Week 6 - Film Lighting

I didn't have too much time to look at lighting because I was shooting a student film all weekend. But, thinking back on it, it was a lot of work. Not for me or any of the other actors, but for the crew. Most of the time was spent looking into the camera screens and fixing our environment so that we actors look "normal." Our setting was a local coffee shop, similar to this one. But the decorative lighting that was already set in the shop was not enough, so our crew had two large standing lights available to use, in addition to the windows. Once the crew thought they had set everything up, they would look in the camera and notice a strange glare coming from a random window. Then, to cover it up, someone would hold up their jacket to block the window. It's very interesting to compare this to theatrical lighting, where we look to have more lights rather than less. While we can sometimes alter the angle of refletions, film people have to get much more creative and handy to block/add certain lights. They start with a lighted setting, while we start with a dark space. Also, the time of day makes a huge difference, because the sunlight is harsher/colder during noon and warmer during sunset. It was definitely a learning experience for me, seeing the difference between theater lighting "designers," and film lighting "adapters."