I'm kind of a control freak when it comes to production. I don't like to be late and I don't usually allow the existing lighting in any environment control how I will shoot. I arrive at all of my assignments early and with lots of equipment. It's nice to be early so I can scope out the situation and decide how I want things to look. This strategy gives me plenty of time to plan for compromises because it's inevitable that something or someone will not work out. It also allows for time to lay out all my gear: the lights and stands, the extension cords, the sandbags, the tripods and so on. I have several production carts, each of which is designed to compliment each other. One cart is self contained and can carry several lights and all the ancillary grip equipment they require as well as the computer, a note pad, my phone and a place to put several cups of coffee. I can do most shoots with just this cart. Another cart is designed to carry more lights and stands, booms, sand bags and lots of "other stuff." When I have both of these carts out I have a feeling of control, or you might even say "power" because there's nothing I can't do with all this stuff, given enough muscle, time and room to put it all out.

As a videographer, I usually look at a room and try to figure out the easiest way to light the set while maintaining a natural look. That usually means working with the ambient light and supplementing it with lights from a kit.

Cart-full of Goodies

Sometimes things don't work out as you would hope. Perhaps a room you are working in has a nice big north-facing window and your vision is to use that window as your key light and fill in the shadows with your light. Your director, however, has this wonderful vintage table lamp and decides to go with an evening living-room look with the table lamp as your key light and as a focal point of the set. Welcome to the world of practicals and the art of integrating existing light fixtures and windows into your set.

This is where all that equipment comes in handy because frequently what looks great to a director looks hideous to your camcorder. The only way to correct this discrepancy is to match the ambient light of your set plus the light output of practicals to the dynamic range of your camera while making everything look like the practicals are doing all the work!

Shade It

In the scenario described above we have a large window providing lots of light and a small table lamp providing very little light and a cart full of goodies. The director wants the room to appear as an evening scene with your subject sitting at the table and the lamp is part of the scene. That window can become your master if you allow it to, so the first thing to do is knock that light down to match the output of the table lamp. If your director is agreeable the easiest way to do this is to close the drapes, shutters, shades or whatever window covering the room may have.

If your director is determined to leave the window exposed for a dark blue early evening look, or if you're really ambitious, you can place a neutral density window filter on the glass. You can get 60-inch wide rolls of plastic filter material in daylight balance or 3200k balance. It's available in several densities so you can choose which one is best for your lighting situation. Rosco supplies products called Cinegel. The Cinegel Rosco N.3 material is daylight balanced and has a 1-stop value. The N.6 has a 2-stop value and the N.9 has a 3-stop value. They also have similar products in the Roscosun Cinegel line that correct daylight to 3200k which are perfect for integrating tungsten practicals such as the above mentioned table lamp into your production. This is by far the best way to handle any window lighting situation and as such gives the most predictable results.

There are alternatives to plastic gels that include fabrics such as Rosco Black Scrim, which is also available in wide rolls. This fabric material has a 2-stop value. This material is easier to handle but isn't always invisible and can move in the wind as you tape, which will show up in your video as blurry motion. Unlike plastic gels, which can be stacked for more neutral density value, fabrics can not be stacked or they will create moiré, which will also show up in your video.