You guy have the best lighting tutorials on RU-vid. The fact that you actually turn the lights off and then turn them on in sequence is amazing and people typically won't take the extra time to do that. Thanks guys!!
I think I'll go with GLOW. So much of the show is played for laughs, but the look is very dramatic and desaturated, and it serves as a visual reminder that even though things are funny to us, it's serious for the characters.
I love the unique use of lighting in Netflix’s Daredevil. I find the use of under lighting(I don’t know if that’s a real term) and silhouettes to be really well placed. Not only for the mood of the show but also for the fact that it’s a show about a blind man.
HI, Nice videos. All your videos are very nice and helpful, but in this tutorial of yours, the lighting is very low, in which case, the ISO of the camera would have to be bumped up, which will end up in too noisy picture. How do you correct it ? Normally, the lighting would be bright and it is controlled to this effect either through exposure or post production.
Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown” only learned the rules to break them. That show is takes a food show, travel film and documentary and turns it on its head visually. Multi-cam, cinema verite done in a style that would make Martha Stewart pass out. Parts utilized slow motion, more advance image tech (Panny Varicam) and kinetic camera operating in that then adapts and changes in mood and feel based on the country/city he traveled to.
On the show Master of None, they had episodes set in Italy, and were bold enough to try to capture the feeling of old Italian movies. It was black and white but also lit in the same way.
I feel like Netflix's Russian Doll did a great job at not just being 1 type of style. It has interiors, street shots, very composed shots as well as very run and gun-looking shots. Their lighting goes from very composed to very natural looking depending on their environment and always aiming to make it look authentic to the situation the protagonist was in. A great example of going with the flow and making your story a priority!
Not exactly breaking the rules, but on shows like Atlanta, DP Christian Sprenger has stated that as the mood shifts between episodes and seasons, so does the visual language. Examples in creating that stylized realism are purposefully underexposed on certain episodes or changeing cinematic styles and even luts mid episode. That Teddy Perkins episode...um um umm some of the greatest television ever filmed!
I love the lighting in Haunting on Hill House and a lot of horror movies in general because what makes a great horror movie is not just the acting but the lighting and the music is so crucial.
The best example I can think of is probably westworld. (Totally broke the genre rule) A show unlike any other with it's unique take on the sci-fi genre and take on cinematography. Upon reading the description of the show before I watched it, I expected the theme park in Westworld to look highly technological and futuristic but the creators actually broke this rule and went completely 'western' in terms of lighting motivation and cinematography. One would expect a scifi show to have lots of blues and greens as a main color palette but not Westworld with it's deep oranges and browns, totally out of the ordinary and demonstrates the mastery of the craft for the cinematographers and directors who work on this show. Again probably one of the best exapmles of how the creators of a show clearly broke conventioanl rules to create a unique never before seen feel and aesthetic for the show. Loved the episode by the way, thanks !
Handmaidens Tale - Biggest Rule Breaker right now!!! Talk about head room!!! But their framing is ALWAYS indicative of the characters current plight or emotional state. The cinematography of that show is on point & amazing!! But very non-conventional.
A show that breaks these rules continuously is Community! The show itself is a comedy, but by changing how they do the lighting, dialogue, music, and more they can change genres within the episode itself without losing the overarching comedic structure (for example the post apocalyptic drama of the paintball episodes, or going way off the map and doing stop motion for a Christmas theme!)
I would have to say that Mr. Robot breaks rules not just in camera angles, but also switching up the genre at times. But I also think it's a great show that shows all of the examples you just preformed.
Yes! House of Cards breaks the rule of thirds in the beginning when Kevin spacey was placed in the middle of the frame with a lot of headroom on top. The camera was also shooting from a very low angle. You’re welcome!
My favorite show that broke or would subvert lighting rules was Pushing Daisies. They shot a lot of green screen stuff, but the fantasy vibe was undercut by real drama!
I love these videos. I teach Broadcast-Video Production in high school and it's great to share with the students so they can see what and how it's done in the real world. Can you share any light plots to some of these set ups?
Luther does a good job of rule breaking with its coverage. When they cross cover single shots of people talking to each other the angles are framed extremely opposite of traditional coverage.
Getting ready to launch a web series. Loads of different lighting scenarios. This helps a lot. Thanks. Begs the question; dealing with classrooms that have LED lights and natural light? Anyone?
Should we set our camera color temperature to the lighting temperature? in this video example, CTO was used, so the camera white balance should be set to 3200k? :)
Thanks for the Tips Aputure . Great Video. a TV show called Mr.Robot use lighting Very Differently and they how i see it is they break the rules of composition and lighting every time .
"The Night Of" broke a lot of rules regarding framing and also lighting. The framed people very far off and not in the "rule of thirds" and looking away from camera. I really enjoyed that show. It was dark and had a very unique look and feel.
The first show that comes to mind and wasn't mentioned here is "Dear White People." While it is a comedy, it tackles some serious issue about racism and activism, all with those beautiful saturated indoor shots. I think a lot of their look could be compared to Riverdale, which incorporates all of those moody shots, obviously gelled lighting, dominant teal/orange grade, and lots of dramatic short lighting. But they still utilize all of those bright colors everyone likes to see these days. Just with a lot less neon. From a visual standpoint, it's far from what you expect to see in a comedy. In fact, they break a lot of these conventional rules of lighting and framing. A lot of the indoor shots are very cool, and don't match the practicals at all. Occasionally, they used that quadrant framing Mr. Robot has become known for. They did an amazing job retaining wide ranges of skintones without sacrificing their moody looks, and I think their cinematographer should be applauded for that.
Stranger things has a very nice older style lighting, you also did a tutorial on it ;) It definitely lit differently than the other netflix tv shows, which as you pointed out all have that cable drama look
Did I miss something, or is the office really a single cam production? Are not multi cam productions generally filmed at once like in front of a life studio audience? I thought the office was improv filmed with single cam with various takes...
The Strain: they used so many rgb colored lights, and so much hard shadow, near noir style lighting - but it was a horror show, so that makes sense, too :)
True detective Season Three breaks these rules. In the first episode, there's a scene where Mahershala Ali and his partner are sitting outside and the show's crew decided to use the car's headlight as a sidelight/hairlight. It's a pretty unique lighting shot.
Back here in my country every tv shows break all these rules Since most of the times sun is the only source and only thing they do is reflect the sunlight when shooting towards the sun😂
Insecure really breaks the rules when it comes to lighting. I've never seen such dynamic lighting to light black skin and you will see the main actor silhouetted from time to time.
Haha some words were cut out in-between. What I meant was that for comedy, everything is generally lit up (foreground and background). But because of that, the image can be quite bland when everything is the same brightness. So to make your bright subject stand out from your bright background, a hair light is a good technique to use. Hopefully that clarifies it!
