Summer Task 2 A: How and Why Lighting Affects Camera Techniques for Moving Image

 

How does lighting affect camera techniques for moving image? 

Lighting can affect filming video through tone because different lighting set ups can give varying tones to an otherwise identical shot. For example, low key lighting, when there are fewer light sources and higher contrast as a result, can be used to give a darker and more intense tone to a scene (In Depth Cine, 2020). The converse is also true, where high key lighting can be used to create a lighter tone and is therefore often used in comedies and beauty shots (In Depth Cine, 2020). 

 

Lighting is also used to create depth by casting shadows and highlighting some areas more than others (Parker Walbeck, 2018). Softer, diffused light casts lower gradient shadows which lowers contrast overall, whereas hard lighting has the opposite effect (In Depth Cine, 2020). All of this is adjusted with the primary goal of enabling the viewer to suspend their disbelief and feel more connected to the story being told.

 

 As Landau (2014, p. 5) states “We use lighting to deceive the viewer into believing what is happening is real” and this is done by using lighting set ups to enable the camera to see more and produce video that looks more real than artificial. 

Reference List:

• In Depth Cine. (2020) 5 Lighting Concepts Every Cinematographer Needs To Know. [Online]. Available from: https://youtu.be/uAglas428D8 

• Parker Walbeck. (2018) Cinematic Lighting Techniques | Part 1. [Online]. Available from: https://youtu.be/eZ5hpcn6tIM 

• Landau, D. (2014) Lighting For Cinematography: A Practical Guide to the Art and Craft of Lighting for the Moving Image. London. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.