Illuminations: One Light Wonder (page 2)

To use one light to create a three-point lighting setup, you have to decide what kind of lighting you need - hard or soft, dramatic or even? With a variety of mirrors, reflectors and bounce cards, you can create a number of different looks. Using mirrors and hard smooth-surface reflectors, you can duplicate the effect of small, hard light sources. Large pebble-surfaced or other textured reflectors and white bounce cards can easily substitute for large soft lights.

If you want a dramatic, shadow-filled look, set up a small intense light at the 4 o'clock position. Set up a mirror behind the right shoulder of the talent and use it to reflect the light towards the back of your talent. A white bounce card set up at the 8 o'clock position will provide a bit of fill light depending on how dramatic you want your scene to be (see Figure 5).

For an even lighting setup with a soft, glamorous look, set up a very intense light behind and slightly above your talent to provide a sharp rim light. Use large gold reflectors or large white bounce cards on each side of the talent to reflect the spill light into the talent's face. Carefully check the lens of your camera and make sure the light from the back light is not hitting the lens. If it is, place a black piece of foamcore in front of and above the camera, just out of the shot, to flag the light from the camera lens (see Figure 6).

Having only one light or just the sun creates a challenge for the lighting designer, but, as you can see, it is not the end of good three-point lighting. By carefully controlling the size and types of reflectors and placement of the single light, reflectors and mirrors, you can design a lighting scheme that fits your needs. If using the sun, make sure you control the color temperature of any other light sources. Have fun, be creative and enjoy the wonders of single source lighting.

Contributing editor Robert G. Nulph, Ph.D. is an independent video/film producer/director and teaches film and video courses at the university level.

When using reflectors, mirrors and bounce cards, you have to treat them just like lighting instruments. This includes the distance they are from the talent. To increase the intensity of the light coming off of a reflector, you need only to move it closer to the talent. To decrease the intensity, move it further away. As in lighting, the way it works is double the distance from the subject and it reduces the intensity of the light four times. Cut the distance in half and the light becomes 4 times more intense.

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