Lighting

Lighting

When considering lighting we need to identify what effect were creating.

Sidelight
A sidelight is a light that comes from the side parallel to the actor.  A sidelight is ideal for creating a dramatic mood and chiarsoocuro lighting/ Chairoscuro is created with low-key and high-contrast.  A traditional technique employed throughout the film noir period of cinema.

Practical light 
A practical light is an actual working light within the scene itself. This can be a household lamp, a TV, candles, police lights and so on.

Bounce light 
A bounce light, commonly just called a bounce, is a light that has been reflected. There are dedicated tools such as a silk or a foam board to do this, but a bounce light can also come from the wall or the ceiling, the polibilties are endless.

Soft light 
Soft light is more of a term that describes the size of a light source rather than a placement itself. Soft light comes from a large source, either a light fixture or diffusion sheet. The light produced will have some soft shadow - or if soft enough, no shadows at all.

Avaliable light 
Avaliable light is what already exists in the location.

Motivated lighting 
Motivated lighting is when the light in the scene imitates a natural source within the scene. The diffrence between motivated lighting and pratical lighing is that motivated lighting is the act of enhancing and replicating practical lighting.

High key lighting 
High Key is a style of lighting that is bright and shawdowless with lots of fill light. It was used a lot in the classic Hollywood period in the 1930s and 40s, in particular for comedies and musicals.
Today high key lighting is primiary used for cosmetic commercials, sitcoms, and music videos. Although it does still find its place within modern cinema; see the above image from harry potter.

low key lighting
An image with low key lighting is predominantly dark and filled with more shadows than light. There is little or no fill light. Low key focuses on the use of shadows as a character, rather than the subjects is the light itself. It's commonly used throughout horror and thriller films.



Hard light 
Hard light creates sharp and harsh shadows. You will get hard light from the midday sun, or a small lighting source. Hard light is often unwanted. To reiterate the points above in soft light, whether a light is soft or hard will completely come down to the size of the source.