with camera in hand I have to start dealing with the other two important components, audio and lighting. im doing this using homebrewed equipment and have been looking around at both the typical needs with lighting (this is all new to me) and good kit suggestions. One has to start somewhere and I feel best working off a staple lighting technique and will make certain my kit at least covers this.
3 point lighting - Key Light, Fill Light, Back/Edge Light:
Key "Light is the primary illumination for your subject. If you want a side look, the key light will be to the side. " Front, scary bottom lighting, etc. This is the dominant light source but should be diffused either with a gel or by reflecting it off. All other lights align in a T formation, with the key being at the bottom edge of the T.
Fill lights are meant to diffuse the specular highlights. From what I gather they are meant to slightly diffuse harsh shadows from keylight. (Specular means "light reflecting off a smooth shiny surface is specular." Example: dealing with specular light when subject is in a glass jar)
Back lights (aka Edge lights) offset the subject from the scene in the background by giving it a small highlight or edge. Adds a border. At times this light might be brighter than even the key.
All of the above provides 3 point lighting using separate lights. But in a scenario where the back/edge light is strong enough one could use a reflective screen on the other side to serve as a fill light, as discussed here. They also suggest this model applies to outdoor, with Sun (unmodified) as edge, ambient as fill and use a white matte board or aluminum foil to reflect the sun for key light.
What I want in my first kit
2 to hol. 3 lights, 1 nice spot light, a reflector. 1 or 2 Fomecore's to keep light from reflecting where I do not want it , dimmers, diffusion gel's for the fill lights to make them less harsh and more even where dimmers do not do the job, additional reflectors should I want to use existing or natural lighting. I can bring along car sunshields, aluminum foil+cardboard to use for rogue reflection. Would also like a Lastolite reflector ("silver/white and gold/white (the gold is good for warming up flesh tones"). Clips, both big and small. Loads of gaf tape. White and black cloth. A c stand and some extendable piping for hanging cloth. Several standard light bulbs (200watt) to replace and use existing lighting where possible. Power extensions with built in fuses to avoid blowing the main power. A light board (a board filled with LED's) would be nice instead of one of the lights as it takes less power.
All of the above serve for indoor and interview lighting. Next I will look at what modifications i need to make for outdoor shots and scenic highlights.
This and this were also helpful.
Americas Army is an recruitment advertisement. It is actually a fun game and there was a time i was quite addicted to it. Just noticed a new version was released that has features developed by a Christian University. I suppose it isn't ironic that religion is always so vehemently nationalistic, and that Church/State separation was one sided?
