Through lighting you can manipulate images and typographical elements so that you better produce the desired emotions in the audience.
Understanding lighting and its correct use is important for directors of photography, color timers, and lighting directors.
You need to understand lighting when you’re working on a title sequence so that you can:
• Create a CG environment for titles that is different from the look and feel of the movie.
• Create a live-action environment for titles that matches the look and feel of the movie or opening scene.
• Composite titles over existing footage.
You could start thinking about lighting as early as the moment you receive an idea or a directorial instruction, when you receive a frame or scene sample of the animation being produced, or when you receive the background plates that were shot on the green screen that the director wants you to use to introduce each character.
In any case, your job is to both collect information about lighting schemes utilized in the footage (when footage is provided) and research the lighting environment you will either have to create or in which your title sequence will have to be composited.
You should pay extreme attention to samples or plates you receive and determine what kind of lighting has been used, depending on whether you need to match it or not. If you are working with live-action footage that’s already been shot, a useful tool is a sketch of the lighting setup that was used on the set so that you can try to mimic it with CG. The gaffer or the director of photography generally creates a sketch of the lighting setup. If you have been involved early in the process, you might want to ask the director if you can visit the set so you can sketch the lighting setup yourself, take a few pictures, or at least talk with the director of photography about it.
If that is not possible, you will need to determine what the setup was based on the quality of light in the footage, references received, or your best guess. Take a look at the shadows and see whether are they hard or soft. Where is the light source? Is it straight on, coming from the side, bottom, or top, and from what height?
On the other hand, if you need to create your own plates, you will need to perform accurate research and collect as much visual reference material as possible about the environment you want to recreate. You could start with a simple online search and further your research by visiting a library, bookstore, or newsstand and even doing a field trip to snap some reference pictures.
To better help you in this process, you need to understand how light works and the various sources of light.
Color Temperature
Light is energy transformed into the visible spectrum. Depending on their temperatures, different objects or lights (flames, fireworks, lava, auroras) have different ranges of colors.
Color temperature is the scale used to relate to the different hues given off by various temperatures of light. The temperature is measured on the Kelvin scale, abbreviated with a K after the numerical value. A high color temperature of 5,000K or more, such as direct sunlight, produces bluer hues. A lower temperature of 3,000K, such as a tungsten light bulb or candlelight, produces orange hues.
Figure 4.25
The Color Temperature Chart
In film and video production there are two main color temperature light fixtures (or light fixtures with exchangeable light bulbs): tungsten and daylight.
• Tungsten light fixtures’ color temperatures range between 3,200K and 3,400K, giving the light a warm, orange hue. Their name derives from their inner tungsten filament, which is made incandescent by an electric current. These lights are appropriate to use indoors, and they will match the color temperature of most general household light bulbs. To create perfectly matching color temperatures, household light bulbs can be replaced by Photoflood bulbs, which are designed to output a specific Kelvin temperature. These lights are generally used indoors and will match the color temperature of a fire (fireplace or campfire), candlelight, lantern, some flashlights, lighthouses, and some car headlights.
• Daylight light fixtures’ color temperatures range between 5,600K and 6,000K, giving the light a cool, blue hue. Daylight lamps can be direct current arcs (such as carbon arcs) or alternating current arc such as hydrargyum medium arc-length iodide, or HMI. These lights are generally used outdoors because they will match the color temperature of sunlight and moonlight.
The director of photography usually plans which lights to use in different situations, whether the scenes are outdoors or indoors. If a scene is being shot indoors but next to a real or fake window, the director of photography might decide to use all daylight lamps in order to match or recreate the color temperature of the light coming from outdoors. In the opposite situation, if a scene is being shot outdoors but next to a shop, telephone booth, or street lamp, the director of photography might decide to use tungsten lamps to match or recreate the color temperature of indoor lighting.
Sometimes light bulbs can be mixed and matched to create a more subtle variation in the color temperature. For example, the versatile four-banks Kino-Flo lamps (which present four light bulbs) can be swapped to include three daylight bulbs and one tungsten bulb. The result would be still be a dominant blue hue but with a hint of orange to warm it up a bit.
Something else to keep in mind is that when people refer to a light being cool, as in its hue, it is not to be confused with blue light being a cool temperature. A light that produces bluish hues is actually a higher temperature, around 5,600K, than a light that produces orange hues, which is around 3,200K.
Color-Balancing Film and Video Cameras
Our visual perception adapts to the different lighting color. We perceive a white T-shirt as white whether we are indoors and using warm artificial lighting or outdoors in sunlight. Our eyes and brain recalibrate what we read as white, based on our own experience and points of reference. On the other hand, film and video cameras need to be guided in recording with the correct color temperature setting. If they are not, they will read that T-shirt as orange under candlelight and blue under sunlight.
• Film cameras. Color film stocks have a color temperature rated for tungsten or daylight. With a tungsten-balanced film stock utilizing tungsten lights as illumination, the whites will be reproduced as white. With a tungsten film stock used with daylight lights, the whites will be reproduced with a blue color cast.
Similarly, with daylight-balanced film stock and daylight lights, the whites will be reproduced as white. With daylight film stock used with tungsten lights, the whites will be reproduced with an orange color cast.
Sometimes the color casts are an aesthetic choice, and sometimes they might be a choice driven by necessity (for example, if the production client has budgeted only for daylight film stock). In either case, with the aid of camera filters or colored gels on lights, you can correct unwanted color casts.
When shooting with daylight film and tungsten lighting, adding an 80A blue filter in front of the film camera lens will correct the unwanted orange color cast. The filter raises the color temperature from 3,200K to approximately 5,600K so that the tungsten-lit scene appears to be now lit for daylight.
Alternatively, when shooting with tungsten film and daylight lighting, adding an 85 orange filter in front of the film camera lens will correct the unwanted blue color cast. The filter drops the color temperature from 5,600K to approximately 3,200K so that the daylight-lit scene appears to be now tungsten-lit.
The same principles can be applied to lighting gels. Clipping a full value of a color temperature Blue (CTB) gel in front of a light fixture will change the color temperature of tungsten lights into daylight. Clipping a full value of a color temperature orange (CTO) gel in front of a light fixture will change the color temperature of daylight into tungsten. This could be a useful tip to apply when color-correcting camera filters might not be available or when you don’t have the desired color temperature light fixture at your disposal.
• Video cameras. As opposed to recording on film stock, video cameras use tape or digital-based media, which can’t be rated for daylight or tungsten. You will need to identify the correct color temperature in the camera settings. Most cameras offer presets that allow the user to select one of two main color temperatures: exterior (6,500K) or interior (3,400K). Sometimes you can even enter the exact number of Kelvin degrees. Depending on the location, set, and lighting, picking the appropriate preset allows the whites to be recorded as white without recording an unwanted color cast.
In addition to the presets, most video cameras allow the user to sample a white element in the frame as a point of reference so that the camera can determine the appropriate color temperature intended for the recorded footage. This feature is called the white balance. Refer to your camera manual to accurately perform a white balance.
The ideal place and time to perform a white balance is after the entire set’s lighting (including light gels) is in place. Typically a person with a white card will stand at a place in the set where most of the scene’s action is performed, so that the person is adequately lit, the camera zooms into the white cards, and the white balance is performed. As long as lighting fixtures are not changed nor gels or filters added between shots, the whites will be read as whites.
Just as with film cameras, camera filters can be added in front of the video camera’s lenses to change their color temperature or even modify the set’s lighting color temperature.
Something that can be done with a video camera, but not with a film camera, is purposefully faking the white balance to create an intentional color cast, such as the “day-for-night" look, when you are shooting in daylight but you’d like to make your footage look like nighttime.
There are two situations in which you could alter the classic use of white balance with a video camera:
• Add gels in front of light fixtures after the white balance. If color temperature gels are added in front of the lights after performing a simple white balance, they will create color casts. If you add colored gels before you white balance, most likely the white balance itself will neutralize the color you intend to keep in the lighting.
• Add gels or filters in front of the camera lens before the white balance. If a color temperature gel is added in front of the camera lens before performing a simple white balance, it will create a color cast. For example, if you placed a full CTO gel in front of the lens, the camera will read the orange as the true white and will correct its color temperature. The camera is thinking that it is reading an awful lot of orange in that white and that it needs to correct its color temperature by adding some blue. As soon as you remove the orange gel from the front of the lens, your entire scene will have a blue color cast. This technique is typically useful when you want to create a dramatic effect or even a very subtle effect. You could add a half or quarter CTB gel if you simply need to warm up some people’s skin tones or remove a slight unwanted blue color cast.
Qualities of Light: Size, Distance, Angle, and Color
One of the most immediate and dramatic differences in different light sources is the light’s hardness or softness. In coming to understand the qualities of a light, a good starting point is to figure out the light’s make and model and train your eye to distinguish the quality of the shadow the light fixture produces. Are the shadows dark with sharp edges? Then it’s a hard light. Are the shadows gray with soft edges? That’s a soft light.
Typical hard light sources are the sun, a clear glass light bulb, a candle, or light fixtures like spotlights. Hard lights are used in film and video production to create a strong statement. Because a hard light casts such sharp and defined shadows, most threedimensional details, such as textures or engravings in an object or even skin imperfections, all become much more noticeable. When overused, hard lights could create an extreme, full-contrast look, almost as though the image is a duotone comic topic with lots of dimensionality in the frame.
On the other hand, soft light sources include an overcast day, a light that bounces off any reflective or light-colored surfaces, a Chinese lantern, or light fixtures such as zip lights. Soft lights are used in film and video production to light large areas of a set, allowing the actors to move more freely across it. They create a natural look and more subtle statement than hard lights. Because soft lights cast gentle and soft shadows, most three-dimensional details become less noticeable. The light wraps around the three-dimensional object, creating a soft, even, and less dramatic look. The drawback to soft lights is that they are harder to control than hard lights. That’s why they are often used in conjunction with flags, which keep light off areas where it’s not wanted. When overused, soft lights can create a flat, even look, without much dimensionality in the frame. On a set, the quality of a light depends on the following:
• The lamps’ size and output. Light sizes could be as little as 100 watts, all the way up to 5,000 or 10,000 watts (also referred to as 5K or 10K). A small light fixture, such as a 100 watt, will generally create a harder light and sharper shadows than a larger diffused light fixture, such as a 5K.
• The lamps’ model and settings, parameters, or accessories. There are a number of models within each brand. Some of the most common brands are Arri, Kino-Flo, Mole-Richardson, Dedo, Source 4 Leko, and Light Panels. There are two main distinctions regarding the light’s casing: Fresnel and open face.
• Fresnel lights have a built-in lens in front of the light, which helps create a more even light by containing and controlling its beam. They also create sharper shadows and are focus-able, meaning you can change the distance between the filament and the lens. Fresnel lights have a knob that can be turned to select two different settings: a flood mode (when the filament is closest to the lens and produces a wider spread of light, creating softer shadows) and a spot mode (when the filament is farthest from the lens and produces a narrower and focused light beam, creating sharper shadows).
• Open face lights provide a larger light beam, which is useful for creating a soft lighting look. They don’t contain a built-in lens, and not all of them are focusable. Some open face lights have lenses that can be placed in front of the light’s face, which can further control the quality of light; some lenses are flat or frosted, wide or narrow. The open face lights include the family of soft lights. Some are created by a lighting manufacturer, and some might be created by gaffers.
One kind of soft light that lends itself to be hung over a stage to create an even, soft light across the set is a space light. This circular light creates a soft pool light beam and is controlled on its sides by skirts, which can be solid (made out of black solid duvatine, keeping the light focused downward) or silk (creating a silky diffused lighting on the edges), and gels can be added to it.
• Larger and increasingly popular lights include balloon lights, which are typically used to create a soft, even light on large sets, whether interior or exterior, day or night, and can be easily installed without heavy rigging or cranes because they are incredibly light. Most models are selfsupporting, with the space light suspended in the middle of a balloon filled with helium. After the balloon is inflated, it can be elevated as high as the model goes and can be further elevated by a weight-assisted cable.
• The intensity of light. The film and video production world uses the word intensity instead of brightness. The most common tool used to measure the intensity of light is a light meter, which measures incidental light (light that falls on a subject) or reflective values (light that is bounced off the illuminated subject).
Keep in mind that the intensity of light falling onto an object or subject depends on the angle from which you are looking at it. This is particularly important when you’re taking a reading with an incidental light meter.
The intensity of light is measured in a couple of units:
• Lumen. A light fixture’s output is measured in lumens, which is the luminous energy created by a source. The light output of other items such as light bulbs and projectors is also measured in lumens.
• Footcandle. When light falls on surfaces, the correct unit of measure is footcandles (or lux). This international unit of illumination measures the density of light on a given point on a surface. Its measurement is often accomplished with the aid of a light meter positioned on that given point and pointed toward the light source.
You can manipulate the light’s intensity if you modify the following:
• Distance. One instantly gratifying modification you can apply to a light fixture—especially when it’s mounted on a light stand—is to change its distance from the subject you are illuminating. The farther you move it, the lower the light’s intensity. The closer you move it, the higher its intensity.
• Scrims. When a light fixture cannot be moved, a quick solution is to slide a scrim in front of the light fixture, in the slot between the front of the light and its barndoors. A scrim is a metal wire mesh that, when placed in front of a light fixture, reduces its intensity. A single scrim has a single layer of wire mesh and a green border and reduces the exposure of approximately V2 f-stop. A double scrim has a double layer of metal mesh and a red border and reduces the exposure of approximately 1 f-stop.
• Gels. To manipulate the light’s intensity, you could use neutral density (ND) gels and diffusion gels. Neutral density gels do not affect the color temperature of the light fixture; they look gray and they decrease the intensity of light, as though you were putting a pair of sunglasses on. They can be found in a variety of weights, from ND2, which reduces the exposure of 1 f-stop, to ND64, which reduces the exposure of 6 f-stops. In addition to ND gels, you have at your disposal a range of diffusion gels. These gels are translucent and they do not affect the color temperature of the light. They can be found in a variety of densities, from light diffusion such as opal gels, which add a slight soft touch to your light without compromising its intensity, to heavier diffusion such as 250. The primary function of these gels is to diffuse lights, but heavier-density gels, which are thicker, reduce the lights’ intensity more.
• Dimmers. These are external controllers that you can add to lights so that you can control their output. They generally work with the aid of a knob, which you can mark and turn to reduce or increase the light’s intensity. Dimmers generally do affect the color temperature by shifting it to warmer hues.
• The angle of light. The angle at which you place a light will affect its quality. Imagine a camera and a subject. Place a light right beside the camera and start moving it horizontally around the subject. When your light is in the front, you will benefit from the full intensity of the light. The more you rotate it around the subject, the intensity lowers, but you also create more dimensional light. When you position the light behind the subject, you create a back light; only the rim around the subject is visible. Now go back to the first position of the light next to the camera, facing the subject. Instead of moving it horizontally, raise the light higher or lower and tilt it up or down to keep illuminating the subject. High- and low-angle lighting creates more dramatic effects and deeper shadows than a light that is placed at the subject’s eye level or slightly higher.
Functions of Lights
When lighting a set, lights (regardless of their make and model) have a designated name based on their function. One classic lighting scheme is three-point lighting. It consists of a key light, a fill light, and a backlight:
• Key light. The main light source of the set or the main source that lights the subject. Its angle and ratio with the fill light determine the mood of the lighting. When placed at an angle from the camera’s position, it adds dimensionality to the shot. For a classical three-point lighting setup, the key light is generally positioned at a 45-degree angle from the camera and with roughly a 30-45 degree down-tilt.
• Fill light. A soft and lower-intensity light generally used to fill in some of the shadows created by the key light. It is generally positioned at a 90-degree angle, opposite the key light.
• Kicker. A backlight, generally a very hard light, that is positioned above and behind the subject, pointing down at them. It creates a hard edge, which helps detach the subject from the background, creating dimensionality. This light is sometimes also called a backlight or hair light when it is aimed specifically at the subject’s hair. A kicker is usually positioned directly opposite the key light, almost as though it were aimed toward the camera but pointed down.
• Eyelight. A tiny light that is placed slightly above the camera, generally at a similar angle line to the key light, that helps create dimensionality and create a sparkle in a subject’s eyes.
• Background. Lights that illuminate the background and further create some distinction and detachment between the subject and background. You will definitely need focus background lights if you are shooting on a green screen, so that the screen will be evenly lit.
Tips for Lighting a Set
When you are lighting a set to shoot footage for your title sequence, whether on a green screen, a stop-motion set, or on location, you should start by doing the following:
1. Staging/blocking. Understand the main positions of your characters (whether they are actors, letters, or props) and identify their movements and/or camera movements.
2. Roughing-in. Roughly set up position, height, and intensity of the lighting along with the camera(s). Quickly run through the shot with stand-ins and verify that the lights are in their correct positions and that the right lights are being used.
3. One at a time. Turn off all the lights and turn on each light, one at a time, to verify their effectiveness. Start from the key, then go to the fill, kicker, and any other additional lighting you have. Make changes if necessary, then slowly turn on the lights again, and again make any necessary changes.
4. Fine-tuning. Add colored or diffusion gels, move the light stands’ positions if they are in the middle of a shot, and refine the angles of the lights.
5. Rehearsal. Perform a full rehearsal with the talent and any necessary camera movements.
6. Shoot!
