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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

So, what is good lighting?

Good lighting is what is complementing the story telling.

How do you know what type of look suites to the story and how to achieve it? To know what type of look is good is one's artistic/creative talent which is unique to every individual. Then achieving the look, it is technical part.
 
The second best thing to constantly observing light every day for me was an exercise my lighting teacher made me do:

You have 5 elements:
-A White Photo Backdrop
-A White Ball
-A White Cube
-A White Cylinder
-the same frame and same arrangement of these 3 objects

Exercise A: Create the most 3 dimensional looking image using only 1 light
Exercise B: Create 12 different moods, utilizing only 1 light
Exercise C: Create 12 different moods, utilizing 1 light and 1 bounce card
Exercise D: Create 12 different moods, utilizing 2 lights and 1 bounce card
Exercise E: Create 12 different moods, utilizing 3 lights and 1 bounce card

You will understand the way light shapes 3 dimensional objects coming from different angles a whole lot better afterwards. You'll probably stumble across most lighting conventions used (3/4 frontlight, sidelight, shilouette, backlight, chiaroscurro, etc.) by discovery and not imitation. You'll also know why John Ford said that a DP that has a sunburn on his neck should be fired.
 
mail4joeg said:
Great intro (and it's free): Arri Lighting Handbook

http://www.arri.de/infodown/light/broch/arri_lighting_handbook_english.pdf

Also just stumbled on this thread:

http://www.cinematography.net/edited-pages/BOUNCE.HTM

Some great practical tips there, and the whole website is fantastic.

...

And they keep coming. Free online book: Master Lighting Guide for Portrait Photographers

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2161228/Master-Lighting-Guide-For-Portrait-Photographers
Click to expand...

thanks for the links man.
good and simple stuff to start off with, atleast for me.
 
Want to see an example of good lighting? Rent Road to Perdition.
 
IMHO, Lighting is subjective for mood, overall aesthetic, style and emotional impact. Lighting is objective for story, performance, plot, and technical flexibility. The art is in balancing the two. I think you would do well to look at American Noir from mid-century in black and white. First study how lighting is used in black and white to tell the story, reveal key plot points, set the mood, and isolate a performance. Greg Toland's work in Citizen Kane is a great example of this.
Once you have contemplated black and white, allow yourself to experience color. A great book on the subject is: Patti Bellantoni's "If It's Purple, Someone's Gonna Die". Beyond black and white, color has ramifications psychologically on the audience. It is important to know what effect color has on human psychology and what emotional resonance different colors have on the psyche.
Color is a very powerful tool that is often overlooked or underestimated by filmmakers. Painters typically have a firmer grasp on it and know how to use it, which is why animated films are often more effective in connecting to their audiences emotionally. This emotional resonance can be measured somewhat indirectly by the amount of merchandise the studio sells in connection with a release. Finding Nemo merchandise makes a mint, while the Hulk's merch heads to the discount rack. Once you know what to look for, you can have lots of fun predicting who will win the toy wars.
 
Tom said:
Want to see an example of good lighting? Rent Road to Perdition.
Click to expand...

Conrad Hall is my biggest inspiration. Road to Perdition always moves me as it was his last work.

I guess another take on this question is Culture within films at the time you are working in. But this does not mean it is always improving on itself.

Lighting style is constantly evolving and changing. as people build on past influences and contribute there own ideas, we see new styles. however subtle they may be.

I love simple lighting style, but sometimes what looks simple and clean in a finished film is technically difficult to achieve.

For me as long as it contributes to the story and does not distract, you can be a crazy and imaginative as you like. That's why I love this job :-)
 
Usually this is what I do when lighting:

First I 'control' the existing natural light within the DR of the camera I am shooting with using whatever material I can get-ND gels, black net, silk screen, etc.

After that I usually bounce lights (off ceilings mostly) to increase the overall brightness. The only direct lights I point on the talent are kickers. This is my GENERAL lighting technique.

Maybe others can share their lighting formulas...
 
Tom said:
Want to see an example of good lighting? Rent Road to Perdition.
Click to expand...
May I know what makes you think that Road To Perdition is a good example of lighting? Specific scenes?

I really need to know what people term good or bad lighting. So for example if I were on the board considering who to give an Oscar for lighting, what criteria would I be using to judge?

Thanks.
 
Jeff Coatney said:
Color is a very powerful tool that is often overlooked or underestimated by filmmakers. Painters typically have a firmer grasp on it and know how to use it, which is why animated films are often more effective in connecting to their audiences emotionally.
Click to expand...

Very well put. So true!

One of the best things I ever did, as a director, was being forced into doing the colour grade on a music video all by myself (usually I budget for a professional at a post house to do it). Even though I always have very clear ideas about the grade, it was actually being forced to do it all myself that took my appreciation of colour to a new level. As a result, I went out and bought a box of 72 high quality (Derwent) coloured pencils and now I always make notes or sketches, with the pencils, on the colour palette of a scene.

Ramesh Jai said:
So for example if I were on the board considering who to give an Oscar for lighting, what criteria would I be using to judge?
Click to expand...

Personally I think you're coming at this from the wrong angle. You certainly shouldn't be using the Oscars as an authority on what is definitively 'good' or 'bad'.

Of course, like anything, film follows particular fashions, and there are particular groups that favour particular styles. The Academy Awards have their own tastes or 'criteria', which are neither good nor bad, they just are. Cannes or Sundance, for example, have a different criteria. For every facet of a film, not just photography.

Lighting styles have evolved along with cinema. The early 'classical' style heavily favoured very hard lighting. Nowadays the trend is towards much softer, more realistic lighting.

Of primary importance should be technical considerations: getting enough light to properly expose the image, achieve the most dynamic range as possible, ensure the key actors in the scene are satisfactorily exposed, at least on some part of their faces.... I think you'll find most consensus on these criteria. From there on, it starts to become a matter of taste, of what 'works' for the material, etc.....
 
D'Arcy Foley-Dawson said:
Personally I think you're coming at this from the wrong angle. You certainly shouldn't be using the Oscars as an authority on what is definitively 'good' or 'bad'.

Of course, like anything, film follows particular fashions, and there are particular groups that favour particular styles. The Academy Awards have their own tastes or 'criteria', which are neither good nor bad, they just are. Cannes or Sundance, for example, have a different criteria. For every facet of a film, not just photography.
Click to expand...

What are these tastes or criteria is what I want to know.

D'Arcy Foley-Dawson said:
Lighting styles have evolved along with cinema. The early 'classical' style heavily favoured very hard lighting. Nowadays the trend is towards much softer, more realistic lighting.

Of primary importance should be technical considerations: getting enough light to properly expose the image, achieve the most dynamic range as possible, ensure the key actors in the scene are satisfactorily exposed, at least on some part of their faces.... I think you'll find most consensus on these criteria. From there on, it starts to become a matter of taste, of what 'works' for the material, etc.....
Click to expand...

So basically GOOD LIGHTING IS WHAT FEELS RIGHT FOR THE SCENE as long as the image is properly exposed.

And that NO OTHER HUMAN BEING CAN JUDGE LIGHTING that was done by another human being because it was that being's interpretation of the scene.

I'm OK with that.
 
Ramesh Jai said:
So basically GOOD LIGHTING IS WHAT FEELS RIGHT FOR THE SCENE as long as the image is properly exposed.

And that NO OTHER HUMAN BEING CAN JUDGE LIGHTING that was done by another human being because it was that being's interpretation of the scene.

I'm OK with that.
Click to expand...

Good lighting is what is right for the scene and circumstances and if it's technically correct exposed after what your wishes are (properly has nothing to do with it, what if you want it under exposed).

It's like asking what is a good painting. A painting can be expressionistic, impressionistic or for example cubist. That's all very different styles, but they all classify as good painting styles.

Now you have 2 DP's with completely different style. Hopefully you choose both of them for their individual style and what they offer you for your stories. That's how it should be.

I heard that Gordon Willis (The God Father) came out with his wife after watching 'The French Connection' (Owen Roizman) all depressed. Said that he would never be able to light like that. So there you go it's all individual.

I love 'Road To Perdition' and think it has great lighting, but I also think that it's a little to stylized at times as well. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate it.

For me beautiful lighting is when I feel I couldn't have done it myself, not comparing myself to Conrad Hall. I guess I have to ad. After all this is reduser hahaha. What I mean is that I very often have a slightly stylized look in mine, so just like Gordon I'll walk out of 'The French Connection' or 'Bourne' for that matter. Thinking I could never do that.
 
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