RT 365B FALL 2011 Lighting and Studio Review

Lighting accomplishes the following: All arguments about light should cite these aspects 1, 2, 3.

1) Illumination so the camera can see- getting rid of shadows and darkness.

2) Modeling: or- creating 3-dimensional realistic space- this helps the viewer understand the space and the relationship of objects and people in their environment (placement of lights, quality, light direction and intensity affect this.)

3) Atmosphere: feelings, texture, mood, part of the story (placement, quality, intensity, color, contrast, and light direction all impact this)

General terms describing lighting:

1. INTENSITY - How bright is it.

2. QUALITY - Describes how hard or soft it is. Look at the edges of shadows.

Are they blurry or sharp-edged? Bigger lights often have sharper edged shadows.

3. CONTRAST - difference between lightest and darkest areas in shot.

4. LIGHT DIRECTION – Direction of rays of light from camera’s perspective.

5. COLOR TEMPERATURE – Color of the light.

Key Factors of Colored Light

1. HUE: dominant colors visible-- blue, green, red (and combinations)

2. SATURATION-- chroma, purity, intensity-- these have to do with

the degree of dilution by white. A pale color has a lot of light.

3. LUMINANCE- brightness and value-- how light and dark it appears-

because there is a lot of black in the image.

Light appears as direct beams (direct light) hitting an object, and as reflected light.

Lighting instruments provide two kinds of light:

Direct light (electricity excites the filament and it starts to glow)

Reflected light (illumination increased in intensity by reflective surfaces)

Lighting “Instruments” (as they are called) are categorized by

• INTENSITY (how bright- measured in watts of power)

• QUALITY (how focused or diffused).

One impact of light intensity: (there are many others)

More intense lights (brighter) make darker shadows – means more contrast in the scene, which is the difference between the light area and the dark one.

Less intense lights create less contrasty or dark shadows.

One impact of light quality: (There are several others)

More diffused lights have soft-edged shadows and fill more space overall.

More focused lights have harder shadows and tend to fill less space (think of spot lights).

Studio Instruments - in order of quality from softest to hardest

SCOOP A floodlight that looks like a big light bulb in a big bowl

Covers a broad area and makes a soft-edged shadow.

To use: for fill, baselight and backlight and background light. You can put several scoops in a row against the back wall or a surface, to produce an even wash of light in the background.

SOFTLIGHT Rectangular shape. 1000-2000 watts

Intense lamps cover broad area but drop off quickly. The lamps are small glass tubes concealed in the bottom, and reflect off back and top of instrument. Control INTENSITY by using one lamp or both. There is a knob in back that lets you switch between bulbs.

EGGCRATE: is the grid placed over lamp surface to control direction of stray beams of light

USE: close together, for fill close to subject. intensity nearby, with fast drop off.

PAR Parabolic Aluminized Reflector or “Par Can” Sealed beam lamp, like a headlight. 500 watts. A round bulb in a can that makes an oval beam shape that you can spin to control. The beams for these come in different widths, from flood to spot. These are marked, from “flood” (fl) to “spot” (sp) to “very narrow spot” (vnsp)

FRESNEL Don’t pronounce the “S” Developed for lighthouses. Lens has concentric circles.

Adjusts: from Flood (softer, diffused) to Spot (directional, focused), using lever on back.

Bulb moves forward and backward when you adjust it. Barn doors are used to cut down on excess fill. 1000 or 2000 watts and Often used for key lighting.

SHAKESPEARE Source 4 Ellipsoidal Reflector Spotlight 650 WATTS

Filament stays in same place in relation to center of reflector.

Shutters that allow you to shape light precisely, can also be used with cookies to make interesting shadows. Drops off in 2 stages—there is not one edge, but two.

ACCESSORIES

Diffusion: white material that softens the quality of hard light, also cuts down on intensity.

Gels: colored plastics used to tint lights.

Cookies or Gobos: Stencils that can create detailed shadows, inserted into the Shakespeare

Donut: cardboard cut out used on outside of Shakespeare snoot, to contain light spill on cookie.

THREE POINT LIGHTING- THIS IS A BASIC SET UP.

Good, specific creative lighting design DOES NOT STICK WITH THIS basic approach.

Key is most intense. 5-30 degrees of camera

Fill is less intense. 5-30 degrees other side and is 1/2 to 1/3 the intensity of the key

Back can be as intense as key, or less so.

SAFETY

Studio lighting that simulates daylight takes a lot of energy.

We use 3-pronged grounded cables. Lights get hot. You need to have gloves.

Lights are heavy. Make sure you have your weight balanced.

Halogen bulbs: Do not touch them directly with your fingers. Use a tissue if you change bulb.

Hanging with C-CLAMPS. Loosen & tighten with ½” open end or adjustable wrench.

Attaching lights: hang with Clamp, then hand tighten.

Next attach safety cable.

Tighten bolt with wrench

Last, plug into dimmer with cable.

Detaching lights: same procedure in reverse:

Unplug electricity

Loosen bolt with wrench

Detach safety cable.

Loosen bolt the rest of way and move lamp

Studio grid is 16 feet from the floor. This is good info to have for your safety and for imagining how much light it might take to knock the shadows out of a space.

MEASURING LIGHT

Light is measured with a LIGHT METER. The light meter only measures intensity.

FOOTCANDLES and LUX are Units of measurement of light intensity

100 footcandles of light = 1076 lux

Minimal TV studio lighting=150 footcandles at 8.0 f/sto

Light meters have markings that indicate aperture settings-

Each f/stop doubles amount of light: 2.0 2.8 4.0 5.6 8.0

Studio Terms to know

Cyc or Cyclorama

Lighting dimmer or dimmer

Snake or Stage box

XLR cable

C-Clamp

Battens (the pipes that lights are hung on)

Lighting terms to know

background light: illumination of the set and backdrops also known as the set light

back light: illumination from behind the subject and opposite the camera

Barn Doors: metal flaps that attached to to shape the beam

Baselight: Overall diffused lighting in the studio that gives enough for the cameras to work--

cameo lighting: foreground figure is lit with directional light, with background in shadow

color temperature: Using the Kelvin (K) scale of termperature degrees, color temperature is the relative reddishness or bluishness of white light. Indoor is generally 3200 degrees Kelvin, outdoor 5600 degrees K.

contrast ratio: difference between the brightest and darkest portions of the image.

Cookie: aka cucaloris. A pattern of cut out metal that creates a shadow pattern when placed inside or in front of an ellipsoidal spotlight. Aka Gobo

cross-keying: two key lights for two people facing each other, so the beams cross each other

diffused light: light illuminating a large area with an soft-edged beam. Produces soft shadows

Diffusion: any heat resistant fabric – used to soften the quality of hard light.

dimmer: Controls the intensity of light by throttling the electric current flowing to the light

ellipsoidal spotlight: eg: Shakespeare spotlight producing a defined, focusable beam that can be further shaped by internal metal shutters

Falloff: the speed with which light intensity fades and the image falls into shadow

fill light: light on the opposite side of the camera from the fill light to illuminate shadow areas and thus reduce falloff. often done with floodlights

flag: thin, rectangular sheet of metal, plastic or cloth used to block light from falling in certain areas

floodlight: lighting instrument that produces diffused light with a soft or undefined beam edge

foot-candle (fc): American unit of measurement of illumination. A foot-candle is the amount of light from a candle that falls on a 1-square-foot area located 1 foot away form the light

Fresnel spotlight: An adjustable, focusable spotlight with concentric rings in its lens.

gel: color filters that give a light beam a specific hue or color

high-key: light background and ample light on the scene- well lit scene with no falloff

incident light: light that strikes an object directly from its source.

Indirect light: the amount of light falling on a surface.

key light: main source of illumination; most intense light instrument

kicker light: directional light positioned low and from the side and the back of the subject

light plot: a map of where lights should be set, where they point, their type and intensity

Light Quality: refers to how hard or soft the light is- how focused or unfocused the beam

Light Intensity: light brightness = How Much. Measured with light meter.

low-key dark background and selective illumination of scene

lux: European standard unit for measuring light intensity. 10 lux equal 1 foot-candle

neutral density filter: filter reduces incoming light without affecting the color of the scene

PAR: Parabolic aluminized Reflector- Reflector spotlight that can’t be focused

quartz light or tungsten halogen: high intensity light with a quartz housing and halogen gas

reflected light: light that bounces off the illuminated object.

scoop: a bowl shaped television floodlight

spotlight: a light that produces a defined, directional beam with a defined beam edge

3 point lighting: aka triangle lighting. Positioning of a key, fill and backlight on subject

side light directional light coming from side of subject or object

silhouette lighting: unlighted object or people in front of a brightly illuminated background