Last Updated on January 13, 2019
These are importnat Video Lighting Techniques that everyones who does any type of filming needs to master.
Video Light is the single most important element that impacts the final result of recording videos. As a videographer, you can use it to set your video’s mood, direct your viewer’s eyes, emphasize or de-emphasize elements, make people appear however you want, and add texture as well as color. This is mainly why it is important to look into video lighting techniques. They are what can make or break the quality of your video output.
Control Light Direction
Before you start placing your key light, make sure that you first ask yourself, “Where should my light come from?”
There are several different effects that you can play with when it comes to lighting. Using the 3-point lighting, you can split your subject’s face by placing your main light directly off the side of your subject. This is referred to as side lighting and is used to reveal texture or bring out shadows.
Another feature of the 3-point lighting technique you can consider is back lighting. Back lighting is mainly used to reveal form, often in silhouettes. It is perfect when separating subjects from the background and for making rain drops show up on videos.
Front lighting is most common and also the least dramatic. It is used mainly to hide texture and shadows, which is why it is commonly referred to as glamour lighting.
Light Quality: Hard or Soft
There’s a big difference between images captured with hard light and those captured with soft light. Some people fail to notice but the key is on the shadows. Hard light produces shadows with clear and distinct lines along their edges. Soft light, on the other hand, creates softer-edged shadows. Generally, people look their best under soft light.
Light Color
Color has a significant impact on images, of course. It has the capacity to change the mood of footage. It emphasizes subjects through contrast and can even be made to send subtle messages to viewers. For instance, gold light can be used in the background when subjects are talking about money.
Light Intensity
Light intensity refers to the light that lands on the subject and there are varying ways to control this. Generally speaking though, it dramatically drops off when subjects move farther away from the source of light. There are two ways on how to go about controlling light intensity. One is by asking subjects to move away from the source and two is by nearing the light source itself to the subject.
High Key and Low Key Video Lighting
High key lighting is evident when there aren’t a lot of shadows showing up in frames. This is mostly applied in situational comedies where the lighting has to be kept happy and saturated. Low key lighting, on the contrary, is when there’s plenty of deep shadows and contrast, creating one moody scene. It’s great for horror, suspense, mysteries and other serious topics.
Whichever video lighting technique you use will ultimately depend on how you want your final image to turn out. Play with as many techniques as you can and experiment to get what you like. Remember though that what may work for one situation doesn’t always work for another. So make sure you understand these techniques well and actually study what they can do.