Light Source: Hard Light, Soft Light (page 2)

The cliche has it that you use soft-edge lighting for a realistic and natural effect, and that's partly true: softer, more general light can resemble a fluorescent office ceiling or a large off-camera window. But if you study a talking head on any of a zillion TV interviews, you'll realize that the soft, glowing light on the subject doesn't look like a ceiling or a window. It looks like video lighting.

Fact is, the most realistic lighting is often a cunning combination of small, hard spots and big, soft floods. For instance, The West Wing's White House is an immense, single set designed so that actors on camera can walk from any room to any other room (usually stalked by a Steadicam). For general office lighting, every room and corridor has a ceiling of white diffusion so that the lights above it create a very soft effect. At the same time, the corners of the rooms have spotlights mounted high out of camera range to create subtle key and back lights. The combination works because the rooms have all kinds of "practicals" such as visible desk lights, wall sconces and computer screens that would in real life, look harder than soft sources.

If you key with a spotlight and fill with a soft light, your subject will throw only one shadow on the background, which looks very natural. I like to soften the key a tad with clipped-on spun glass diffusion material. To keep the fill from looking too interviewy, try placing the large source well around to the side, to avoid a wraparound effect and create the impression of ambient room light.

When you want a little more pizzaz, try using soft lights for both key and fill, moving the fill unit back until the subject's face is detectably (but not excessively) brighter on the key side. A small spot placed high and behind the subject can provide hair and shoulder rim light for separation from the background.

Here are two quick tips to finish up. First, try using a dimmer to control the back light's intensity. The slight warming of the dimmed light can create a nice effect. Second, use a very lightweight spot mounted on a horizontal arm supported by a stand off to one side. That way, you can place the backlight behind the subject without getting its stand in the frame.

Good shooting!

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