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wikiHow to Make High Quality Videos Using Video Lighting Equipment

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The technological advancement has made it easier to make videos; however, making good videos is still very difficult. This is because, although everyone these days owns a camcorder, using it properly along with the video lighting kit is still a difficult task for them. Lighting makes all the difference between a professionally shot video and an amateur video. No matter how expensive your camcorder or lighting equipment are if you don’t know the right usage, you will not be able to get those high-quality video that you dream about. Below are some useful tips for making startling videos.


  1. 1
    Limit your lighting. A camcorder is very sensitive about color temperature. Use your camcorder’s white balance setting to make it match the daylight temperature. If you fail to do this, you will get a yellow or orange cast in videos shot in incandescent lighting. If you use fluorescent lights, you will have a bluish cast.
    • The brighter the light, the more will be the reflection from the green screen casting a color spill on your subject. Use your softbox lighting kit to neutralize the harshness of the light.
  2. 2
    Protect your lens. Never allow sunlight to fall directly on the lens of the camera. This severely damages the quality of your work. Use a custom lens hood or at least your hand to block the harmful rays.
  3. 3
    Be careful of backlighting. When you have a brightly lit background, your foreground will turn dark, thereby underexposing your subject. You can use a reflector to brighten up the foreground. Learn how to identify the backlit situations and try to avoid them as much as possible. They are the biggest reasons for spoiling the quality of the videos.
  4. 4
    Use a tripod instead of handholding the camera. Many camcorder enthusiasts don’t understand that while shooting, the subject is supposed to be moving and not the camera. When held with hands, the angle of every shot will vary, thereby making a bizarre video. The camcorder therefore, has to be stable during the shoot and this is not possible when held with hands. Professionals must mount their cameras on a tripod or maybe a simpler one such as a monopod.
  5. 5
    Eliminate shadows. An easy way to do this is to use the proper lighting technique with the help of light sources, reflectors, diffusers, softboxes, etc. Use a reflector to bounce the light into the areas that need it. Use a diffuser to soften the harshness of the light.
  6. 6
    Use your camcorder’s Zebra feature. This feature allows you to identify the overexposed areas in your video. The correctly exposed areas will turn green whereas the overexposed ones will become red. Once identified, adjust your video lighting equipment settings to neutralize this.
    • Adjusting your equipment aptly to light the subject and the green screen is the key to making excellent video. There is no magic rule other than this, which can fulfill your dream of becoming a great cinematographer.

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Categories: Film Equipment and Studios | Making Movies


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