LIGHTING
​Lighting Techniques
The standard light setup is one with a back, key and fill light. I am working with the equipment that I can obtain and I have two fluorescent lights and one LED light that places above the camera.
The LED will act as the key light and there are ways to set up the back lights for the particular setting.
I could use a torch or some other light source as a fill light, but I may shoot without one and go for a high contrast or limbo lighting. This would produce a dark, chiaroscuro effect which could compliment the mood of the video, however, the camera I plan to shoot with – Canon EOS 500D – is not designed for filming and a problem with shooting in dark conditions with lower budget equipment is the tendency for pictures to ‘lag’ and the darker areas will show video noise, creating an unattractive and often unwanted grainy effect – especially in this case as to follow Korean music video conventions, all the videos are finished in a sleek and high quality. This is caused by the limited signal-to-noise and noise reduction characteristics. To ensure that the outcome is at best quality at possible, lighting has to be taken into important consideration, especially as most shots are filmed in dark natural lighting. I may also use a reflector to act as the fill light instead to give it a softer edge.
I came across an article about the production of American film ‘Road to Perdition’ (2002). A huge part of the film was filmed in the exteriors of Illinois in the winter and spring, so most of the scenes were shot in real rain, snow and mud. Chief lighting technician, Tom Stern commented saying: ‘Road to Perdition is the hardest picture I’ve done’. He goes on to say: ‘Rain is fairly easy to light with back-cross light, whereas snow has to be lit from the front,’