Media Studies Lighting

3-point Lighting

Lighting from three angles.

Key light (3-point)

Shines directly on subject as main light

Full light (3-point)

Shines from a different angle, slightly dimmer

Backlight (3-point)

Shines from behind, separates subject from background, dimmest

High key lighting

Very bright and soft, few shadows

Positive emotions

Used in musicals and comedies

Lowkey lighting

Very dark, more shadows

Big contrast of light and dark

Sense of gloom/mystery/horror/drama

Noir films

Natural light

Occurs naturally (sun, moon, fire)

Artificial light

Man-made (streetlight, flashlights)

Ambient Lighting

Lights already found on set not brung by crew

Practical lighting

Appears in frame of shot

Motivated lighting

Appears logically, like to direct viewers eyes to/away

Incidental light

Hits subject

Reflective light

Reflects off of subject and is registered by camera

Daylight

Not actually natural, color temp that looks like pure sunlight around 5,900K

Tungsten Light

Color tempt associated with incandescent light, around 3,200K

Watts

How much power a light source requires

Lumens

How much light is produced

Color temp

Color of light

Kelvin

Describes color temp

Exposure

Amount of light that hits camera’s sensor