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Lighting: Outdoor Cinematography

The human eye is a miraculous asset, and so is the sun. But therein lies the problem. Consider the subtle adjustment your eye makes while watching a waterfall and noticing the fish in the swirling shadows. The problems of contrast simply don't exist for humans. That explains why many videographers don't even place their eye to the viewfinder. Perhaps relying on the fold-out viewer is more convenient, but the real reason is that amateurs don't see contrast problems. Professionals do, and they compose and light for the camera's eye.

Lighting guides explain technical issues, and that's the easy part. Challenges that range from sunlight drilling down on a subject to tinted rays bouncing off a painted wall are largely solved with white-balance controls and a light metering system. But real skill is in intuiting how to see like a camera. Remember that the greatest editing software can't compensate for compositions ruined by poorly-conceived contrast ranges. The way to navigate this landmine is to practice four steps: scout big, reframe for contrast, light right and be prepared.

Lighting the great outdoors means isolating its immensity by time and space. You can do this only by scouting your location. Bring your camera, find and frame your setups and travel close to the shoot date. The technicalities are secondary to the unknown site itself and the weather changes that add adrenalin to the mix. Understand the nature of light sources. That means timing the movement of the sun and shadows, finding electrical plugs or measuring football stadium halogens. Your confidence from the scout will motivate your crew. Even more, it will reassure the talent and client that your shots will look their best.

Lighting outdoors is akin to camping, and you must approach it with the same patience and respect. Scouting gives you an instant read on what is happening with seasonal sun angles, in particular. At certain times of year, the sun is moving very quickly from day to day. You can determine backup plans, workable sheltered areas, exterior elements critical for lighting that tricks the viewer and contrast ranges ahead of time. Tomorrow the sun may or may not shine, so always find electric sources for lights and load limits, how much extension cord you need and how many battery-powered lights you should bring as main or backup sources. Unless you're conjuring a remake of last year's blizzard, the weather must be workable.

Bear in mind that, while professional lighting requires equipment, at the heart of it are the electricians, gaffers and grips who are experienced in outdoor light. Practicing teaches you to watch that dropping sun and tree shadow that is creeping onto the scrim or reflector.

Workarounds for unforeseeable problems on location, such as audio noise off-screen in a scene that has perfect light, might mean changing location - but consider the time required for breaking up and setting up again. By scouting, you know beforehand whether to shoot the scene wide and dub in dialogue later or to drop dialogue altogether. Prioritize lighting, shooting and schedules to make the hard choice of letting some things go in order to get the well-lit action you need.

One principle of shooting outdoors is set in stone. As soon as you lift the camera to your eye, you should find the optimum contrast range between all elements in the shot. Ask yourself how you might reframe or light your subject to compensate for an overly-bright background. Practice without an impending shoot.

On an artistic note, you should decide how exposure affects your story. If you are going for drama, then high contrast in the frame is good. But bear in mind that wide exposure ranges must work intimately with composition - for instance, the audience must recognize that the blown-out background is intentional.

Consider the rules of contrast between subject and background as they apply to clothing, as well. Be aware of the floating head syndrome, the result of a light-skinned subject in a dark shirt on a dark background or a dark-skinned person in a white shirt with a light background. For color choices, know that, if you want your movie to have a mood of heightened reality, then bright colors and vivid color ranges may work. But keep in mind that most video does not adjust to certain color and luminance qualities within a frame. For example, a green tree, if lit properly and in the near- to mid-background, will dominate even a properly-exposed fleshtone subject and create aberrations in the lighter subject image. Understanding composition, contrast, light and video avoids surprises in the editing room.