Lighting

Lighting helps in film as the lighting setup guides the eye to a specific actor, prop, or part of a scene. The amount, size, colour, and harshness of light surrounding a character can be adjusted to match their emotions. Lighting defines and supports the genre of the film.

Even top quality cameras cannot capture a perfect picture. The appropriate lighting is always needed.

The three types of lighting:

Ambient lighting - General or ambient lighting is intended to light up a room in its entirety. It provides a uniform level of illumination throughout the space independently of other lighting sources. Furthermore, its purpose is to ensure safe and easy traffic, as well as to create an overview of the room. The ambient light ‘bounces’ off the walls to illuminate as much space as possible. When used outdoors it is used to ensure visability and light up the surroundings.

Task lighting - Task lighting illuminates the tasks a person carries out in a given space such as reading, cooking, computer work. A brighter light is required in a smaller focal point of the room for these sorts of tasks. For a more pleasant illumination, it is often best to avoid harsh lights or lighting that casts troublesome shadows.

Accent lighting - this lighting is used mainly to focus on a specific point of interest or to achieve a desired effect. This type of lighting gives the impression of a larger room. It is more frequently used to highlight an architectural feature, a plant (in outdoor layout), a sculpture, or a collection of objects. As a general rule, effective accent lighting requires the installation of three times more light on the focal point than ambient lighting generally provides.