What’s Your Story?

Quality or quantity. You’ve heard these words used to describe plenty of things; work, products, food and even people. In the world of digital media production, they are often used to describe one very important element; light. Yes, light. Brightness. Radiance.  Illumination. Without quantity, it becomes a project for radio. Without quality, it becomes an average, ordinary, just like everybody else looking video.

Good lighting on a video project can be worth its weight in gold. It can do wonders to set one video apart from all of the rest. Just click through videos on different websites and you’ll notice the broad spectrum of video quality. One thing that becomes apparent on the more appealing videos is the time they spent making sure the visuals are nicely framed and well lit.  This might be easily accomplished by using the “practical” lights (lights already there) to their advantage or positioning subjects to make use of windows, skylights or other available light sources. Another choice might be blacking out everything else and adding traditional film/video lighting brought in by the crew. Ultimately, the best choice might be a good balance of any and all of these.

Of course, as with anything, certain looks and styles of lighting have their place. A “quick and dirty” industrial shoot might be fine with available light where extension cords and light stands might be a hazard. A gritty documentary may lend itself to dark, contrasty lighting to help promote the feel of the piece. Comedy sketches or an office setting might lend themselves to a bright, even, soft lighting. A lifestyle or slice of life piece might be lit with warmer colors avoiding blue hues and colder tones. The style, look and feel of the lighting in a video can really affect the viewer and his or her experience towards what they are watching. It can even carry over in how they feel about something afterward.

Next time you watch a movie, take a moment to notice the lighting.

Was there a character you didn’t trust because they were only lit from behind?  Were you more comfortable with a scene because it was brightly lit with warm colors? Were the places of “good” brightly lit while the “evil” places darker so you could visually know where you were? Lighting styles and techniques can really help or hinder the way your story is told. In lighting, quality and quantity are something you can choose to suit your creative needs. If you have an upcoming project, take time to talk about lighting and other aspects of your production before it starts. Pre-production planning on how a project will look, sound and be delivered will ultimately lead to a very successful outcome for your production. With this knowledge on your side, you CAN choose what kind of light is at the end of the tunnel!!

Find an excellent group of articles and lighting how-to’s by Walter Graff here.

Another great article on lighting style and history can be found here.