Video Lighting: Guerilla Lighting (page 2)

Take it Outside

Guerrilla lighting takes advantage of every possible light source available. Keep in mind that the sun is our greatest and least expensive light source.

It is best to shoot with the sun in front of your subjects so the light strikes their faces at about a 45-degree angle in relation to your camcorder. If it snows in your area, this will help you avoid a harsh glare in the background created by the sun reflecting off the snow-covered ground.

You can soften harsh sunlight and create a beautiful, soft, glare-free light by placing a homemade diffusor between the sun and your talent. Because the PVC pipe is so lightweight, it should be relatively easy to hold the diffuser in place. Keep in mind that these diffusers make great kites so take care to avoid windy conditions.

Light Up Inside

When lighting indoors, the sun can still be a great and inexpensive light source. Using your homemade reflector and natural light from a window you can create a bright light perfect for inside shots. Remember not to place your talent directly in front of the window. This will cause a silhouette shot. Instead, turn your subject so the light streaming from the window strikes the face at about 45 degrees. A bounce card can reflect light onto the shaded side of the face. Hard reflectors, such as a smooth piece of aluminum foil or a mirror, will reflect more light than a white card or cloth.

If the sun is not available, use the existing lights of an office or home and supplement them with your hardware store reflector lights. If you use the three-point lighting techniques discussed in previous columns, you will achieve the same lighting results as the professionals.

Makeshift Illumination

If you don't have any lighting instruments available, look around your location. Anything flat and shiny can act as a reflector. You can use things such as glass-covered pictures to get light where you need it. You can always remove lampshades from lights to provide a stronger light source and your white T-shirt will make a great reflector if you are in a bind.

Don't forget to take along your imagination when you enter a lighting situation. I remember one shoot in a corporate CEO's office. I had no bounce card or lighting instrument for a fill light. In the corner of the office was a white flip chart. With a small joke at my expense and a chuckle from the CEO, I placed the flip chart on its side, taped the bottom of the first page so that it wouldn't come open and bounced my key light to fill the shadows in my talent's face. This spur-of-the-moment guerrilla lighting technique not only gave me the quality of light I needed but also created a less formal atmosphere for the interview and made the CEO more comfortable with the whole proceeding. Imagination, creativity and a trip to your local hardware store can be the answers to your lighting needs, either in the studio or out in the field.