Films are made up of sequences. Sequences are made up of scenes. And scenes are made up of shots. In previous episodes, we
covered editing transitions, composition, and lighting fundamentals. Today, we'll focus
on cinematic lighting and different ways to light
subjects and their surroundings. "- Lights up." This is Episode 13
of "The Shot List". Cinematic lighting - Part 2. Hit subscribe and
enable notifications to get all future
episodes of the shot list. At the end of the video,
we'll explain how to download our free ebook
on cinematic lighting. In part one, we laid out the
fundamentals of cinematic lighting including the types of
light, the qualities of light, essential terminology, and the most commonly used
equipment when lighting a scene. In part 2, we'll provide a
step-by-step guide to lighting a scene starting with the various styles
and lighting setups for a subject. There are many
ways to light a subject. It all comes down to intention. How is the subject feeling? What do we want the audience
to understand about this character at this moment? This intention will guide
your lighting choices and while there are countless
ways to light a subject let's discuss the
most popular methods. Arguably, the most common way to light
a subject is with three-point lighting which has three light
sources directed at the subject. A key light, fill
light, and backlight. A key light is the primary
and strongest light. The fill light fills in the
shadows created by the key light. The final light in the
three-point setup is the backlight. This light is directed at
the subject from behind and creates a rim of light
around the subject's edges separating them
from the background. The fill light is usually less
strong and more diffused. To create a low-key image,
the fill light will be very dim or even non-existent. For a high-key or
low-contrast image, the fill will be closer in
strength to the key light. Negative fill is the
process of blocking any unwanted fill light to
increase the contrast. The difference between the fill and
the key will affect the contrast ratio which refers to the difference
between light and shadow in an image. This allows for a fill to
influence the mood of a scene. Types of backlights
include edge lights or kickers that focus on a particular
area of the subject. And hair lights are usually angled
down onto the subject's head to create highlights
in the hair. Catchlights sometimes
called eyelights are the tiny reflections of
a light source in the eyes which help give them
some life and depth. In this scene, from "The
Grand Budapest Hotel" Wes Anderson and
cinematographer Robert Yeoman employ a large key light
hanging over the two subjects and some backlight
provided by distant practicals. Using a diffused key light
along with multiple dim backlights creates a high key
image with soft lighting. "- Well, it begins as it must with
our mutual friend's predecessor." - But the lighting on
Mr. Mustafa changes signaling a shift in the story. "- The beloved original
concerns of the Grand Budapest it begins of course with... The key light dims down and
now the fill light becomes the key. Behind Mr. Mustafa,
a hair light brightens perhaps motivated by
the practicals on the wall. The various combinations
and arrangements of these lights create commonly used
subject lighting setups. Rembrandt lighting can be
achieved through a three-point setup placing the key light slightly
higher and dimming the fill light. creating a signature triangle of light
on the darker side of the subject's face. Named after the light
Rembrandt used on his subjects. Butterfly lighting also known as
paramount lighting uses only two lights. Featuring a key light that is placed directly
in front of the subject at a high angle. It creates a butterfly-shaped
shadow under a subject's nose and is often used
for glamorous shots highlighting cheekbones and
smoothing out imperfections. Loop lighting is a
similar approach but the light is set
at a 45-degree angle from the subject's face and
placed just above their eye line. Loop lighting can appear to
lengthen the face of a subject so it's often used on actors
with oval-shaped faces. There's also split lighting which refers
to a key light hitting half of a subject with no fill light creating a dramatic image often
building a feeling of ominous mystery. There is also overhead
and underlighting. Overhead or top lighting positions
the light over the head of the actor which can be used
to obscure the eyes. "- Now behold how swiftly
your brother swings his sword." - And underlighting places
the light under the subject. Underlighting can be
seen in classic horror films because of the unnatural-looking
shadows on the face. Both approaches create
distinguished shadows and can emphasize the bone
structure of a subject's face. "- But you have actually
excellent bone structure there I'm kind of having a hard time not
looking at you now. Is that weird?" - But of course, some of your
shots might contain multiple subjects. When shooting more than one
character a cinematographer needs to consider where our
attention needs to be directed. Are all the subjects
equally important? Or our one or two
meant to stand out. "- Welcome, James. It's been a long time." - Many of the general
rules of single-subject lighting pertain to
lighting multiple subjects. Often, each subject in the frame
will have a key light on their face light acting as a fill. And a backlight separating
them from the background. But this doesn't mean each subject
needs their own set of three lights. With smart blocking and
light positioning, one light can act as a key light for
two or more characters. Or a key light for one character
and a fill light for another. A similar technique is cross-key
lighting also called back cross lighting where lights position
behind the actors act as a key for one character
and a backlight for the other. This is especially useful for DIY
projects with multiple cameras and a limited number of lights. "- I didn't realize we
were making a "Ben-Hur". - On "Elvis", cinematographer
Mandy Walker took things a step further by pre-lighting her
sets for 360 Degrees since she needed to work
with lots of movement and carefully considered blocking
for several subjects at once. But to ensure the lighting
wasn't flat and overly generalized she had a best boy hold a portable
LED highlight attached to a boom pole so that the main character
would always have a glint in his eye no
matter where he's facing. "- Imma show you what
the real Elvis is like tonight." - Lighting subjects can
be just half your battle. Lighting a location can
involve more complex setups that require dozens of
different light sources. But they all add up to this. What mood are you
trying to establish? Cinematographers usually aim for their
lighting to be motivated by a location. Sometimes they'll take liberties
creating more stylized lighting. Other times they stick more closely
to reality with naturalistic lighting. Let's look at some approaches
for different locations starting with exterior day. Lighting exteriors during the
day can be deceptively difficult usually a cinematographer
is at the whim of the sun. And not all sunlight
is created equal. Light during the golden hour is
much less harsh than lighting at noon. And so pre-production for an outdoor shoot
needs to be keenly aware of the time of day. For most cinematographers,
shooting with the sun directly on a subject's
face is generally avoided. So, often subjects will be
placed with their backs to the sun so that the light can be
bounced on their faces more softly and the sun can
act as a backlight. Alternatively, on larger sets, a
giant screen may be used to diffuse or block out the sun entirely
to avoid overexposure which refers to too much light
hitting the camera's sensor. For more on exposure, check out
our videos on subject linked below. Of course, the sun may not always cooperate
as cinematographer Gavin Finney explains. "- I think the hardest thing
is lack of predictability. I think if it's consistent
I just want consistency. If it's sunny I
wanted to stay sunny. If it's cloudy I want
it to stay cloudy. Let's look at a scene that
takes place in full sunlight. "- Meaning in the middle of the
desert always made me nervous. It's a scary place." - On "Casino", cinematographer Robert Richardson
had to contend with the desert sun. At first, Richardson wanted to use
the sun conventionally as a backlight but Martin Scorsese wanted to shoot
the scene using two cameras at once to catch improvisation so
Richardson's plan went out the window. Instead, only Nikki has a backlight
while Sam is directly in the sun. "- You said, I'm
bringing heat on you? I gotta listen to people
because of your f*cking sh*t. You're ordering me out? You
better get your own f*cking army, pal. - I didn't do anything..." - According to Richardson, 'The result
was a far more saturated visual look, pulling and using the
blues of the desert sky in strong contrast to the almost
white, dry-lake feel of the landscape. On "The Revenant", director of
photography Emmanuel Lubezki used the low sun of a
Canadian winter to his advantage shooting with as much
natural light as possible. To do this he shot on digital
cameras the ARRI Alexa M and XT. This allowed more flexibility
with the ever-changing light since it could shoot at a high ISO
with almost no detectable grain. For Lubezki, his lighting strategy
entirely relied on the time of day. At 1 pm in bright
sunshine there would not be anything of any interest
in terms of atmosphere but at 4 30 PM when the sun
disappeared behind a mountain the same location would
then look mysterious. Lubezki's digital
imaging technician or DIT needed to constantly be
updating the camera's Iris settings to keep brightness
continuity from shot to shot. Having little control
over light on set also meant that the coloring
process was more involved. Lubezki worked with Steve Scott to darken backgrounds
and lighten faces in posts. "The Revenant" cinematography shows that
you don't need massive expensive lights to combat the sun
when shooting outside. If you use location and
time to your advantage, the sun can do the work for you. But this isn't the case when
shooting exteriors at night. When shooting outside
cinematographers are tasked with creating light that doesn't
feel unnaturally bright but also avoids underexposure from too
little light reaching the camera's sensor making the image indiscernible. Of course, night exteriors
can take a variety of forms from a dark forest
to a bustling city. In a rural setting, a cinematographer
will often establish a base light. A non-directional light that makes sure
nothing is completely lost in black shadows. This allows colorists to have more
control over shadows in post-production. To achieve moonlight DPs
will often use moon cubes a large box filled
with heavy diffusers. Or for an even larger area, a
Musco light may be employed. Simulating moonlight also means giving
your lights a cooler color temperature. "- I want to go back there." - Moonlight tends to
be around 4100 Kelvin. If a cinematographer wants certain elements
in the background to be more visible they can also use specials smaller lights that
are hidden in frame. Usually, a soft light will also
be applied on the subjects but occasionally more directional equipment
may be used for a more stylized look. "Prey" relies heavily
on nighttime exteriors. To achieve a soft moonlight look director of
photography Jeff Cutter used softboxes with
18 Skypanel 360s. The crew then hoisted the lights on
80-foot lifts to achieve a high angle. For key lights, Cutter
would often use balloons which were smaller and more
mobile but still very diffused. To get a cyan color
that mimic the moon, the color temperature on the lights was
set to between 6,000 and 8,000 Kelvin. This resulted in a deep
blue which was corrected in post-production to
look slightly greener. Many shots utilized firelight. Cutter augmented the
natural warm glow of the fire with tungsten
incandescent lights which have a warm color
temperature to match the flames. But Cutter ensured the blue
moonlight didn't disappear in these shots adding blue to
smoke and shadows. But you don't have to rely on massive light
rigs to pull off your nighttime shots. In "The Witch", Robert
Eggers and DP Jaron Blaschke opted to shoot on a digital
camera ARRI Alexa Plus 4x3. In order to shoot in much darker
contexts and use the natural moonlight. According to Blashke shooting with
natural light was '...a responsibility. The actors are all in these
really period-accurate costumes and we have sets made
with traditional techniques... ...to then put out Kino Flo
would just be a betrayal.' Any shadows that resulted from
the technique only add to the horror. But you aren't always
going to be shooting outside which leads us to interior day. Shooting inside usually means
having more control over the light. Artificial lights can
always be turned off. This means that lighting
can often be more nuanced and because the audience
expects artificial lighting a cinematographer
can use practicals lights that appear in a frame. Because of this, the
quality and source of light in interior day scenes
can vary drastically. From scenes that rely on window
light like this one from "Her". To scenes where exterior
light is barely present at all. "- Mark.
- He's wired in. - Sorry.
- He's wired in. - Is he?
- Yes." - For "The Whale", DP Matthew
Liberty decided on the latter. Lighting the interior sparsely to match the
dire mood of the film and its protagonist. Liberty shot on a Sony Venice which could
shoot at low light with an ISO of 2500. This allowed him to light primarily
using practical lights like lamps which don't emit as much
illumination as film lights. Using practicals also meant that
Liberty was lighting from the floor leaving much of the house
in pockets of shadows. "- No. No. Without this thing... Stand up and walk over here. - I can't really.
- Shut up. - Come over here." Roger Deakins meanwhile has shot daytime
interior that have almost no indoor lights. In this scene from "Sicario", Deakins lit
the interior solely through the windows. He used T12 fresnels to create
the feeling of harsh sunlight while 2K blondes also provided
a flat fill light to the scene. "- FBI! Don't move!" - Smoke and dust meanwhile
act as natural diffuses and allow Deakins to
employ volumetric lighting. A technique that gives light
shape like the beams in the hallway. By lighting an interior almost
completely from the outside, Deakins emphasizes that the building
is abandoned and only has one use. Lighting strategies change
when shooting interiors at night. Interior night lighting relies
even more on artificial light since there's no sun
coming in from the windows. Interior light can
take many forms from the warmth and
light in "Barry Linden" to the pale fluorescence
in "Chungking Express". In this basement scene
from "Inglorious Bastards", there is very
little outside light. Cinematographer
Robert Richardson created a baseline by hanging
tungsten bulbs from the ceiling which were diffused
with two layers of muslin. As the tension in
the scene escalates the lighting grows
more dramatic. Richardson added
park and top lights and backlights which are
more harsh and directional. The harsh top light increased
the contrast of the shot. And the backlight further removed the
principal actors from their backgrounds. "- Well, appear there's only
one thing left you can do. - And what would that be? - Stigsel.
- Say 'auf wiedersehen' to your nazi balls." - The lighting then changes once
more when the shootout begins becoming even more
directional through the smoke. Through a gradual
change in lighting, Richardson was able to enhance
the dramatic beats of the scene. On "Eyes Wide Shut", Stanley Kubrick and
cinematographer Larry Smith opted to use window light
to create a stylized look exaggerating the difference
between interior light and moonlight by increasing their
difference in color temperature. Most of the interior nighttime apartment
scenes were lit with practical lights which naturally have a
warm color temperature. This orange light was contrasted with
a deep blue coming in from the window. As Larry Smith explains, 'The
blue we used was very saturated, much bluer than natural
moonlight would be, but we didn't care about that- we just went for a hue
that was interesting.' "- Ellis. It's okay. It's okay." - The blue color was obtained
with open-faced clear glass arcs. These lights were
also quite directional and created strong beams that were
picked up by shooting on a t 1.3 stop and using a Tiffen LC1 filter. Both camera elements gave
the interior lighting a soft glow. Smith heightened the color
contrast in his close-ups. Depending on the desired color,
he would use blue Chinese lanterns or he would dim the practicals
which made them even warmer. As Smith notes, 'Most of
the movie is at either extreme. Either very rich and warm, or very blue and cold.' Kubrick and Larry Smith's
work on "Eyes Wide Shut" shows us that nighttime interiors
can have very different color palettes and it all depends on the nature
of the room and the desired effect. "- Bill, I have seen one
or two things in my life. But never, never anything like this. Of course, there are exceptions to
every norm we've laid out in this video. Cinematographers prove again and
again that rules are meant to be broken. Abiding by rules or not lighting is one of the most
important elements of any film. With the right lighting
tools and setup from subject to
subject, to set to set a shot can go from good to unforgettable. Tell us some of your favorite lighting
examples in the comments below. In the description, you'll find a link to
download an e-book on cinematic lighting covering everything
from this two-part series. That's all for now. Until next time remember
the sunlights never go out.