Viewfinder: TV: Your Personal Technique Tutor

One of video production's most critical elements is lighting. Quality lighting distinguishes a professional-looking video from a homemade video. Bright spots and dark spots are poor-lighting giveaways. Beyond that, a skilled lighting operator conveys the illusion of depth, which is very hard to do on a two-dimensional screen.

Lighting variables generally fall within two categories: the equipment and the skill on the set. An expert in video lighting can make professional-looking video with a bunch of cheap lights from a hardware store, while an unskilled person will probably produce poor video even with the most expensive lighting tools. Skill is the most important variable in lighting.

Watching TV is a great way to learn lighting principals and develop your lighting skills. Turn off the sound. By doing this, you are better able to remain removed from the TV program's content. Your goal is to dissect the TV show into a series of shots. Each shot is comprised of many elements including composition and lighting. To build your lighting knowledge, watching a series of video shots is much more educational than simply watching a TV show (unless of course it's a show on lighting techniques). A videotape is a better tool, as you can freeze-frame and rewind it to reexami…