8 film lighting techniques

So you want to make your film look a little more more cinematic and filmy? But how can you actually implement it so that it serves its purpose well and at the same time influences others too? It is definitely possible because of several reasons. Some of them are camera movement and direction, shooting with various lens, motion blur, composition, blocking, script writing, performances, and performers, costuming, filtering and so on. But, amongst all of them, lighting is the most powerful tool in the filmmaking toolbox that can happen to change the entire story of your footage.This post will talk about what it takes to have a cinematic look in your film and how these lightening techniques will help you achieve this very goal.

Basic Lighting: The basic lighting in a film is the three-point lighting setup. This helps you set your subject apart from the background which is made possible due to three different directions.The key light is that light which acknowledges the part of your subject as the most prominent figure in your scene. A soft and tender key light will draw your viewers’ attention to the most important figure in your scene that is usually your performer’s face.The fill light fills in the shadows of your scene.The backlight gives the spotlight to the rear portion of your subject which is most often captured from a higher angle.

Low and High Key Lighting:If you wish to create high contrast in the form of high voltage drama then low key lighting is a great way to add a little more cinematic touch to your scene. It demonstrates hard shadows and projects the required tension onto the scene.

Soft Film Lighting:When you need to present a scene with deep emotional intensity, softening the lighting plays the most vital role. The hardness or softness of light completely concerns with how large a light source is, and thereupon, how it lays the impact of shadows on your subject. For soft film lighting, larger sources of light are required.

Hard Film Lighting:To add dramatic effects in the film, smaller light sources can be used that will relate to the creation of more shadows. Ideally, such conditions should be avoided, but sometimes it is needed.

Depth Lighting:A film is a project in a two-dimensional form, where creating a depth for a cinematic look is vital, otherwise, the scene might look dull. Lighting multiple planes at foreground, mid-ground, and background will help you add some depth to your whole film.

Texture Lighting: Real lighting can be used for creating textures and layers with your lighting. You may use LED lights, bulb lights, flashlights and many more to create an impact. And always remember to kep these textures interesting which can be portrayed in the form of shadows. This can be created with tree branches, objects in a room, human parts, and so on.

Motivated Lighting: Sometimes, In spite of planning a lighting source, an obvious source of lighting is the best circumstance to shoot in. The selection of taking the practical lights into consideration that are already present in the location is called motivated lighting.