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Basic Video Lighting Tips.

  21st March 2021

 

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Video production lighting can make or break your video production. A basic ONTV LTD lighting setup tip, is the 3-point lighting setup. There are 3 lights, a key light, a fill light and a backlight.

The Key Light

If you are filming a subject doing a presentation to the video camera, the key light should be position to the left or right side of your video camera. This light is used as the main light sources for your subject, shining the light slightly off centre on the subjects face and the top half of the their torso.

The Fill Light

The fill light should be positioned on the opposite side of the video camera from the key light. This light compliments the key light and should be set at a lower light intensity, to softly fill in any possible shadows caused by the key light, on the opposite side of the subjects face.

The Backlight

The backlight should be positioned behind the subject out of camera frame, to the right or left side of the subject. This light is used to separate the subject from the background by shining a light with similar intensity as the fill light on the back of the subject’s head and shoulders.

Video lighting is a creative process, which demands thought, passion and creativity. Whether you are creating a promotional video for your website, a corporate video or an event video, all video production elements such as, video filming, audio sound, video Lighting are as important as each other. Therefore, it can be useful to apply equal amounts of time to support each production element used.

Remember when lighting your video production, the further you move the light back from the subject the less intense the light will be on the subject. The closer you move the light towards the subject, the more intense the light will be on the subject.

Using natural lighting

The same rules apply if you are filming on a sunny day in an office. You could use the natural sun light through the window as a key light on your subject, considering the position of your subject and the window, allows you a great backdrop. You would then use your additional lights as a fill light and a backlight for your subject.

There are rules on lighting and various video production actions and situations as mentioned in previous news posts. You are sometimes aloud to creatively break rules within reason, to achieve great results.

If you would like further information on this subject please email us.

ONTV LTD TEAM

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