Where To Begin Lighting Your Set

(Cinematic Lighting Lesson 18)

Summary: On the day of the shoot you arrive on set ready to begin–but where do you start? What are the best practices that will help you be successful? In this video Ryan walks you step by step through the best practices to use when lighting your set.

Length: 6:21 minutes

Video Lesson

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Transcript

Introduction

You’ve got all your pre production work done. You’ve determined the look of your film. You’ve done the location scout. You’ve taken care of all of that. Now it’s the day of the shoot. So you show up on set. But where do you begin? How do you start to light your set? Well, in this video I’ll share with you the recommended practices and I’ll show you my own process.

BL(u)RTS: Block, Light, Rehearse, Tweak, Shoot

Put up a light, and record video (LC118)
When I was just starting out, we were so eager to start shooting that we’d throw up some lights and start filming. But every time we did that, we would run into problems that could have easily been avoided had we simply followed the standard lighting practice, BL(u)RTS: block, light, rehearse, tweak, shoot.

Block, Light, Rehearse, Tweak, Shoot (LC118)
If you wait to shoot something once you’ve blocked the scene, then lit it, followed by running the rehearsal along with making final adjustments or tweaks, you’ll set yourself up for success every time. No matter what, don’t give into to the pressure of picking a camera angle, lighting that angle, and shooting. Let me explain why...

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Tools We Used

Camera / Audio

Sony Alpha a7S Mirrorless Digital Camera
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Lens
Fotodiox Lens Mount Adapter – Canon EOS (EF / EF-s) to Sony E-Mount
Bright Tangerine Misfit Matte Box
Tilta FF-T03 15mm Follow Focus with Hard Stops
Sachtler Panorama 7+7 Head 100mm (similar head: 1006 DV 10 SB Fluid Head)
Sachtler Carbon Fiber Tripod (similar tripod: Carbon Fiber HD Tripod Legs)
MYT Works 4′ Medium slider w/ HiHat
Hollywood Beefy Baby Stand (8.5′) (two, to raise the MYT Works slider)
Movcam Cage for Sony A7S
Hollywood Black Magic 1/2 Filter
Sekonic L-758Cine DigitalMaster Light Meter
Sekonic C-700 SpectroMaster Color Meter
Wooden Camera A/B Gold-Mount Plate for Sony A7, A7r and A7s
Audio Technica AT835b Shotgun Microphone (similar microphone: Audio Technica BP4071 Shotgun Microphone)
Wooden Camera DSLR A-Box
Delkin Devices 64GB SDXC Memory Card 600x UHS-I
DSC Labs One Shot Reference Chart (Matte Finish)

Behind the Scenes (BTS) Cameras

Lighting / Grip Gear

How To Cinematically Light A Corporate Video (Cinematic Lighting Lesson 20)

Ahmedsalem says:
December 16, 2016 at 6:13 am

Hi very excellent tutorial , I suggest you expand this tutorial with 5 parts, you choose a scene and in every part you cover one of the BLTRS in much more detail
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- Tim says:
  December 24, 2016 at 3:41 pm
  
  Great idea. Once we get these foundational lessons out we plan to bring the elements together in more advanced lessons. We will point out how we use each element in these advanced lessons so that everything builds upon itself.
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