is by no means simply pieced together, arranged and added together. To borrow a philosophical concept, this kind of synthesis is a kind of “heterogeneous assimilation”, that is, assimilating other things of different texture into an organic whole, which is a high-level synthesis, that is, combination or integration.

Therefore, film and television art is neither a record of one or more independent artistic forms of performance, nor a simple addition or superposition of various artistic or non artistic forms. In the final analysis, a necessary and core element or stage of film and television art is photography or video, that is, film and television. In other words, all kinds of artistic elements in the film are an integration of the image recorded on the film by the machine and the sound or music on the tape.

After entering the film and television art, all kinds of arts have undergone fundamental changes. It can be said that they have lost the significance of independent existence. They have become the basic elements of film and Television Art: sound, light, color, picture, movement, editing and so on. Many of the so-called similarities can only be understood, not explained, and can not be empirically proved.

 

The effect of light on film art

From a certain point of view, light is the first element of film and television art, and the basic medium of film and television art, because it is light that enables us to “see”. But light also has expressiveness, light is also ideographic, and it is also one of the elements of film language. From the perspective of film screen, light is also a factor of composition or modeling. The director can also use light to induce the audience’s attention and perception direction.

There are many ways to use light in movies. According to the light level, it can be divided into smooth light, side light, top light, bottom light, etc.

According to the light quality, it can be divided into concentrated light, astigmatism, soft light, hard light, etc.

According to the direction of light, it can be divided into front light (front light source), side light (front light source), backlight (light source behind) and bottom light (light source below).

According to the brightness of light, it can be divided into strong light and weak light. According to light dimming, it can be divided into low dimming and high dimming.

All light has its own color (a beam of light refracted by a prism can be divided into seven colors). The generation and change of any color cannot do without light.

The creative conception and artistic expression of film art are always accompanied by the means and charm of light. The thinking of the play, the director’s overall design and scene handling, the actors’ actions and expressions are all closely related to the existence and restriction of light.

With the evolution of the world film form, the effect, technique and aesthetic consciousness of light in the film are constantly evolving, forming the concept of light corresponding to the film concept and film language in different periods.

The study of the concept of light in film is also an in-depth study of the nature of film. This proposition is not only the category of film entity aesthetics, but also the category of film form aesthetics.

The Influence of Painting Art on the Concept of Film Light

First of all, we should pay attention to the influence of painting tradition on the concept of film light. From the Renaissance movement in Europe to the end of the 19th century, the concept of light in painting developed and evolved.

From the works of Italian Renaissance masters, we can see the strong desire and achievements of human beings to pursue the means of expression of light and color, as well as the limitations of the understanding of the law of light in painting at that time. Botticelli and Da Vinci Michelangelo’s paintings have perfect shape and overall color, but the concept of light is still in the great enlightenment stage.

The characteristic of the light concept marked by Rembrandt’s art is to solve the problem of object expression under the specific indoor light source. It was not until the Impressionism period of European painting in the late 19th century that human beings really understood and freely mastered the light color relationship under the outdoor natural light source.

The contribution of Impressionism is to liberate human beings from the frame of brown classical painting and go to the sunny nature. Their endless training in different light conditions for the same object is a thorough experiment to simulate the natural light effect before the camera was born.

After the early period of no light effect, the film entered the stage of dramatic light. As a complete photographic style, dramatic lighting was formed in the period of sound film.

The emergence of sound and the free and extensive use of lines made the film close to drama again, and the conflict law became the main form of film structure in this period. The dramatic light effect in photography is derived from this film form.

According to the viewpoint and aesthetic taste of traditional drama or painting art, it uses lighting tools (or processing of natural light) to create an effect with specific modeling intention. It does not pay attention to the basis of the light source and the reproduction of the natural form of light effect, but more emphasis on its artificial effect to serve the specific drama content. For this reason, it uses a lot of light or decorative light, even for a certain detail (such as a look or a garment pattern).

Dramatic lighting

Dramatic lighting has played a favorable role in promoting the development of film art and enriching the expressive force of film modeling. However, the excessive dependence and infatuation on the strong artificial light effect has become the tendency of Hollywood people to dramatize.

The resulting aesthetic taste and the concept of light use is a kind of rigid artificial mode, which in turn hinders the evolution of artistic skills and cognitive functions, and fully illustrates the rationality and inevitability of the evolution from dramatic light effect to natural light effect.

It is the practice of Italian Neo realism that leads to the appearance of natural light effect in films as a kind of concept. The importance of this film school lies in the guidance of a clear aesthetic program. In addition to the documentary features in theme, theme, drama actors and so on, the aesthetic requirement of this school in photography is natural light effect.

The light effect of the picture is almost the true representation of the light distribution in the natural form. The direction of light source, the configuration of light and shadow, and the ratio of light and shade are similar to the light in real life. There are few false light effects, and decorative light is rarely used. This makes light a very harmonious factor in the unified and complete documentary style.

In contemporary films, light effect has been more widely used, even in new forms such as animation and animated films. In animation, lighting can be a subjective, imposed, or even “random” modeling element: the light conditions in a scene or even a lens can change.

For example, in the mirror language system of the prince of Egypt, there are many places where the lamp positions are not unified in one scene. In lens 1 of the opening paragraph, the deep shadow of the head of the Pharaon in the background is the obvious top light effect.

However, in lens 2, the light effect is bright, so it is obviously impossible to have the top light source of the previous lens. Another example is the meeting between sister and Moses. The whole scene is cold blue.

Only when sister starts to sing a lullaby, the sister in the camera suddenly appears in a warm light. When Moses stops at the pillar on the cold way back to the palace and begins to sing monologue, the subjective and sudden light hits his face to depict the psychology of the characters at this time.

This kind of illogical, subjective and arbitrary lighting treatment, if used in feature films, will not only make the audience feel false, but also is not easy to realize in technology. However, due to the advantages of animation technology, this kind of light mutation can be easily achieved now.

With the increasing use of light, the film for people’s sensory comfort needs to meet the unprecedented height. However, from the current variety of changes in this technique and its affinity with various genres of film, the use of light in film has broad prospects for development.

A photo studio is a special building for filming movies. In the history of film, the earliest photo studio used daylight was a metal and wood frame and a glass ceiling. The usable area in the studio is generally 500~5000 square meters.

The photo studio is the most important production place for shooting interior scenes in a film studio. Different economic systems, social environments and production conditions may result in different forms and scales of studios. The early studio was just a “big shed” with only a ceiling and a scaffolding, and all sides leaking. Hence the name of China’s “photo studio”.

Main facilities of the studio

Roof construction

It provides conditions for setting up, lighting, power distribution and hoisting, and is an important part of the studio. In the most primitive studios, only the temporarily needed positions of the roof truss were installed with wooden squares for the purpose of hanging light panels, fixing the scenery, and hoisting props. Because the operator is working at height, it is very unsafe. Later, overpasses were gradually installed in or under the roof truss. The flyover can be set up vertically, horizontally, and vertically and horizontally, and is equipped with protective railings for safety. However, there is still a gap between the flyover and the flyover, and there are still inconveniences during work.

Later, it developed into a grid-type (or bar-grid) roof, making the entire roof a workbench where various tasks can be carried out everywhere, so that the work of setting up scenery and lighting is more flexible, effective, fast and safe. The sky bridge and the top of the gate can be made of wood, which is light in structure and low in cost. It can also bear weight. The most important thing is that it can quickly and effectively fix the scenery on the wooden bracket with a simple method, but the fire resistance is poor. It can also be made of steel or reinforced concrete, which is strong and fire-resistant, and has a large load-bearing capacity, but the self-weight is large, and the setting cannot be fixed with nails. The use of metal connectors is laborious and inflexible. Lifting on the flyover generally uses an electric crane that can move along the track; the top of the grid uses a light electric winch, but it cannot move along the track.

Light board and bracket

In film and photography lighting, light panels and light panel holders are widely used, while suspender lights and suspended tube-type chandeliers are rarely used. The light board is a platform for placing lamps and lanterns, and the light board rack is an appliance for hanging the light board. Most of the light boards are made of wood, which can be assembled with several wooden boards, or can be formed as a whole piece of light board. The four corners of the light board are hung on the sky bridge or the top of the grid by the light board frame. The light board frame can be made of rigid metal strips or wooden strips, or flexible ropes, wire ropes, iron chains, etc.

The rigid light board frame is easy to fix and can reduce shaking; the flexible light board is easy to adjust the position. With the development of science and technology, the weight of lighting equipment has been reduced, and new light sources have begun to be used, but the operation method is usually still manual. Because the telescopic boom system that can be rotated, pitched, lifted, and moved by remote control is often difficult to adjust to the exact position and angle required, it is expensive and complex to maintain, which is not practical. Most of the power configuration systems used for lighting are set up on flyovers or grid tops, with the goal of reducing the congestion of the site as much as possible. The light can be turned on and off appropriately using remote control equipment.

Ground layout

In the old days, the most commonly used in the studio was the dirt floor, because it was economical and easy to use, it could dig pits, nail piles, the ground was stable, and there was no vibration. However, dust is easy to fly when in use, it is difficult to set up a scene and level, and it is more troublesome to lay the track for photography.

The cost of wooden floor is relatively high, and there are two ways to lay it. One is to lay a thicker wooden floor, on which you can easily push and pull the camera cart and the large microphone stand; it can reduce the humidity in the studio, which is conducive to the drying of the scenery and the sky after the color is painted. When shooting rainy scenes, it is not To muddy, easy to keep clean.

The other is a wooden block ground. The wooden blocks are laid in vertical patterns, which can bear weight without deformation, and can be nailed with scenery sheets. This kind of ground can use short wood, saving wood. However, the vertical grain wood block is easy to expand when exposed to moisture, so it must be processed by oil immersion, and pay attention to maintenance during use.

Mud ground and wooden ground have their own advantages and disadvantages, which can be selected according to needs. In a studio with several studios, some use dirt floors and some use wooden floors as needed. No matter what kind of ground, a circle of concrete ground should be laid within 3 to 4 meters wide from the wall. Some also set up a circle of drainage ditches on the concrete floor in front of the sky curtain.

There are two types of studios that can be used for simultaneous recording and those that are not used for simultaneous recording. Due to the different requirements for use, the two studios are very different in construction. The main studios of movie studios should generally be able to be used for simultaneous recording, but the ones that cannot be recorded simultaneously are only individual, and their area is generally not large, for some sporadic shooting or special effects photography. However, an extra-large studio with an area of about 1,500 square meters for shooting large scenes or simulating outdoor scenes generally does not require additional conditions for simultaneous recording.

Wall and roof

No matter what kind of studio, the structure of its walls and roof should meet the requirements of general construction. In addition, the studio for simultaneous recording also needs to meet the requirements of sound insulation, and the noise level in the studio must be less than 35 decibels. At the same time, it requires a short reverberation time to improve the clarity of speech recording and make it possible to reproduce the outdoor sound effect. Therefore, both the inside of the wall and the ceiling should have high sound absorption capacity.

 

Door and window settings

The photo studio usually opens a working gate for transporting scenery, props, lighting equipment, etc. A small door can be opened on the working gate to facilitate the entry and exit of the staff. In addition, a small door leading to the actor’s lounge or dressing room can be added, which doubles as a safety door. In areas with high humidity, consider opening two doors to facilitate air convection and keep the shed dry.

The size of the working gate is based on the principle that the largest setting can be entered and exited. For studios that record at the same time, the door should have strict sound insulation requirements. Two methods are generally used: one is to use a door bucket with double doors. In addition to the sound insulation treatment of the door leaf and door cracks, sound-absorbing materials are also installed in the door bucket to form a combined door that can isolate external noise; The door leaf uses a multi-layer structure, and damping materials are filled between the layers, and the door joints are inflated and sealed with elastic materials or rubber tubes.

Ventilation facilities

In order to eliminate the heat generated by the lighting and other equipment in the studio and the smoke generated when the smoke is used in shooting, the studio is equipped with ventilation and exhaust equipment. However, the vents of the ventilation equipment, the return air vents and the exhaust vents of the exhaust equipment affect the sound insulation of the recording studio in the same period. Therefore, mufflers and anechoic chambers should be provided in the ventilation ducts to reduce the noise from the ventilating machine room; the return air and exhaust vents should also be set up anechoic chambers to prevent the intrusion of external noise.

Development Overview

Depending on the nature and scale of the movie studio, the number, area, and combination of studios vary.

The number and area of studios required by a film company depend on the company’s annual average output and the types of films it produces. The number of required studios can be calculated based on factors such as the number of meters in the studio for different film types, the area of the scenery, the shooting period, and the turnover rate of the studio. Most of the studios are rectangular, with an applicable area of approximately 700-1000 square meters and a height of 10-13 meters. Generally, 2 to 3 large sets can be built.

In a film company with several studios, two or three studios are often built into a group, which is conducive to reasonable scheduling and full utilization, so that two film crews can work in one group at the same time. In order to shorten the set-up time in the studio, a set-up room is set up near the studio or in the set-up workshop. The various parts of the set are made first, and then sent to the studio for assembly.

Some rooms directly related to the shooting work should also be arranged around the studio to facilitate contact work.

The application status of real-life studios

The construction of real-life studios is different from environmental art and home decoration. The production materials, production methods, and design concepts are all different. The methods and materials used in environmental art are all outdoors, and all the materials are connected so that they cannot be disassembled in the same way as in interior decoration. Various materials such as sand, gravel, cement, wood planks, etc. cannot be reused and cause waste. In addition, Also consider the use of light in the studio’s real depth of field, the camera position of the photographer, the color transition of the real indoor scene, the rationality of the scene layout, the grasp of the three-dimensional space, and so on.

It is necessary to combine craftsmanship and decoration structure. Huang Jing’s professional knowledge of art, indoor photography, and fine arts, combined with long-term production experience, can design a real scene that is easy to install and disassemble, so that the real scene studio can be used to maximize its effect.

Selection of venues for setting up real-life studios

(1) In the upper floor or basement of the photo studio, it is beneficial to management and process. The area is 200-350 square meters, the height of the room is 3.5 meters or more, and the fewer pillars, the better;

(2) Rent a factory or buy land in the suburbs to build a photography base with an area of 400-600 square meters. Or thousands of square meters. It is divided into dress area, makeup area, rest and waiting area and post-production area. The height of the room is 4.5-5.5 meters.

The choice of setting up a landscape in a real-life studio

(1) Generally, there are 5-8 large scenes and 3-4 small scenes; there are more real scene bases.

(2) Choose landscapes that are rich in romance and long-term popularity, or have poetic and cultural characteristics;

(3) The color tones should be crossed between warm and cold, considering the actual shooting of white gauze, evening gifts, and ancient costumes;

(4) When designing a real-life studio for children’s studios, while fully embodying the warm and artistic atmosphere, room temperature and safety should also be considered. The corresponding air-conditioning, floor heating and other heating equipment should be planned according to the area of the shed.

Lighting art, lighting technology and combination

No matter for the needs of technology or art, light is the source of all visual arts, film and television art is the art of light, and light is the “soul” of film and television art. Without the existence of light, all visual arts can not be mentioned. Light and color are not only sensitive factors that affect the material world, but also a kind of aesthetic experience and aesthetic consciousness of creators Because light and color create rhythm, create atmosphere, form different artistic styles, through light and color show, depict characters, express the theme.

TV lighting is the expression of the most three-dimensional space, not only to improve the clarity of the picture, but also the vivid expression of art. We can use the size of light ratio and the change of color to show all levels of the object, so as to achieve the artistic purpose and artistic feeling of modeling.

In the actual second creation, lighting can block the secondary objects in the painting, highlight the main body, have nothing to do with the plot, weaken, guide the audience’s visual attention, beautify or uglify the characters.

Lighting can truly reproduce life and give the audience a sense of reality. For example, use the time flow of light shows, seasonal changes, and weather changes to illustrate the environment and scenes.

Light has the function of psychological realization and freehand brushwork. Through the change of light and shade and color, it can make people’s emotions more vivid and reveal people’s personality and psychological state.

The freehand brushwork of light (symbolism, praise, direction, interest) can not only render and set off the environmental atmosphere (cheerful, warm, mysterious, thrilling, terrifying, lonely, elegant, solemn) but also deepen the connotation of the work.

In modern programs, the use of light can also stimulate different emotions of the audience, which is the integration of the audience’s observation psychology and program content, and cause resonance.

Flat light high-tone method

Flat light high-tone method gives a relaxed, concise and cheerful atmosphere, which makes people feel clean, elegant, beautiful and thorough. The lighting mainly uses soft flat light, with strong objectivity. It mainly gives basic lighting to the environment, reflects the pure color of the object itself, and shows the external characteristics of the object and the environment. The three-dimensional sense and texture of the object mainly depend on their own light tone changes. Because the object has no shadow, it is eye-catching and conspicuous. A large number of neutral gray to white tone transition, constitute a high-profile picture.

Three point light distribution method

A classical method of light distribution. It uses the main light, auxiliary light and backlight to distribute light to the subject, and consciously creates shadow on the subject’s face to make it have light and dark changes, but the overall tone does not exceed the dynamic range of the camera, and it can also make the subject and the background distinct. This kind of light distribution method does not fix the three kinds of light in a certain position.

It determines the position of the main light and the auxiliary light according to the face shape of the subject. In fact, besides the three kinds of light, it also uses some decorative light to cover up or highlight some characteristics. This lighting method is suitable for a single host lighting, cheap photography equipment, the number of subjects, light efficiency is not easy to control.

Realistic light, freehand light

Realistic light and freehand light are two different ways of expression in TV lighting.

Realistic light is mainly used to express the concept of time or environment (such as sunlight through doors and windows, lightning light, flame light, indoor lighting, candlelight, bonfire light). It is close to life, has strong credibility to the audience, and the light is readable. It is conducive to realistic light, which can make the atmosphere of the picture stronger To exaggerate the emotions and atmosphere of the characters and express their emotions. Increase the interest of the picture in art.

Freehand brushwork sometimes shows some kind of symbol, metaphor, implication, some subjective idea of the creator, reflects the specific emotions of the characters, and implies the inner activities of the characters, which not only makes the picture more profound, but also further deepens the theme of the work.

Color Temperature, Meaning, Function, Balance and Low CCT

Color temperature is the concept of spectral component of light source, which is a sign of light color, not the temperature of pipeline, in Kelvin (k). The function of color temperature is a physical quantity used to define the color of light source in lighting optics. The balance of color temperature generally refers to: the color temperature of the light source used is consistent with that of the camera; the color temperature of several different light sources in the same scene is consistent; the color temperature of the bright part of the subject in sunlight is consistent with that of the light auxiliary light used in the dark part, etc.

The ways to balance the color temperature are as follows: 1. Balance the color temperature of light source and camera, 2. Balance the color temperature of several different light sources in a scene, 3. Under the paper light illumination of natural light, the dark part of the subject sometimes needs to add auxiliary light illumination to express and emphasize the dark part level.

The standard sunlight color temperature is 5400k and the fluorescent light color temperature is 3200K. Reduce color temperature: add orange red paper in front of high color temperature light source, improve color temperature: add blue paper in front of low color temperature light source.

Without the interference of external light source, it is necessary to add a blue filter in front of the 3200K tungsten filament lamp to improve the color temperature of the lamp to more than 5000K.

Lighting purpose and task

Lighting is an important means to complete the television production technology, and then realize the picture art modeling. Its main tasks are as follows:

1. To meet the basic requirements of illuminance in the early stage of video recording technology,
2. To use the artistic modeling of light King City picture,
3. To highlight the main scenes and main characters,
4. To reproduce the atmosphere of the environment and emphasize the concept of time,
5. To meet the needs of comedy performance,
6. To meet the needs of visual language rhetoric.

Classification, advantages and functions of reflectors

Reflectors are generally divided into two types: soft reflective and unidirectional reflective. The former light quality is scattered light, no projection, delicate level and soft effect, while the latter light quality is hard light, obvious projection and long projection distance.

The advantages are:

1) normal light color,

2) direct or indirect use of sunlight,

3) simple production and convenient carrying.

The functions are as follows:

1. Soft contrast and realistic dark level,
2. Correcting color deviation and striving for color unification,
3. Moving light effect,
4. Correcting insufficient sunlight to achieve lighting balance,
5. Simulating real effect light,
6. Making base light in the field.

Characteristics and functions of spotlight

Spotlight lamps include spotlight, return light, tracking light and so on. These lamps have high luminous intensity and brightness, and can form obvious shadow on the surface of objects. They play a “leading role” in studio lighting and are often used as the main light and contour light of characters or scenes. This kind of lamp belongs to hard light type.

1. The distance of ray casting is far, which has some characteristics of sunlight,
2. It can be used as “surface” lighting to explain the number and scale of people or scenes. You can also do “point on” lighting to reflect the key points of lighting and highlight the part of the scene or characters,
3. The color temperature of the light is normal, and the surface color of the object is pure, which can obtain good picture effect; 4. After adding soft paper or frosted glass in front of the lamp, it can be used as mountain light, which can be used for multiple purposes.

Light ratio and tone

Light ratio refers to the ratio of brightness value or illuminance value between light and dark formed on the subject. The light ratio determines the brightness and contrast of the picture, and determines the formation of different tones and tones of the picture, so as to show different modeling effects and artistic atmosphere.

Color, also known as hue, is the most basic feature of color. Color is used to show the main difference between colors or the difference between color and achromatic. (for example, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo violet and other colors in the spectrum indicate different colors) different colors can be marked by the corresponding wavelength of their spectral colors. Different wavelengths of light to the human eye caused by color stimulation. In artistic creation, color is often divided into two categories: warm tone and collar tone. So color is also called hue.

Hue, is the most basic feature of color. It is also known as tone in film and television works. It is the general name of color in film and television pictures, or a kind of configuration. Generally, a work should be dominated by a certain color, so that the picture has a certain color tendency. The factors that determine the hue of the picture are: the color characteristics of the subject, and the lighting conditions. The hue can be divided into red, green, yellow, blue, etc. according to the color. According to the brightness, it can be divided into high tone, dark tone and middle tone. According to the cold and warm, it can be divided into cold tone, warm tone and middle tone. The hue of a work should be unified and harmonious.

Color rendering and saturation

The degree of light source’s rendering of object’s color is called color rendering, that is, the fidelity of color. The light source with high color rendering has a better representation of color, and the color we see is closer to the natural primary color. The light source with low color rendering has a worse representation of color, and the color deviation we see is also larger.

The light source can restore the solid and colored characteristics of objects. Due to different light sources, the colors of objects illuminated by light sources are not the same.

Saturation is sometimes called color purity. Saturation paper color bright degree, can also refer to a certain color and the same brightness of the achromatic (black and white gray) degree of difference. If a color contains more color components and less achromatic components, the color will be saturated; on the contrary, if it contains less color components and more achromatic components, the color will focus on the unsaturated state.

The factors that affect the color saturation are: 1 different lighting, the color saturation of the object will have different changes. The surface structure of the object also has a direct effect on the saturation. 3. The farther the object is from the point or lens, the lower the color saturation will be due to the increase of the medium in the space. 4 different seasons also affect the color saturation. The relationship between color saturation and lightness is relative, sometimes the lightness is high but the saturation is not high.

Brightness and illumination

Brightness represents the intensity of light emitted from the surface of an object. The intensity of light emitted per unit area is the brightness of the surface of the object. Unit ridge per square meter becomes nit (NT) 1nt = 1 ridge / m2. Brightness is an objective response to the light and dark levels of a picture, and it is also one of the factors of modeling and composition. The brightness of a scene depends on the strength of the light source. The correct expression of the brightness of a scene is not only of technical significance, but also of harmonious expression of the hue and tone of the picture in art. The brightness is related to the luminous direction of the subject. There are two factors that determine the brightness of an object: its ability to reflect strong light and its ability to reflect weak light.

Illuminance refers to the luminous flux received by the surface of the illuminated object per unit area, that is, the degree to which the surface of an object is illuminated, and the unit is lux. The light emitted to an object depends on the power and design of the light source and the distance from the object.

There are the following rules between them:

1. The illuminance is proportional to the luminous intensity of the light source. When the distance is constant, the stronger the light source is, the greater the illuminance is,
2. The illuminance on the surface of the object is related to the direction of light projection, the more vertical the intensity is,
3. Under the condition of point light source, the illuminance on the surface of the object is Inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the light source.

Film and television lighting can be divided into two categories, flash and continuous lighting. Continuous lighting has advantages, but there are also disadvantages. In film and television lighting, continuous lighting cannot be relied solely on.

 

Advantages of continuous lighting:

★It is cheap and a good starting point for anyone with a limited budget.

★You can directly see where the highlights, shadows and the main light are.

The main shortcomings of continuous lighting:

★It generates too much heat and makes the on-site staff feel very anxious!

★The light it produces is very different from daylight, and it can’t restore the true color of the subject.

What effect will this have in actual photography? We know that continuous light will generate a lot of heat, which will make you and your subject become very hot and troublesome. Because of the bright light brought by continuous lighting, it also closes the iris in the subject’s eyes, which is usually unacceptable. Because you can’t get a better portrait effect.

Artificial light is a commonly used supplementary light source for taking photos, but the color of the final photo is yellow! Because the human eye sees that the light emitted by the tungsten bulb is white on the surface, but this is not the case. Color temperature is a key indicator for determining the color of the light. In Kelvin, the color temperature of daylight is about 5,600K, while the color temperature of tungsten bulbs is closer to 3200K, which is warm white, so it appears yellow on the photo.

There are 3 ways to solve this problem: First, you can put a filter on the lens so that you can use any daylight film. Secondly, use a light filter to balance the color film.

These two solutions can temporarily solve the problem of yellowing photos, but their biggest problem is that as the tungsten filament in the bulb burns, it will leave a small amount of residue inside the glass casing. As the bulb ages, the color of the light gradually turns yellow. When you are using negative film or digital shooting, you can correct any color cast when printing, but slides cannot do this.

 

Black-and-white shooting is the third simple and effective method to solve the yellowing of photos.

We are very impressed.

Use ordinary onboard flash, except that if you install it on the camera, you can’t know the lighting effect, which is simply too bad!

 

The advantages of studio flash are adjustable power, beautiful appearance, high light consistency and flexible and diverse control methods.

Let’s take a look at these at once.

power

Commonly used flash units can release a huge amount of light in less than a second (usually about 1/2500 second!). For the average user, a flash with a power of 250, 300, 500, or 600 watts per second can usually meet most of the shooting needs. Joule is a measure of the power of a flash unit. Don’t be confused with the data in the user manual, this can be changed by changing the previous attachment! The power of 300 w/s is half of the power of 600 w/s, which is 1 f-stop. Therefore, if the 600w/s device is set to two meters away from the subject and the flashmeter reading you get is f/16, the 300w/s device in the same position will lower the aperture of f/11 .

 

Beautiful appearance

The flash unit of the studio is equipped with a continuous light, which is in a very obvious position in the general studio. Due to its positional flexibility, it can very accurately indicate the angle and quality of the flash when it fires, making your lighting easy to set up, because “what you see is what you want.”

Due to the relatively low power of this light, you will not encounter the heat or brightness issues involved in continuous lighting. The thing to remember is that the flash has stronger lighting, the shadows will be darker, and the highlights will be brighter. To avoid being blinded by what your eyes see when setting up the lighting, please shut down one eye (a camera has only one eye), and then tilt your eyelashes. This can increase the contrast you can see and is more like the contrast recorded by a camera. Remember to tell the model being photographed what you are doing, otherwise they may think you are weird!

 

consistency

As we said before, the tungsten bulb becomes more and more yellow when it burns. Every time the shutter is pressed, the flash will fire. The color of the light emitted by the flash tube will be balanced with the sunlight, which means that even if you use a slide film, you will You can use any film you like without filters.

 

control

The photography light has powerful functions, which is very good, but if you can’t control it, it is too wasteful! There are many types of photography lights. Even the simplest and cheapest studio flashes have at least a “full/half power” switch, and most will provide more control buttons. As we said before, if the power of the flash is reduced to half, the light output will be reduced by exactly 1 f level. By moving the magnetic head farther or closer to obtain more power, a simple magnetic head can be used to achieve a smaller power consumption reduction. The inverse square law basically means that if you move the light source twice as far away, you will lose two f-stops. For example, the camera lens is one meter away from the subject, ISO300 film is used, and the exposure is f/16. If we move the lens to two meters away, our exposure will be f/8, which is a reduction of two f-stops.