Start Learning Cinematography | Cinematic Lighting 101 - Pro Cinematography with A $20 Light

Stay tuned to the end for a chance to win a prize! Lighting faces is one of the fundamentals skills needed in cinematography. A good cinematographer can create pleasing light on a subject in any situation. Sometimes all you have to work with is one light, and knowing how to use that one light and the tools at your disposal to create good images will make you a more well rounded filmmaker. Today, director of photography Michelle Kwong walks us through how to create high contrast lighting, with just one light, by using lighting modifiers to shape the light. In this video, Michelle shows us how she approaches high contrast lighting. First, she sets up the position of the light relative to the actor. With high contrast a three quarter wrap around the subject’s face looks best. Next, she blocks the light from hitting the background, to isolate the light on the subjects face. This makes the face the brightest part of the frame therefore increasing the contrast. Lastly, she shapes the light on the face using light modifiers. This allows her to adjust the lighting without adding more lights. The main techniques we will be discussing today are diffusing light and shaping light. Diffusing light is when you soften the quality of a light. This can be done with diffusion, with bouncing, or with some other method. Diffusing is always a good idea to make shadows more pleasing on a subject’s face. Shaping light is when you control the way the light falls on a subject. This can be done by softening the light, bouncing the light, or cutting the light from hitting parts of the scene. In this example black fabric was used to control the light and create shadows on the subject. Ultimately, the best lighting is the one that tells the story the best way. Lighting with one light will help you become a better filmmaker by helping you understand what each light is doing. Sometimes the more simple the lighting the better it will look in a scene. It all depends on what your film and resources require. There is almost always a way to make the light falling on someone's face more flattering, and this episode will help you get one step better. Connect with Michelle: https://www.instagram.com/michellemkwong/ Connect with Elli: https://www.instagram.com/elli.rahn1/ Connect with Sheer: https://www.instagram.com/sheerlovesong/ Connect with Valentina: https://www.instagram.com/valentina.vee/ Want more free lighting and cinematography tutorials? Subscribe to us so you never miss an episode: https://goo.gl/QwazdM 🎥How to Light the Cinematic Film Look! https://youtu.be/oy2wGhuVqoY 🎥Free Cinematography Lessons From Experts! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... 🎥Subscribe to Aputure: https://www.youtube.com/aputurephoto https://www.facebook.com/aputure https://www.instagram.com/aputuretech https://www.twitter.com/aputuretech 🎥Connect with the A-Team! Ted - https://instagram.com/aputure_ted Benny - https://instagram.com/aputure_benny 🎥GET APUTURE GEAR: https://aputure.com 🎥MERCH: https://represent.com/store/aputure 🎥MUSIC: http://bit.ly/pb_aputure 🎥GRAPHICS: http://bit.ly/Aputure_RS Summary: Aputure's YouTube channel provides free high-quality cinematography, lighting, and filmmaking educational content to help you take your film projects to the next level.