View Full Version : Lighting looks different from a different angle

07-12-2008, 09:10 AM
Hi, I've just finished 11th grade and next year I gonna have a film project.
I've seen the graduate's films and they all had problems with lighting. When they changed the angle of the shooting the lighting looked completely different. Suddenly weeker or stronger in a very unrealistic way.

Is there a way of fixing it without using a very expensive equipment?

07-12-2008, 07:40 PM
Generally, each camera setup gets re-lit. This allows you to make sure you get the best shot possible for every shot. The only equipment you need is time. Keep the general lighting concept the same, but tweak each new setup so it looks good from the new angle. Google things like, "dibie cross", "3 point lighting" "portrait lighting" "short lighting" "rembrandt lighting".

When setting up a scene, stand where the camera will be and look at the lighting on the actors, if it doesn't work , see if it's easiest to move the lights or the actors/furniture. Either will work, sometimes changing the environment will get you a better composition for your shot that you missed in your initial walkthrough of the area. Make the backgrounds interesting. Compose your shots the way a painter would, to convey something about the story or the mental state of the characters in the scene/shot.

Take the time to make sure each shot counts. At your stage of filmmaking, time is free! Use it now as it'll cost more later.

07-12-2008, 08:57 PM
Knightly, what about a moving camera? I've seen a lot of material on lighting for a static camera, but not much yet for when the camera is tracking (dolly, crane, steadicam, et. al.). There must be a way to light the scene so you can dynamically change the camera angle. These lighting techniques could help shluk have a single setup for more than one angle, right?

I have some books on lighting, but haven't read too much yet.


07-13-2008, 02:09 AM
I've seen lots of BTS on DVD's where they have a china ball hung from a pole that someone moves next to the camera to keep the subjects lit well no matter where the camera moves. The other thing to do is to setup overlapping pools of light. When the talent hits their marks, they will be lit correctly, in between the pools are setup so that the shadow will play interestingly on the subjects.