Top Considerations for Proper Videography Lighting
What is the difference between a quality video and the one that lacks a professional touch? One of the major factors is lighting! When you’re shooting, proper videography lighting will improve the quality of your final image. At Video One, our video production experts suggest that you can control the mood of your visual content and ramp up your video creation with the proper lighting.
Control light direction
The three-point lighting system holds the key to creating a visually appealing video. You can experiment with light direction to create different lighting effects. Lighting direction can also be used to imply different meanings. Use side lighting to bring out shadows and reveal texture. A textured surface looks more dramatic with side lighting. With the three-point lighting system, you can use light directly on the main subject, back light to set the person apart from the rest of the setting, and a fill light to replace shadows cast by the other two lights. While front lighting is hided shadows and texture, back lighting creates a more dramatic effect and reveals form. The back light should at least be as bright as the key light, if not brighter.
Decide light quality
The light quality can make a big difference in the image, depending on whether you choose hard or soft light. While you get soft-edged shadows with soft light, hard light, on the other hand, creates hard-edged shadows. If your focus in the video is on a specific person, you would want them to look good. So it will help to use soft lighting, because faces look best in soft light. Top Chicago video production companies suggest that the larger a light source, the softer the lighting!
Get the right light color
Light color adds drama. So if you are looking to create a more dramatic setting, use color gels to change the light color. Color gels are semi-transparent, colored sheets used over the light to change color. The best thing about color gels is that these are heat resistant, so you can keep them for any duration of time over the light and play with color effects. Remember, color can have a dramatic effect that can easily change the mood of your video.
Control light intensity
In order to create high quality videos, you ought to pay attention to light intensity. The amount of light landing on your subject will determine the appearance of the entire video. There must be enough light to illuminate the scene but not too much to burn out the subjects. Extra diffusion on the light will make the lighting look pearly. Contrast ratio – the difference between the lit and shadow area – is also an important element in the creation of a good quality video, suggest our lighting experts.
Play with high and low key lighting
While high key lighting makes the overall frame look bright to shoot happy, optimistic subjects, low key lighting is used to emphasize shadow effects to create a somber, mysterious, or suspicious setting.
Remember these proper videography lighting techniques suggested by our Chicago video production professionals the next time you plan to take the camera in your hand to create an impressive, convincing video. Experiment with these concepts on what you’re shooting while keeping an eye on your envisioned final image and mood you want to set.
If your are interested in learning more about proper videography lighting or need help with your Chicago video production, contact Video One Productions at (773) 252-3325 or irwin@video1pro.com.
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