You guys deserve many more subscribers IMO. While many other "How to make films" channels spend a lot of their time on special effects, shooting stuff up, blowing stuff up, star trek transporting, etc., you guy concentrate on actual film production, sound, lighting, blocking, etc...the stuff that makes a movie actually look good. I think a lot of young filmmakers spend so much effort on the SFx and action sequences that they miss out on what keeps an audience watching the movie....the art of how to make a film look and sound like a good film. You guys teach the actual art of making good film. Thanks!
Great to hear we are heading in the right direction! We aren't amazing VFX artists so we like to concentrate on what we like to learn - the fundamentals. Get the basics right, and you'll always have a solid film!
This is brilliant. Thank you for this helpful video. This can create wonders for my shoots for sure. This is one of the best lighting tutorial I have seen on this topic 👍👍
Ahh man that's great to hear! We tried our best to keep it as simple as we could. We didn't want to bog the video down with specifics of the different types of lights etc. Cheers Daniel!
I've been watching several cinematic lighting videos over the past few months to boost up my next project, but I gotta admit your videos about lighting keep impressing me. Very straightforward and educational. One thing that's still very ambiguous to me though, is how you would actually expose your camera, whether you should overexpose to protect the shadows and avoid a grainy footage or get the look you want in-camera and dealing with the noisy shadows afterwards. I've seen lots of different ways of doing things, but it's still not clear in my head and I would really love to see you guys do an actual video about it.
Great to hear we are making things straight forward! I'd hate to bog people down too much! How you expose will really depend on the scene and the camera you are using. Because we shoot on the Sony a7s, we don't have to worry about grainy shadows as much as someone shooting on something a little bit older, but the rules of exposure apply to every camera: don't blow out your highlights! I'd call this rule number one. After that, your exposure levels are more creative. Do you use false color at all? We have a video coming out soon about false color, it's a great tool for getting exposure right.
@@TheFilmLook I've been using the T2i for a while now but essentially used the LCD on-screen to judge the exposure. As a result, I had some problems dealing with levels in post. Now that've put my hands on a 5DMk3 and invested in a monitor, I want to nail my exposure as much as I can, especially in low-key setting. I know all DPs use color charts, grey cards to have nice skintones and of course lightmeters but I never thought I would really need those to get the results I wanted. More than the actual tools needed to judge my exposure levels, what I still can't grasp perfectly is when to choose to have a high lit scene and darken it in post, or get the look you want in camera with varying results with the export. I don't know if what I'm saying makes any sense to you, but thanks for the reply anyway and I'm looking forward to this false color tutorial 😉
@@TrickyFrench I would suggest trying to get the image you want in camera as much as possible. Grainy shadows don't look too bad if the scene is lit really funky! Plus there are a ton of de-noise plugins out there which help with the dots. We mention false color a little bit in a recent episode which might help you along the way before we release False Color 101: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lLKpLXoq7xY.html Zebras are a great way of finding where your exposure levels lie. I think the 5D includes Zebras. If not, look into Magic Lantern. It's an SD card hack which gives you loads of added features, all for free! When I first started, I always over-exposed my image simply because I needed to bring up the brightness to see what I was shooting! A terrible mistake on my part. I like to pop my Zebras on 100 which will indicate if you are clipping your highlights. Unless it's unavoidable, I like to make sure I'm not burning the image.
Such a great tutorial lads. I always explain lighting scenarios and setups people using the clock method. Works everytime and is by far the best way to learn lighting.
Having watched this by chance after 4 years it was the ONE big game changer for my music video. I had a cinematic look in mind, but I always worked with the classic three-point lighting from the front. I got your point so well that I kept it in mind, went to the location with my actors and used more back lighting and short lighting. That was the trick. The footage looks really nice now. Thank you so much for opening my eyes to this simple technique! 👌
Film School students studying for 4 years and having a mountain of college debt, only to learn the same thing in a 5 minute yt video: 👁👄👁 Good job on the video tho. Really helpful!
This is a great and beautiful tutorial. However, how do I mimic this for a larger set? Let’s say a table of four people seated on each side of the table. A dining scene for instance. Would love it if you could treat this. Thank you.
A table of four would be a bit more tricky because you have to light everyone in the scene. Unless they are all sitting, facing the same direction, you may want to choose another lighting setup, such as overhead. Or! Light from one side, like in this video, and find your 180 degree line and just shoot the short side on each character. I think that would work!
I love your videos so much! Thanks a lot. I just have a question about the orange light at the back. what is it called? and where could I get one like it? I really wanna do this in my videos too!
This is so good and I love the fact that you showed where you would "typically" place a light and then where to actually move it. Rather than just showing the end result.
Wonderful channel and great explanation of short side lighting. I've also funnilly enough also heard it called the "dumb" side. What a dramatic difference it makes! 👍
Those lights go by a few different names. The one we have is called an Astora panel. Honestly, it's a great panel. We use with a frosted silk to great a large soft source whenever we need to motivate a light. Built well, knobs are solid, quality of light is high. We might do a review of it in the future.
So true about universities. I've learned way more after college than while I was in it about film. It's all about how obsessed you are with bettering your skills, not what year they created the first film.
Excellnet tutorial, I have suggestion why you do not create A horror or noir lighting training series by using cheap fixtures like redhead and 1k 2k fresenal light, you can create 5 minutes horror film by using this fixtures, The good thing they are cheap so cinematographers can apply them, hoping you think in my suggestion
If you have window light, you can use that source and place your talent so it's hitting the short side. If its a super bright location/set, then short side is null as you'll likely be lighting both sides of the face.
4:20) Use the same bulb on the practical and key light so intensity and temperature stays the same instead of using a more expensive key light that has tuning features to match practical
Sometimes you might need to motivate the light with something more intense if the scene calls for it. But using an identical bulb is a great way to double the intensity and keep it looking perfectly consistent! Great tip, cheers!
Real solid info here guys! It's amazing how moving a light around can change what something is: a corporate video or a moody film. I've used this technique (unaware of its existence) in most of my films and have found out about it a few months ago. It was a big reveal for me to see how we perceive different looks/techniques when watching films without thinking about them and how they end up generating a certain feeling whenever they appear in other movies. That is a truly powerful and unique aspect of cinema.
The position of the light, especially with the clock method, makes a massive difference! I didn't think the position was so integral to the mood of the shot, but after testing it during this episode, even I was surprised!
It was annoying me the whole time I'm the back of my head 'he looks like someone ' I kept thinking and then I realised , he looks like eggsy from Kingsman
Love all your videos! I’m new to lighting but love this look. I have 2 Aputure mini20d’s (per your recommendation) and a couple of soft boxes. Do you achieve this effect with just 1 light? Looks like it. But also looks like you are diffusing it? What are you using on the stand in front of the light?
We use a large frosted shower curtain to diffuse the light. But if you already have a soft box, this is achieve very similar results. Just make sure to create some distance between the subject and the soft box. This will give you a larger, softer source.
The red during the presenting shots? I think we used a small RGB light on a stand out of frame, and motivated the light with the converted red head which is in shot. This sort of thing: geni.us/Rq17xUX
These guys cut thru ALL fluff and give some of the best explanations I’ve ever seen in under 10 mins...their false colour video was hands down the best yet simplest explanation on how to use the feature properly.
It's same as far key side lighting. Also when you place the light from 2 o clock to 5ish, the Rembrandt triangle appears but at the same time it's three Quarter lighting, whereas the rim light can be said as three Quarter back light. Correct me if I'm wrong 🤔
Possibly, yeah. I think a lot of lighting setups will have an overlap at some point, and I imagine there are a bunch of names for essentially the same thing.
It depends where you are asking the subject to look during the shoot. With the large soft source by the subject's short side, that will catch the eye no problem in most cases I have found. But if they are looking into darkness, you want want to add a small eye light where needed.
Great video!! Yes, I wish I learned this at the beginning too; it took me a while to learn it. More videos like this. (funny story: I had to buy curtains recently, I thought of you and bought black-out curtains, just in case I needed extra Duvetyne. It turns out I did need them for a shoot:)
You should make the Roger Deakins DIY ring light for your channel, (w 100W tungsten bulbs squeezed down to 20%); it creates beautiful light (you can also use 5W LED edison bulb garden string lights).
