In video production, lighting is primarily used for obtaining proper exposure. However, it can also be used to help enhance story elements. Often lighting is used as a visual clue to inform the viewer that they should feel a particular way about a scene or character. Soft, even light works great for a natural and more flattering look, but if your character is a rugged individual, or the villain of your movie, soft lighting won’t help their tough-guy persona. In fact, it will lessen the appearance of any shadows and facial lines that can accentuate a menacing scowl or mischievous smirk.  For lights that add to your character’s unpolished demeanor consider lighting placement and intensity.

In order to step away from the more glamorous effect of soft and even lighting, try using smaller light sources to light your subject. The harsher light will create more shadows and highlights, emphasizing facial creases and pits. This style can hint to the audience that the individual is a force to be reckoned with.

Placement of your lights can also add depth to your character. By placing your key and fill lights further from the center of your subject’s face (away from the camera), and by raising the position of the key, you’ll be able to create more shadows. Try experimenting with the position of the key and fill light until you find the desired look.

Whether your subject is the glamorous or rugged type, putting them in the the right light will tell your audience more about the their character. Learning how to emphasize your subject’s facial features with the proper light will help you create a great story with convincing characters.

Check out Videomaker’s article on lighting women and men for more tips on how to set up your lights for both beautiful and rugged subjects.

On-line sources for video content of all sorts, from artistic to instructional to experimental, are multiplying at a dizzying pace. Video collaboration, particularly collaboration “in the cloud,” is a quickly maturing concept.  And behind these sites for online video collaboration is the basic motivation for film makers and graphic artists to find new muses and wider audiences. Clearly there is no shortage of inspiration for those of us who are as passionate about video as we are about music, art, science, technology, and more. One of my favorite sources for such inspiration is the exceptional TED.com.

TED talks have been around for a long time now and many of us are in the habit of regularly visiting TED.com to check out the latest on-line releases. On a recent web surfing excursion to TED, I came across an extraordinary piece featuring an exhilarating example of collaborative on-line video editing. (Videomaker has blogged on this topic recently: see Daniel Bruns’ excellent blog posted August 8^th on the phenomenon of leveraging HTML5 for music video production by bands like OK Go, Arcade Fire, and Danger Mouse.) Some of you are likely very familiar with Aaron Koblin’s work. Koblin’s TED talk, “Artfully Envisioning Our Humanity” posted this past May is a marvel.  If you haven’t already, you really need to check out Koblin’s TED talk.

Koblin has built an online environment wherein artists and videographers can contribute to a collaborative video featuring the late Johnny Cash’s final recording Aint No Grave (Can Hold My Body Down). It’s an astute choice, not only because this is a wonderful version of this song about living on through one’s legacy. Cash has been missed by many of us since his death in 2003. Koblin’s choice of Aint No Grave is also astute because there is no “holding down” the creativity of the still image contributors building a video and embracing Koblin’s site and his vision. As more and more images are added to the montage, it is clear that this site is tapping into both profound reverence for the artist (Johnny Cash) and into an enthusiasm for collaboration in video. The very nature of this project means that there is really never an “end-product” or a finished video, but rather iterative experiences that change with nearly every viewing, as long as the contributions keep coming and the video keeps evolving. Collaborative endeavors such as these inspire us to return again and again, to both add to and to admire the outcome. If you haven’t already, you really should check it out. (Visit The Johnny Cash Project.)

Many video producers toil to perfect their craft in simple DIY studios at home, or in temporary rented space, or simply out in the world with their camcorder in their hand. Unless you’re working closely with a cadre of fellow practitioners of the video craft (which luckily, many of you are), the work of video is usually less an act of collaboration and more often a solitary enterprise. You often shoot alone, edit alone, and release your video alone, hoping to capture a wider audience as your videos catch on via YouTube or Vimeo or elsewhere. But projects such as Aaron Koblin’s remind us that we can do amazingly creative things when we work together.

When lighting for video there are many different factors to consider. The quantity and placement of lights are usually the first things that come to mind, however, paying attention to light temperature is equally important if you want your lighting to look professional. If you’re in a situation where you are mixing light sources with different color temperatures, you’ll want to be sure to use color correcting gels.

Our eyes automatically adjust for the differences in light temperature, however, video cannot. This results in lights with a cooler light temperature (outdoor, 5600K) appearing to have a blue hue to them, and lights with a warmer light temperature (indoor, 3200K) appearing more yellow. Color correction gels will allow you to match different light temperatures, so that they appear to be of the same source.

Color Temperature Orange (CTO) gels come in varying strengths of orange and will allow you to turn your cooler light sources into warmer ones. They can be used to match outdoor light and indoor light. For example, by placing a CTO gel over a window, adding warmth to the daylight shining through, the outdoor light will match the incandescent lights you are using for your indoor shoot.

Color Temperature Blue (CTB) gels come in varying strengths of blue. CTB gels will make warm light temperatures appear cool. By placing a CTB gel over an incandescent light, you’re able to make it appear cooler. This allows you use your incandescent lights in conjunction with daylight without there being an unnatural mix of color temperatures.

Plus Green and Minus Green gels are color correcting gels one would use when mixing fluorescent lights with either daylight or incandescent light. Since fluorescents tend to emit a light that is greenish in hue, you would want to gel the fluorescent light with a Minus Green gel (magenta in color) to counteract the green. In some cases, gelling all of the fluorescent lights may be too difficult. Adding Plus Green gels (green in color) to your production lights, will allow them to match the fluorescents. Minus green (magenta) gels can also be added to a kick light to eliminate the greenish light bouncing onto your subject from a green screen.

There are many types of gels that can assist in almost any lighting situation. Becoming familiar with your gel options and techniques for using them will allow you to flawlessly light any scene while achieving that desired look.

For more information on using gels to correct your lights check out Videomaker’s article Lighting Gels.

Sucessfully lighting a scene can be easily understood and imitated if you see someone actually do it in person. There’s nothing more beneficial to the process of learning new information than hands-on experience and help from a knowledgeable person. That’s why, at Videomaker, we offer you the opportunity to learn lighting techniques from a qualified instructor. Check out our upcoming event schedule to learn more about our Workshops and Webinars and sign up for a class today!

Everyone likes filling our surveys – giving opinions is fun and cathartic – it makes us feel like we have a little control over our environment. Videomaker is conducting a very short survey and we’d love you to participate to help Videomaker develop new training materials for the upcoming year.

As most readers of our publication and website know, Videomaker offers a varied collection of training materials from webinars and online video tutorials to books, DVDs and our well-known monthly periodical.

We’re in the process of planning new subjects for our training DVDs and we need your help. We want to know how we can best serve you, so let us know what YOU want to see from Videomaker.

You have a voice – we have many ears! Here’s your opportunity to be a ‘contributor’ to Videomaker’s decision making! Below are the titles of some of the planned features, what else would you like to see? We’re looking for your feedback, please check out our survey to give us your opinions – we’re listening!

Some suggestions are:

• Making Music Videos
• Shooting Commercials
• Low Budget Make-up Effects
• Fair Use & Music Copyright for Video
• Advanced Lighting Techniques
• Making Video Look Like Film
• Multi-cam Shooting & Editing
• Making Your First Video: an Introduction

So check out the survey, add your own comments and if you know of someone just starting out in their video production endeavors, please send the survey their way. A few of these subjects might be on the higher level of expertise, while others are planned to suit beginners just starting out who want to just learn how to make a video from the very first few steps. Our survey also has a selection for you to enter your ideas of training videos you’d like to see, so check it out and have your voice be heard!

TAKE OUR SURVEY TO HELP DECIDE OUR UPCOMING VIDEOMAKER TRAINING SERIES