Shooting video has become almost totally automated: once the camera has been turned on, it can take over doing many chores a human once had to, such as focusing the image or adjusting the color balance. This has led to the misconception that when shooting inside a room, it can be left “as is” and the camera will take up the slack. But that’s erroneous, because the room influences and affects the final video. So does that mean you have to build a home studio in a big room in order to shoot YouTube videos? Do you have to spend a lot of money to build your YouTube studio? Does the room have to be devoted entirely to shooting? No, to all three questions. But it does mean that the basics for capturing video and sound must be put into place. And time must be spent looking for equipment from a number of sources, such as the local hardware store, photo store and online retailers. Still, there is a distinct advantage to having your own YouTube studio setup, since it will bring a level of professionalism and sophistication to what you shoot.
We will also include a few special tips to make your lighting projects safer and more effective.
Step 1: Determine the Mood for your Scene
Before you set your lights you need to decide whether you want the key light to be hard or soft and choose the appropriate lighting instruments to give you the desired result. If you want a flattering, warm look, you should use a soft box or diffusion material on your lights. Soft boxes are large lighting accessories that throw a soft, even light on your subject. Soft light smoothes the complexion and softens wrinkles. Hard light casts strong shadows and emphasizes wrinkles and complexion flaws. It can be extremely dramatic because the shadows it can cast around a person's features. Villains or subjects that you want to appear as mysterious are good candidates for this type of lighting. Be careful with this though. You can make a nice person look shifty if you light him with hard light. Beautiful women, professionals and anything you want to be warm, friendly and inviting will look best in soft light.
Step 2: Position the Key
By using your subject as the center of a clock and the camera as the 6:00 position, you can easily perform a professional setup for three-point lighting. The first light to set should be your key light. This light is your main, most powerful light source. You place the light at either the 7:30 position on the clock or 4:30 position, depending on what side of your subject you want to be dominant.
Raise the key light so that it is shining on the subject from a 45-degree angle above and in front of the subject's face. You can calculate this placement by standing in the subject's position and pointing at a spot in the air halfway between straight out and straight up. Make sure that you focus the light on your subject's face. If he or she has glasses, you may need to raise the light higher than 45 degrees to keep it from glaring off the lenses. If you are looking for a more dramatic effect, move the key light towards the 3:00 or 9:00 positions.
Step 3: Position the Backlight
The backlight should be your next concern. Position this light opposite the key at approximately the 10:30 or 1:30 position. Raise the light 45 degrees above the back of the subject's head and focus on his or her shoulders and hair. For the back light, you will want a reflector spot or Fresnel that you can focus. Diffused lights and those lighting instruments that you cannot control do not work well for your backlight because the spill from those lights will cloud your camera lens. For lighter hair and balding subjects, the backlight should be less intense than for people with dark hair. You can lower the intensity of the light by moving it further away or raise its intensity by bringing it closer. Be sure to keep the backlight from shining into your camera lens. If this problem arises, you can place a flag between the backlight and the camera.
Step 4: Position the Fill
The fill light is your last light in a three-point lighting setup. This light should be less intense than the key light. Its primary purpose is to soften shadows cast by the key. The more dramatic the scene, the less intense the fill light should be. Place the light at the 4:00 or 8:00 position opposite the key. For example, if the key is at 4:30, then the fill will be at 8:00 . You should raise this light to a 45-degree angle above the subject's head.
For the fill light, you can use most anything. However, the choice of lighting instrument is totally dependent on the type of lighting look you are trying to create. The job of the fill light is to give the audience a sense of the ambiance in the room. If you are doing an interview with a dramatic subject, the less fill light you use, the harder and more contrasty the overall lighting will be. The fill light can give the audience a clue as to whether the scene occurs during the day or night, or whether it is a happy (more fill light) or sad (less fill light) scene.
As I said earlier, the fill light might be a bounce card. If so, place the card as close to the subject as possible without getting in the camera shot. Bounce the spill light from the key and back lights into the subject's face. By bending a piece of white poster board into a slight curve, you can focus the reflected light onto your subject and provide a soft fill to the side of his or her face opposite the key. This will also add a nice sparkle of light in the subject's eye.
Step 5: Fine Tune your Lights
As you complete the setup, make sure to look through the camera lens, or better yet a monitor, to be sure your subject is lit so they look the best they can. Adjust the lights to make sure the shadows are flattering and the eyes have a sparkle of light. If you're using a large soft light as your key, you may want to move it to the 5:30 position and fill your subject's face with a soft overall light. This can be very flattering and it is effective in situations where you desire a bright set with flattering light.
Remember, once you have successfully learned the basics of three point lighting, you can let your imagination run wild. Lighting should be an art not a formula. All it takes is a little practice, some experimentation and a touch of creativity to complete those special lighting challenges.
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